This impressive growth led to a roughly 1% increase in its stock price, allowing investors to overlook annual profit and free cash flow projections that fell short of Wall Street expectations.
The company has invested billions into the C-band spectrum, valued for its optimal speed and coverage, to enhance its 5G services and gain an edge over competitors AT&T and T-Mobile. This investment is also crucial for reaching Verizon's target of acquiring up to 9 million subscribers for its fixed wireless service by 2028.
On the same day, Verizon introduced Verizon AI Connect, a suite of products and solutions aimed at helping businesses manage artificial intelligence workloads effectively, tapping into the growing demand for this emerging technology.
Verizon anticipates that its adjusted profit for 2025 will increase between 0% and 3%, with the midpoint falling below analysts' expectations of 2.7%, as per data from LSEG. The company projects its free cash flow for this year to be between $17.5 billion and $18.5 billion, with the midpoint also below the $18.44 billion estimate from Visible Alpha.
In October, Verizon estimated its capital expenditures for 2025 to be between $17.5 billion and $18.5 billion, compared to $17.1 billion in 2024. In the fourth quarter, the company gained 568,000 monthly bill-paying wireless subscribers, surpassing FactSet's estimate of 487,500. This growth was aided by price hikes introduced in 2024 and the appeal of myPlan, which offers streaming benefits such as Disney+, Hulu, and Max for an additional fee.
"The wireless market is highly competitive, and Verizon has recently increased handset promotional activity and simplified pricing to attract and retain consumer subscribers," noted Dave Heger, a communications services analyst at Edward Jones.
Verizon's myPlan now accounts for over 50% of its mobile customer base. In the fourth quarter, wireless equipment revenue increased by approximately 1%, reaching $7.5 billion, driven by a rise in device upgrade activity. Total revenue for the quarter was reported at $35.7 billion, marginally surpassing the anticipated figure of $35.32 billion.