The Dates That Matter Most For Verizon Stock
Verizon Communications (VZ) shares have lost 6.8%, dividends included, since September 18, 2026. The S&P 500 gained 0.6% over the same period. Shareholders are now waiting on a promise from July, when management raised its 2026 guidance and said the second half of the year would be stronger than the first. The dates most likely to move Verizon stock over the next six months are outlined below, starting with the company’s third-quarter report.
| What to watch | When | Which way it cuts |
|---|---|---|
| Verizon’s fiscal Q3 2026 report | October 26, 2026 | Either way |
| New AI infrastructure deals management expects to announce | by the end of 2026 | In its favour |
| Fiber build to over 32 million homes and businesses passed | by the end of 2026 | In its favour |
| Verizon’s fiscal Q4 2026 report and first outlook for 2027 | January 28, 2027 | Either way |
| Debt of $188 billion and the target to bring leverage down | during 2027 | Against the stock |
Verizon’s Third-Quarter Report On October 26
Verizon is expected to report its fiscal Q3 2026 results before the market opens on or around October 26, 2026. The release delivers the first quarter of results since management promised faster growth. On the July 24 call, management guided service revenue from mobile and broadband customers to grow close to 3% from a year earlier in the third quarter. That service revenue came to $23.4 billion in fiscal Q2 2026, representing about two thirds of total Verizon revenue. When the company reports on October 26, service revenue growth against that guide will be the number to watch.
New AI Infrastructure Deals Verizon Plans To Announce
During the same July 24 call, management said it expected to announce more AI infrastructure deals by the end of 2026, which together would be worth multiple billions of dollars in revenue over several years. They would join an agreement with Google, valued at over $1 billion, to use Verizon’s dark fiber to connect Google’s data centers. Management expects the AI work to add noticeably to revenue growth starting in 2027, and Verizon is also retrofitting many of its central offices into data centers for inference edge computing. The company earns most of its money from phone and home internet plans. AI deals of that size would be a new source of revenue. You will want to see whether Verizon announces those deals by the end of 2026, and the revenue it puts on them.
Verizon’s First Outlook For 2027
Management has said it will talk about 2027 during its fiscal Q4 2026 report, which is expected on or around January 28, 2027. The company has already said it sees 2027 being better than 2026, and it guided service revenue to grow about 4% from a year earlier in the fourth quarter. That same report will show how 2026 ended against the raised guidance, including free cash flow growth of 9% to 10%. The measure to watch in January is what Verizon says about 2027 service revenue growth.
Could You Hold Verizon Stock Through Another Sharp Fall?
Report dates have moved Verizon stock sharply before. Shares rose 12.1% around the January 30, 2026 call. The past few weeks show what a sharp move the other way feels like. In 18 trading sessions, Verizon stock fell 17.8%, dividends included, from its close on September 15, 2026 to its close on October 9, 2026. The worst single session in that fall, October 8 to October 9, took 8.7% off the value of the shares. If a repeat of that fall would not force you to sell, your Verizon position is one you could keep through both reports.
How To Act On VZ?
Not necessarily on Verizon Communications alone, if your goal is long-term wealth. Wealth is built by owning the companies that keep outperforming, the leaders of their industries, wherever they are. Here are two companies from Verizon Communications’ own industry that have beaten it. Over the five years to October 2026, AT&T stock rose 58% and IDT stock rose 71%, while Verizon Communications stock rose 16.1%.
Finding companies like these takes comparison across industries and sectors, and that is what the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio does. It holds 30 quality companies in equal weight and, since its inception in September 2020, has returned more than 105%, ahead of a benchmark that combines the S&P 500, S&P Mid-cap and Russell 2000. See how we find the leaders.
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