Forensic Analysis · Communication Services / Telecom · as of Jun 27, 2026
Lumen Technologies, Inc. (LUMN)
A forensic read on Lumen Technologies, Inc. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
D · Weak — demands caution
Forensic grade
Distress
Financial health
-1.4
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
5
Forensic signals
-80.2%
ROE
$8.3B
Market cap
0.02%
Dividend yield
Lumen Technologies, Inc. earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is -1.4, placing it in the Distress zone. 5 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
-2%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is -2% and slipping from 0% — well below its ~8% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
39d DSOReceivables vs revenue.Days sales outstanding moved from 34 to 39 days FY2024→FY2025 (receivables +7% vs revenue -5%). Receivables are creeping up relative to sales — watch the trend.
-0.4%/yrShare-count dilution.Diluted share count changed -1% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (-0.4%/yr). Roughly flat — buybacks are about offsetting stock comp, not shrinking the count. Per-share value isn't being meaningfully helped or hurt by the count.
$23.7BGoodwill impairments.Took $23.7B of goodwill writedowns across 5 year(s) (FY2022 ($3.3B), FY2023 ($10.7B), FY2025 ($628M)). Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them — worth weighing on capital-allocation skill.
-99%Dividend — cut.The payout was CUT ~99% in FY2023 (from FY2022). It still returns some cash, but it is NOT the dependable, rising dividend an unbroken streak implies — weigh the cut when judging reliability.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin-14.0%
Free Cash Flow$371.0M
Latest Revenue$12.40B
Revenue Growth YoY-5.4%
Go deeper — free with an account
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. An account adds the full interactive deep-dive on Lumen Technologies, Inc.:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about LUMN's filings — AI Q&A across the 10-K, 10-Qs & 8-Ks
🔒Interactive valuation — reverse-DCF sliders, Monte Carlo & scenario stress
🔒Calibrated 12-month price forecast, with the math shown