Verizon Earnings Will Put Cost Cuts and SpaceX Fears Under the Microscope -- Barrons.com

By Jack Denton

Verizon is set to round out the Big Three telecommunications companies reporting earnings this week, and its cost-cutting push is likely to come into focus alongside potential competition risks from SpaceX.

Rivals AT&T and T-Mobile reported earlier this week, with both beating on earnings but missing on revenue. That sparked a mixed reaction: AT&T stock rallied, while T-Mobile traded in the red.

As Verizon stock has outperformed both this year, the company likely faces a higher bar when it reports before the open Friday.

Verizon is expected to report adjusted earnings of $1.28 a share on revenue of $35.2 billion in the second quarter, according to consensus estimates among analysts. The company reported earnings of $1.21 a share on revenue of $34.5 billion in the same period a year ago.

The company has been cutting costs aggressively in recent months as part of CEO Dan Schulman's transformation plan.

Since taking the helm in October, Schulman has overseen sweeping job cuts, including 13,000 layoffs -- the company's largest-ever -- in November, with a smaller round in May and a further 3,000 cuts earlier this month.

Schulman has outlined plans for Verizon to save $5 billion in operating expenses this year as a result of headcount reductions and other savings, including selling corporate-owned retail stores.

The push to cut costs has helped Verizon stock beat its peers. Shares in the company are up more than 9% this year, while AT&T stock has shed near 7% over the same period and T-Mobile US is down more than 10%.

Any more insight into cost efficiency measures still to come could be cheered by investors and send the stock higher after earnings, irrespective of the top- and bottom-line results.

Wall Street could do with some reassurance, with telecom stocks coming under intense pressure in recent months due to worries SpaceX's Starlink business could muscle in on wireless providers.

Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@barrons.com

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July 23, 2026 16:30 ET (20:30 GMT)