Verizon (VZ) Stock Drops as New Layoffs Loom and Price Target Gets Slashed

TLDR

• Verizon is planning another round of layoffs to be announced Thursday morning
• CEO Daniel Schulman is targeting $5 billion in operating expense savings for 2026
• BNP Paribas Exane cut its price target on VZ from $46 to $44, maintaining a neutral rating
• VZ stock fell 0.9% to $42.28 on Tuesday; up 9% year-to-date on a total return basis
• Analyst consensus sits at Hold with an average price target of $50.28

---

Verizon is set to announce another round of layoffs on Thursday morning, according to an employee briefed on the plans. The exact number of affected workers has not been confirmed.

VZ stock was trading at $42.28 on Tuesday, down 0.9% on the day.

Verizon Communications Inc., VZ

This latest round of cuts follows a pattern CEO Daniel Schulman has set since taking the role in October 2025. Cost reduction is front and center on his agenda.

In November 2025, Verizon carried out its largest-ever layoff, cutting 13,000 jobs. A smaller round of cuts followed in May 2026. Verizon ended 2025 with 89,900 employees.

On an earnings call in January, Schulman said Verizon was targeting $5 billion in operating expense savings for 2026, with a “substantial portion” coming from head count reductions.

Schulman was direct with employees during an internal webcast last December: “If we don’t have enough money to put back into our value proposition to customers, we are going to continue to shrink.”

He also noted customer satisfaction scores were “not great” and that the company had lost market share over the past five years.

Analyst Pressure Mounts

Also on Tuesday, BNP Paribas Exane cut its price target on VZ from $46 to $44, holding its neutral rating. That implies roughly 4% upside from the stock’s recent close.

The broader analyst picture isn’t much warmer. Nine analysts rate VZ a Buy, while twelve have it at Hold. The consensus average target stands at $50.28.

Citigroup is the most bullish, bumping its target to $55 with a Buy rating back in March. Morgan Stanley sits at equal weight with a $50 target.

Earnings and Business Updates

Verizon’s most recent quarterly results showed EPS of $1.28, beating the $1.21 consensus estimate. Revenue came in at $34.44 billion, slightly below the $34.82 billion analysts had expected.

Revenue was up 2.7% year-over-year. The company’s full-year 2026 EPS guidance sits at $4.95 to $4.99.

In Q1, Verizon added a net 55,000 postpaid phone connections, beating investor expectations.

Earlier this year, Verizon closed its $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications. Some Frontier employees have a four-year protection against involuntary layoffs as part of the deal’s regulatory approval terms.

Verizon also launched a flat-rate “Simplicity plan” last month and has been using AI in customer interactions to cut costs and improve service.

Capital expenditure for 2026 is planned in the range of $16 billion to $16.5 billion, down from recent years.

VZ stock is up 9% year-to-date on a total return basis, trailing the S&P 500’s 10.5% return over the same period.

Verizon is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings on July 24.