Lumen Technologies (LUMN)
NYSE:LUMN
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Lumen Technologies
(NYSE:LUMN)
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Rating:54Neutral
Price Target:
$8.50
▼(-0.82% Downside)
Action:ReiteratedDate:04/20/26
The score is held back primarily by weak financial performance (multi-year revenue decline, losses, negative equity, and reduced free cash flow). Offsetting this, the latest earnings call points to a credible 2026 cash-flow/EBITDA improvement path aided by debt reduction and cost savings, while technicals show positive trend but overbought momentum. Valuation remains mixed due to losses (negative P/E).
Positive Factors
Deleveraging via AT&T divestiture
The AT&T sale materially strengthened the balance sheet by retiring super‑priority debt and cutting interest expense, improving cash flow and financing flexibility. This durable capital-structure change reduces rollover and refinancing risk and supports reinvestment in enterprise network strategy over the next 2–6 months.
Negative Factors
Multi-year revenue decline and negative margins
Persistent top-line erosion and a return to sizable net losses reflect structural demand and mix challenges. Losing scale compresses gross margins and increases per-unit costs, making sustained profitability harder to achieve and elevating the burden on cost savings and portfolio shifts to restore durable earnings.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Deleveraging via AT&T divestiture
The AT&T sale materially strengthened the balance sheet by retiring super‑priority debt and cutting interest expense, improving cash flow and financing flexibility. This durable capital-structure change reduces rollover and refinancing risk and supports reinvestment in enterprise network strategy over the next 2–6 months.
Read all positive factors
Lumen Technologies (LUMN) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$8.99B
Dividend YieldN/A
Average Volume (3M)12.52M
Price to Earnings (P/E)―
Beta (1Y)0.97
Revenue Growth-4.56%
EPS Growth23.46%
CountryUS
Employees24,000
SectorCommunication Services
Sector Strength97
IndustryTelecommunications Services
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)0.23
Shares Outstanding1,029,921,600
10 Day Avg. Volume15,018,337
30 Day Avg. Volume12,519,799
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio>-0.01
Price to Book (P/B)-6.92
Price to Sales (P/S)0.62
P/FCF Ratio20.83
Enterprise Value/Market Cap2.89
Enterprise Value/Revenue2.10
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit8.62
Enterprise Value/Ebitda19.73
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$7.75Price Target Upside-9.57% Downside
Rating ConsensusHold
Number of Analyst Covering9
EPS Forecast (FY)-0.5
Revenue Forecast (FY)$10.93B
Lumen Technologies Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
Lumen Technologies, Inc., a facilities-based technology and communications company, provides various integrated products and services under the Lumen, Quantum Fiber, and CenturyLink brands to business and residential customers in the United States...
How the Company Makes Money
Lumen primarily makes money by selling recurring connectivity and network services, typically under monthly service arrangements and longer-term contracts to enterprise, government, and wholesale customers, and by providing consumer broadband and ...
Lumen Technologies Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Feb 03, 2026
(Q4-2025)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:May 05, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call highlights a major strategic and financial pivot: closing the AT&T sale materially strengthens the balance sheet (debt reduction, lower interest expense), reduces capital intensity, and funds investments in PCF and digital/network modernization. Adoption metrics, a large prefunded PCF pipeline (~$13B) and guidance for EBITDA inflection and positive free cash flow in 2026 are encouraging. Offsetting risks include continued near-term revenue declines, a sizable YoY EBITDA drop in 2025, special charges, and the multi-year timing of PCF revenue recognition that delays some cash-to-revenue conversion. Overall, the company presents a credible path to improved margins, lower capital intensity, and stronger cash generation, while near-term operating results remain pressured.Positive Updates
Closing of AT&T Transaction and Balance Sheet Strengthening
Sold fiber-to-the-home business to AT&T for $5.75B (net proceeds ~$4.8B); used proceeds to pay off $4.8B super-priority bonds and reduce total debt to under $13B. Net leverage reduced by ~1.0x to ~3.8x trailing-12-month adjusted EBITDA; annual interest expense reduced roughly $500M–$1B (management cited ~45% reduction and nearly $1B lower over 12 months).
