Verizon (VZ) Q3 2026 (USD): Adj. EPS 1.31 (exp. 1.27), Revenue 34.3bln (exp. 34.77bln); signs AI infrastructure deal valued at over USD 2bln with AWS

• Postpaid phone net additions 406,000 (exp. 209,439)

• FY adj. EPS 5.04-5.05 (exp. 5.00).
• FY capex 16-16.5bln

The print carries the familiar mixed architecture of US telecom earnings: earnings per share ahead, revenue slightly short, and the subscriber line doing the heavy lifting. In past reporting cycles for the incumbent carriers, the postpaid phone additions figure has been the single print that sets the opening direction, and a beat of this relative size has typically dominated a soft revenue line in the initial read, particularly when paired with a guidance raise rather than a reiteration. The distinction worth drawing is between the core connectivity story, where promotions and churn discipline drive the multiple, and the newer infrastructure angle: telecom operators attaching AI and cloud-adjacent revenue through deals with hyperscalers is a developing theme, and the market has tended to re-rate such announcements only where they come with visible capacity commitments rather than framework language. Capex guidance sits at the centre of that question, since fibre and network build commitments are the tell for how much of the AI-infrastructure narrative is funded. Worth noting is that the earnings beat against a revenue miss implies margin performance rather than top-line momentum is doing the work, a pattern consistent with cost-led quarters across the peer set. Follow-ons are the conference call detail on the AWS arrangement, the implied fourth-quarter subscriber trajectory, and whether the rival carrier prints confirm or undercut the sector read.