Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The technology company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.09, reports. The business had revenue of $2.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion.

Here are the key takeaways from Lumen Technologies’ conference call:

• Strategic sales and revenue accelerated: Strategic sales rose 30% year over year, while strategic revenue grew 10% to $1.28 billion and reached 55% of business revenue. Lumen added $700 million in PCF contracts, bringing cumulative deals to more than $13.5 billion.
• Digital services are gaining traction: Digital revenue increased 86.7% to $56 million, and NaaS adoption grew across customers, ports, and services. Management sees opportunities to add high-margin digital services to its combined Intelligent Internet business, which includes more than 100,000 ports and over $1 billion in revenue.
• Legacy declines continue to weigh on results: Total business revenue fell 4.5% year over year, while free cash flow was negative $76 million in the quarter. Total revenue of $2.72 billion included $27 million in government support payments that did not benefit Adjusted EBITDA.
• Full-year guidance was reaffirmed, but revenue growth remains a longer-term goal: Lumen expects 2026 Adjusted EBITDA of $3.1–$3.3 billion and free cash flow of $1.9–$2.1 billion, excluding specified items. Management continues to model a return to total business revenue growth in 2028.
• Copper decommissioning is intended to generate cash while reducing legacy costs: Lumen estimates $1–$1.5 billion in pre-tax net proceeds from copper over five years, with the initial four states representing about a quarter of its footprint. The proceeds depend on factors including customer migration, regulatory approvals, recovery costs, and market conditions.

Lumen Technologies Stock Down 11.0%

LUMN opened at $3.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.90 and a beta of 1.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $5.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.17. Lumen Technologies has a twelve month low of $3.84 and a twelve month high of $11.43.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Lumen Technologies from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Lumen Technologies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $4.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Lumen Technologies from $7.25 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lumen Technologies in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Lumen Technologies from $10.00 to $8.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lumen Technologies has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $6.53.

Lumen Technologies News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Lumen Technologies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic revenue grew about 10% and reached 55% of total revenue, reflecting demand for AI-related connectivity and Lumen’s Network-as-a-Service offering. The company reaffirmed its full-year adjusted EBITDA outlook. Lumen Technologies Q3 2026 earnings call highlights
• Positive Sentiment: The quarterly loss of $0.14 per share was narrower than analysts expected, offering a bottom-line beat despite the revenue shortfall. Lumen Technologies Q3 earnings results
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan lowered its price target to $6 from $7 and kept a neutral rating; TD Cowen cut its target to $8 from $9 and maintained a hold rating. The changes reflect lower expectations, although both targets remain above the cited share price.
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue came in below expectations and declined year over year, while free cash flow turned negative. These concerns appear to have outweighed the earnings beat and strategic-revenue growth, contributing to the stock’s decline. Why Lumen Technologies Sank Today
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo each cut their price target to $5— from $7.25 and $7.50, respectively—while retaining neutral or equal-weight ratings. The cluster of target reductions signals caution about Lumen’s near-term outlook.

About Lumen Technologies

Lumen Technologies, Inc is a communications and technology company that provides network, connectivity, cloud, cybersecurity and managed services primarily to businesses, government organizations and wholesale customers. Its offerings include fiber-based internet and data transport, software-defined networking, network security, unified communications, voice services, edge computing and related information technology solutions.

The company operates one of the largest enterprise fiber networks in the United States and also serves customers internationally through its global network and wholesale operations.