Lumen Technologies (LUMN) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $8.40B
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 14.57M
• Price to Earnings (P/E): ―
• Beta (1Y): 0.90
• Revenue Growth: -4.56%
• EPS Growth: 23.46%
• Country: US
• Employees: 24,000
• Sector: Communication Services
• Sector Strength: 97
• Industry: Telecommunications Services
• EPS (TTM): -0.20
• Shares Outstanding: 1,025,643,800
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 13,241,720
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 14,565,848
• PEG Ratio: 0.96
• Price to Book (P/B): 11.30
• Price to Sales (P/S): 0.40
• P/FCF Ratio: 4.76
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 2.58
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 1.71
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 3.62
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 11.58
• 1Y Price Target: $7.93
• Price Target Upside: -3.17% Downside
• Rating Consensus: Hold
• Number of Analyst Covering: 7
• EPS Forecast (FY): -0.72
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $12.40B

• Rating: 55 Neutral
• Price Target: $8.50 ▲(3.79% Upside)

Lumen Technologies' overall stock score reflects significant financial challenges, including high leverage and negative equity, which weigh heavily on its performance. However, positive technical indicators, strategic debt management, and promising earnings call insights provide some optimism. The valuation remains a concern due to negative earnings and lack of dividends.

Positive Factors

Debt Refinancing

Reducing interest expenses through debt refinancing enhances financial flexibility and supports long-term strategic investments.

Strategic Partnerships

Partnership with Palantir strengthens Lumen's AI infrastructure, potentially boosting competitive advantage and market position.

Enterprise Growth

Growth in enterprise revenue indicates successful expansion in a key market, supporting long-term revenue stability.

Negative Factors

High Leverage

High leverage poses financial risk, potentially limiting operational flexibility and increasing vulnerability to economic downturns.

Declining Revenue

Consistent revenue decline highlights challenges in maintaining market share and growing the business, impacting long-term prospects.

Legacy Telecom Revenue Decline

Declining legacy telecom revenue reflects challenges in transitioning to new growth areas, potentially affecting future earnings.

Lumen Technologies Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Lumen Technologies (LUMN) is a multinational technology company that specializes in providing communications and IT services, primarily focusing on the telecommunications sector. The company operates through various segments, including its core business solutions, which encompass voice, data, and video services, as well as cloud and security services. Lumen aims to enable businesses and consumers to improve their connectivity and digital experiences through its expansive fiber optic network and advanced technology solutions.

How the Company Makes Money

Lumen Technologies generates revenue through multiple key streams. Primarily, the company earns money from its business solutions segment, which provides a range of services including broadband, data networking, and managed services to enterprise customers. Additionally, Lumen makes significant revenue from its consumer services, offering residential internet and voice services. The company also benefits from its focus on cloud services and cybersecurity, which are increasingly important for businesses transitioning to digital operations. Partnerships with technology providers and other telecommunications companies further enhance Lumen's capabilities and service offerings, contributing to its overall revenue. The company's extensive fiber network infrastructure allows it to provide high-speed connectivity, which is a critical factor in attracting and retaining customers across various sectors.

Lumen Technologies Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Lumen Technologies is facing significant financial challenges, with declining revenues and profitability, high leverage, and negative equity. While the company shows some ability to generate cash flow, the overall financial health is concerning, with risks related to solvency and operational efficiency.

Income Statement

Lumen Technologies has faced significant challenges in maintaining revenue growth, with a consistent decline over the past years. The TTM data shows a negative revenue growth rate of -4.5%, and the net profit margin has deteriorated to -13.0%. The EBIT margin is also negative, indicating operational inefficiencies. However, the company has managed to maintain a positive EBITDA margin, suggesting some level of operational cash flow generation.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet reveals a high debt-to-equity ratio of -15.3 in the TTM period, indicating significant leverage and financial risk. The negative stockholders' equity is concerning, as it suggests potential solvency issues. Return on equity is positive in the TTM period due to negative equity, but this is not a sustainable situation. The equity ratio is also negative, highlighting the company's financial instability.

Cash Flow

The cash flow statement shows some positive aspects, such as a 30.7% growth in free cash flow in the TTM period. The operating cash flow to net income ratio is strong at 1.24, indicating good cash generation relative to reported losses. However, the free cash flow to net income ratio is low at 0.25, reflecting challenges in converting earnings into free cash flow.

