Can VZ sustain its Q4 2024 earnings growth?
3/28/2025 04:22pm
**Verizon's ability to sustain its Q4 2024 earnings growth is uncertain** due to several factors influencing its financial performance and market position:
1. **Headwinds from Promo Amortization**: Verizon faces headwinds from promo amortization, which impacts financial performance. This suggests that the company may face challenges in sustaining earnings growth due to the impact of promo amortization.
2. **Anticipated Increased Cash Taxes**: The company anticipates increased cash taxes, which could affect free cash flow. Higher taxes could reduce the amount of cash available for dividends, investments, and other uses, potentially impacting earnings growth.
3. **Sustainability of Fixed Wireless Access Growth**: There are concerns about the sustainability of fixed wireless access growth as the deployment moves to suburban and rural areas with less density. This suggests that the growth in fixed wireless access, a key factor in Verizon's earnings, may not be sustainable in the long term.
4. **Pending Acquisition of Frontier**: The pending acquisition of Frontier is not expected to be immediately free cash flow positive. This acquisition could potentially strain Verizon's financial resources, impacting its ability to sustain earnings growth.
5. **Market Analysts' Concerns**: KeyBanc Capital Markets analysts have cut their rating on Verizon shares, citing limited potential for EBITDA growth acceleration in 2025 and potential negative impacts from the Frontier acquisition. This suggests that there may be skepticism among analysts about Verizon's ability to sustain its earnings growth.
In conclusion, while Verizon has shown strong performance in certain areas, such as adjusted EBITDA and wireless service revenue growth, the aforementioned factors suggest that sustaining Q4 2024 earnings growth may be challenging. The company will need to address these headwinds and manage its strategic initiatives carefully to ensure long-term earnings growth.