What Happened?
Shares of telecommunications giant Verizon (NYSE: VZ) fell 5.3% in the afternoon session after it was officially removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average. VZ was replaced by Alphabet ending a decades-long membership.
Also, in a regulatory filing, Verizon disclosed an estimated $700–800 million second-quarter loss from reclassifying assets as held-for-sale in its new 50/50 international joint venture with BT Group, plus $350–450 million in severance and $200–300 million in asset-rationalization charges. Lastly, the overhang from SpaceX's Starlink direct-to-cell ambitions continued to weigh on the long-term competitive story. It is worth noting that the JV loss is a non-cash accounting reclassification tied to strategic streamlining, not a deterioration in the core business. Verizon recently raised FY2026 EPS guidance to roughly $4.95–4.99, beat in Q1, and yields ~6%. Analysts' median target sits near $50, above the session price.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Verizon’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 2 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 25 days ago when the stock dropped 3.9% on the news that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the company, backing the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) authority to fine it for mishandling customer location data.
The 8-1 decision confirmed the FCC can levy fines without involving a jury. The ruling relates to the agency's conclusion that Verizon unlawfully sold access to its customers' location data to third parties without their consent, resulting in a fine of nearly $47 million. According to reports, this data was then used by third parties to track people. This outcome intensifies the regulatory and legal risks for the telecommunications giant.
Verizon is up 8.9% since the beginning of the year, but at $44.14 per share, it is still trading 14.1% below its 52-week high of $51.38 from March 2026. Despite the year-to-date gain, investors who bought $1,000 worth of Verizon’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at only $790.44.
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