Breakdown	TTM	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021	Dec 2020
Income Statement
Total Revenue	12.69B	13.11B	14.56B	17.48B	19.69B	20.71B
Gross Profit	5.97B	6.41B	7.41B	9.61B	11.20B	11.78B
EBITDA	1.87B	4.10B	-6.09B	3.58B	8.52B	5.60B
Net Income	-1.65B	-55.00M	-10.30B	-1.55B	2.03B	-1.23B
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	34.29B	33.50B	34.02B	45.61B	57.99B	59.39B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	2.40B	1.89B	2.23B	1.25B	354.00M	409.00M
Total Debt	17.95B	19.12B	21.30B	22.00B	31.17B	33.62B
Total Liabilities	35.46B	33.03B	33.60B	35.24B	46.15B	48.23B
Stockholders Equity	-1.17B	464.00M	417.00M	10.37B	11.84B	11.16B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	1.23B	1.10B	-940.00M	1.72B	3.60B	2.79B
Operating Cash Flow	4.86B	4.33B	2.16B	4.74B	6.50B	6.52B
Investing Cash Flow	-3.50B	-2.83B	-1.20B	5.48B	-2.71B	-3.56B
Financing Cash Flow	-1.60B	-1.85B	-18.00M	-9.31B	-3.81B	-4.25B

Lumen Technologies Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 8.19
• 50DMA: Negative
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For LUMN, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 8.19 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 8.30, below the 50-day MA of 8.51, and above the 200-day MA of 5.50, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of -0.11 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 48.29 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 20.73 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for LUMN.

Lumen Technologies Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
PHI	77 Outperform	$4.62B	8.92	25.22%	7.89%	0.59%	8.86%
TKC	74 Outperform	$5.16B	12.53	7.60%	5.49%	19.02%	9.26%
AD	70 Outperform	$4.48B	17.73	4.11%	44.35%	-25.64%	―
TEO	61 Neutral	$5.27B	―	-2.95%	0.40%	15.38%	-292.52%
Sector *	60 Neutral	$48.67B	4.58	-11.27%	4.14%	2.83%	-41.78%
TDS	56 Neutral	$4.17B	-35.73	1.73%	0.41%	-22.79%	79.90%
LUMN	55 Neutral	$8.40B	―	―	―	-4.56%	23.46%

Lumen Technologies Corporate Events

Lumen Technologies Expands Senior Notes Offering to $1.25B

On December 8, 2025, Lumen Technologies announced that its subsidiary, Level 3 Financing, planned to offer $750 million in Senior Notes due 2036 in a private offering. Concurrently, Level 3 Financing initiated cash tender offers to purchase up to $1 billion of its existing Second Lien Notes, with plans to use the proceeds from the new offering to fund these purchases and cover related expenses. The offering size was later increased to $1.25 billion, allowing Level 3 Financing to raise the aggregate purchase price to $1.5 billion. This strategic financial maneuver aims to optimize the company’s debt structure and potentially improve its market position by eliminating restrictive covenants and releasing collateral on existing notes.

Lumen Technologies Announces Executive Leadership Change

On December 1, 2025, Lumen Technologies announced the resignation of David Ward, their Executive Vice President, Chief Technology and Product Officer, who will join Salesforce, Inc. as President and Chief Architect. James Fowler, previously an Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, will succeed Ward effective January 5, 2026. Fowler, who has extensive experience from his previous roles at General Electric and AT&T, resigned from Lumen’s Board to assume this new role, indicating a strategic leadership transition for the company.

Lumen Technologies Reports Strong Q3 2025 Results

On October 30, 2025, Lumen Technologies reported strong third-quarter results, highlighting significant achievements in its transformation journey. The company exceeded expectations in revenue, EBITDA, and free cash flow, while also signing an additional $1 billion in PCF deals, bringing the total to over $10 billion. Despite a reported net loss of $621 million for the quarter, Lumen’s strategic focus on enterprise growth and digital innovation is positioning it for sustainable growth, with key milestones such as debt refinancing and successful ERP implementation contributing to its progress.

Lumen Technologies Reprices Credit Facilities to Cut Costs

On September 29, 2025, Lumen Technologies announced the successful repricing of Level 3 Financing’s $2.4 billion credit facilities, reducing annual interest expenses by $24 million. This move, along with raising $425 million in First Lien Notes to refinance higher coupon debt, is part of Lumen’s strategy to reduce debt, extend maturities, and focus on investments in digital networking services for the AI economy, thereby enhancing its financial flexibility and market position.

Lumen Technologies Appoints Donald Holt as New CAO

On September 9, 2025, Andrea Genschaw resigned as Chief Accounting Officer and Controller of Lumen Technologies, effective September 23, 2025, to become CFO at another company. Her departure was amicable and aligned with the company’s succession plan. On September 12, 2025, Donald Holt was appointed as her successor, effective the same date. Holt, who has been with the company since 2023, has held various finance roles and will receive a revised compensation package, including salary and incentive increases.