Negative Updates
Ongoing Revenue Decline
Total reported revenue declined 8.7% year-over-year to $3.041B in Q4; business segment revenue declined 8.8% to $2.425B and mass market revenue declined 7.9% to $616M. North American business revenue (including wholesale) declined ~8.6%.
Read all updates
Q4-2025 Updates
Positive
Negative
Closing of AT&T Transaction and Balance Sheet Strengthening
Sold fiber-to-the-home business to AT&T for $5.75B (net proceeds ~$4.8B); used proceeds to pay off $4.8B super-priority bonds and reduce total debt to under $13B. Net leverage reduced by ~1.0x to ~3.8x trailing-12-month adjusted EBITDA; annual interest expense reduced roughly $500M–$1B (management cited ~45% reduction and nearly $1B lower over 12 months).
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
Lumen guided 2026 adjusted EBITDA of $3.1–$3.3 billion (an inflection to growth in 2026), total CapEx of $3.2–$3.4 billion (roughly $1.0 billion tied to nearly $13 billion of signed PCF deals, including ~$2.5 billion announced in Q4), and free cash flow of $1.2–$1.4 billion; net cash interest expense is expected to be $650–$750 million (about a $550 million midpoint reduction vs. 2025) and cash taxes a net inflow of $350–$450 million (including an anticipated ~$400 million tax refund in 2026). Guidance excludes roughly $400 million of multiyear transformation costs, the company targets $700 million of run-rate cost savings by year-end 2026 (having exited 2025 with >$400 million and aiming for $1.0 billion by 2027), and noted 2025 PCF revenue recognition of $116 million ($41 million in Q4). Post-close financials from the AT&T FTTx sale ($5.75 billion gross, ~$4.8 billion net proceeds) reduced debt to under $13 billion, cut net leverage to ~3.8x TTM adjusted EBITDA, and materially lowered annual interest expense (roughly $500 million year-over-year and nearly $1 billion over the last 12 months); management reiterated targets to return business revenue to growth in 2028 and total revenue in 2029.Lumen Technologies Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
28
Negative
Balance Sheet
18
Very Negative
Cash Flow
46
Neutral
| Breakdown | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | |||||
| Total Revenue | 12.40B | 13.11B | 14.56B | 17.48B | 19.69B |
| Gross Profit | 3.02B | 6.41B | 7.41B | 9.61B | 11.20B |
| EBITDA | 1.32B | 4.10B | -6.09B | 3.58B | 8.52B |
| Net Income | -1.74B | -55.00M | -10.30B | -1.55B | 2.03B |
Balance Sheet | |||||
| Total Assets | 34.34B | 33.50B | 34.02B | 45.61B | 57.99B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 1.00B | 1.89B | 2.23B | 1.25B | 354.00M |
| Total Debt | 17.71B | 19.12B | 21.30B | 22.00B | 31.17B |
| Total Liabilities | 35.46B | 33.03B | 33.60B | 35.24B | 46.15B |
| Stockholders Equity | -1.12B | 464.00M | 417.00M | 10.37B | 11.84B |
Cash Flow | |||||
| Free Cash Flow | 371.00M | 1.10B | -940.00M | 1.72B | 3.60B |
| Operating Cash Flow | 4.74B | 4.33B | 2.16B | 4.74B | 6.50B |
| Investing Cash Flow | -4.30B | -2.83B | -1.20B | 5.48B | -2.71B |
| Financing Cash Flow | -1.32B | -1.85B | -18.00M | -9.31B | -3.81B |
Lumen Technologies Technical Analysis
Positive
8.57
Price Trends
7.21
Positive
7.73
Positive
6.91
Positive
Market Momentum
0.35
Negative
70.01
Negative
91.91
Negative
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 8.57 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 7.23, above the 50-day MA of 7.21, and above the 200-day MA of 6.91, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 0.35 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 70.01 is Negative, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 91.91 is Negative, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for LUMN.
Lumen Technologies Risk Analysis
Lumen Technologies disclosed 40 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Lumen Technologies reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
Lumen Technologies Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (60)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
72 Outperform | $5.60B | 10.60 | 7.24% | 5.57% | 19.02% | 9.26% | |
64 Neutral | $4.59B | 9.02 | 24.66% | 7.78% | 0.59% | 8.86% | |
60 Neutral | $48.67B | 4.58 | -11.27% | 4.14% | 2.83% | -41.78% | |
60 Neutral | $5.55B | -36.64 | -2.67% | 0.40% | 15.38% | -292.52% | |
56 Neutral | $4.79B | -757.27 | -0.13% | 0.39% | -22.79% | 79.90% | |
54 Neutral | $8.99B | -967.74 | 267.95% | ― | -4.56% | 23.46% | |
52 Neutral | $4.21B | 15.83 | 8.13% | 42.91% | -25.64% | ― |
* Communication Services Sector Average
LUMN
Lumen Technologies
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5.92
177.25%
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Lumen Technologies Corporate Events
Business Operations and StrategyPrivate Placements and Financing
Lumen Announces Guaranteed Note Exchange to Streamline Capital
Positive
Apr 20, 2026
On April 20, 2026, Lumen Technologies and its wholly owned subsidiary Qwest Corporation launched exchange offers for Qwest’s outstanding 6.5% notes due 2056 and 6.75% notes due 2057, offering new notes of the same coupon and maturity but ful...
Executive/Board Changes
Lumen Technologies Announces Chief Legal Officer Leadership Transition
Neutral
Apr 17, 2026
Lumen Technologies said that Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer Public Sector Mark Hacker will retire from the company on May 15, 2026, to pursue a vocational ministry calling, with the company emphasizing that his departure is based o...
Business Operations and StrategyFinancial DisclosuresM&A TransactionsRegulatory Filings and Compliance
Lumen Details Impact of Fiber Divestiture on 2025 Results
Negative
Apr 16, 2026
Lumen Technologies completed the divestiture of its Mass Markets fiber-to-the-home business in 11 states on February 2, 2026, selling the assets to an ATT subsidiary for $5.75 billion in cash, reduced to about $5.72 billion after closing adjustmen...
Business Operations and StrategyPrivate Placements and Financing
Lumen Technologies Establishes New Revolving Credit Facility
Positive
Apr 16, 2026
On April 14, 2026, Lumen Technologies entered into a new revolving credit agreement for an $825 million unsecured facility maturing on April 14, 2029, with borrowings bearing interest at Term SOFR plus a margin or a base rate plus a margin, both s...
Executive/Board Changes
Lumen Technologies Announces Leadership Transition and New President
Neutral
Mar 17, 2026
On March 13, 2026, Lumen Technologies announced that Board Chair T. Michael Glenn and Audit Committee Chair Hal Stanley Jones will retire from the board and not stand for re-election at the company’s 2026 annual shareholders’ meeting, ...
Business Operations and StrategyFinancial DisclosuresM&A Transactions
Lumen Technologies Delivers Q4 Results and Deleveraging Milestone
Positive
Feb 3, 2026
On Feb. 3, 2026, Lumen Technologies reported solid fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results and highlighted the completion of its $5.75 billion transaction with ATT, which reduced total debt by more than $4.8 billion, lowered net leverage below 4...
Executive/Board Changes
Lumen Technologies Appoints New Chief Revenue Officer
Neutral
Feb 3, 2026
Lumen Technologies announced a leadership change in its revenue organization, with Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer Ashley Haynes-Gaspar set to leave her role and provide transition services through March 6, 2026. Effective Febru...
Business Operations and StrategyM&A TransactionsPrivate Placements and Financing
Lumen Sells Mass Markets Fiber, Refocuses on Enterprise
Positive
Feb 2, 2026
On February 2, 2026, Lumen Technologies completed the $5.75 billion cash sale of its Mass Markets consumer fiber-to-the-home business in 11 states, including the Quantum Fiber brand, to ATT. The deal transfers a network that serves more than 1 mil...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.