Verizon has secured a dark fiber connectivity deal with Google worth more than $1 billion to connect Google's data centers. CEO Dan Schulman announced the agreement during Verizon's quarterly earnings call. The agreement is part of Verizon's efforts to expand connectivity services and use its fiber assets to connect AI data centers. Verizon also reported 184,000 postpaid phone net additions in the second quarter and adjusted earnings of $1.30 per share, above the $1.27 estimate. The company raised its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $4.99-$5.04 and its free cash flow growth forecast to 9%-10%.
Verizon-Google dark fiber deal
- ▪Verizon CEO Dan Schulman announced a deal with Google valued at more than $1 billion to provide dark fiber connectivity for Google's data centers
- ▪The Google dark fiber contract is separate from the companies' 2021 agreement to combine Verizon's 5G network with Google Cloud services for factory automation
- ▪Verizon expects to announce additional fiber connectivity agreements by the end of 2026 that are expected to generate multiple billions of dollars in revenue over the next several years
AI infrastructure expansion strategy
- ▪Verizon is retrofitting thousands of central offices, where it is decommissioning copper, to turn them into edge data centers to support AI inferencing applications
- ▪Verizon's AI infrastructure growth plan is part of the AI Connect initiative that the company announced in early 2025
- ▪Alphabet raised its 2026 capital-expenditure guidance to between $195 billion and $205 billion, up from $180 billion to $190 billion, to fund AI infrastructure
Q2 subscriber growth metrics
- ▪Verizon added 348,000 fiber broadband and fixed wireless access connections in the second quarter of 2026, bringing its total to 17.1 million connections
- ▪Verizon's wireless retail postpaid phone churn fell to 0.92% in the second quarter of 2026, down from 0.97% in the same period of 2025
- ▪Verizon added 184,000 monthly-bill paying wireless subscribers in the second quarter of 2026, surpassing analyst estimates of 103,900 additions
Raised 2026 financial guidance
- ▪Verizon raised its 2026 adjusted profit forecast to a range of $4.99 to $5.04 per share, up from its previous estimate of $4.95 to $4.99
- ▪Verizon expects its full-year 2026 free cash flow to grow between 9% and 10%, up from its previous estimate of about 7% or more
- ▪Verizon increased its share repurchase target to as much as $4.5 billion after repurchasing $3.5 billion of stock during the first half of 2026
Competitive market positioning
- ▪New Street Research analyst David Barden stated that Verizon's postpaid momentum could pressure rivals T-Mobile and AT&T to defend their market share
- ▪Verizon launched an unlimited wireless plan called Simplicity in June 2026 to replace its complex lineup with transparent pricing
- ▪Verizon's second-quarter 2026 revenue was $34.3 billion, below analysts' estimate of $35.16 billion. Wireless equipment revenue fell 22.2% to $4.1 billion, while lower upgrade volumes contributed to the decline in total revenue.
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