Verizon stock is having its best day in 18 years thanks to an influx of subscribers. Is it worth buying?

Shares of telecom provider Verizon soared 11% in trading on Jan. 30, its best gain in 18 years. The company reported the largest gain in mobile subscribers since 2019 after two quarters of churn. The operator also announced plans to buy back shares for up to $25 billion. New CEO Dan Shulman's efforts to revitalize the business are yielding early results, Bloomberg notes.

Verizon shares were up 11.4% to $44.34 in trading Friday after the reports were released. This is their maximum value since September 2025. The growth on Friday may be the best for the securities since October 28, 2008, when they added 14.6%, reported MarketWatch.

The largest mobile operator in the U.S. attracted 616,000 new subscribers in the fourth quarter, up 22% year over year, the company said. Analysts' consensus forecast was for 420,500, Bloomberg wrote. The churn rate for postpaid telecom subscribers was 1.3%.

"We acted in a disciplined manner and performed well in the market," Verizon CEO Dan Shulman said in a call with investors(quoted by Bloomberg). He also said that the new $25 billion share repurchase program will run for three years, with at least $3 billion planned to be spent as early as 2026.

For Shulman, who took over as CEO in October, this was his first full quarter in the position, Bloomberg notes. He previously led PayPal's fintech service. Shulman is tasked with bringing Verizon back to a leadership position after two quarters of subscriber churn and weak stock performance. The company was once called the owner of the best mobile network in the country, but competitors have caught up with it, and price increases and complaints about the quality of service have undermined customer loyalty, the agency writes.

In his new position, Shulman immediately began restructuring, cutting about 13,000 jobs in the quarter under review, and promised to make the business "leaner and more agile." He said the company will continue to simplify its structure, work on efficiency and get rid of non-core assets.

Revenue for the fourth quarter amounted to $36.4 billion, while analysts expected $36.1 billion, Bloomberg writes. Adjusted earnings per share - $1.09, against Wall Street expectations of $1.06.

Verizon doesn't expect mobile service revenue growth in 2026 as the company shifts to a sustainable growth model based on increasing connectivity, Barron's writes. The company hopes to add between 750,000 and 1 million mobile subscribers by the end of this year. The operator expects 2026 adjusted earnings in the range of $4.9 to $4.95 per share - well above the average Wall Street forecast of $4.75.

Verizon is aggressively promoting its services amid intense competition with AT&T and T-Mobile in the saturated mobile market, Bloomberg writes. As part of new promotions, the company is offering free flagship smartphones when you connect, including the iPhone 17 Pro, as well as Internet packages with a free Samsung TV. Verizon plans to unveil a new value strategy in the second half of the year, which is already receiving positive feedback in market research, Shulman said.

The last few months have been challenging for the new head of the company. Verizon experienced a massive communications outage affecting thousands of customers across the country. The company promised to compensate those affected $20 each, attributing the incident to a software update error.

AT&T also reported better than Wall Street expectations this week, but reported an influx of 421,000 new subscribers, which was below analysts' forecasts. T-Mobile's report will be released on February 11.

Verizon shares, given Friday's surge, are now worth nearly 9% more compared to early 2026. However, analysts' opinions on the stock differ. The most popular recommendation is to hold: 16 Hold ratings out of 28 total, MarketWatch shows. Another analyst advises selling (Underweight), but 11 think it's worth buying (Buy and Overweight). The average target price of $47.07 implies an 18% increase in quotes from the last closing level.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor