Forensic Analysis · Wireline & Integrated Carriers · as of Nov 8, 2026

Verizon Communications Inc (VZ)

A forensic read on Verizon Communications Inc built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.

A · High-quality, modest growth

Forensic grade

Clean

Earnings quality

Forensic signals

16.6%

ROE

2.5%

Revenue growth

This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.

Verizon Communications Inc earns an A (High-quality, modest growth) forensic quality grade. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by goodwill impairments.

What the filings flag

$5.8B

FY2023

Goodwill impairments. Took $5.8B of goodwill writedowns across 1 year (FY2023 ($5.8B)) — about 50% of net income over the span. A large writedown means an acquisition turned out worth far less than was paid — a real mark against M&A discipline.

6.7%

FY2025

Return on invested capital. Return on invested capital is 6.7% in the latest fiscal year and rising across FY2023–FY2025 from 4.8%. After-tax operating profit was $16.3B in FY2023 and $22.7B in FY2025, with operating income at 17.1% of revenue in FY2023, 21.3% in FY2024 and 21.2% in FY2025. The capital base behind it went from $337.9B in FY2023 to $339.9B in FY2025 (+1%), while the revenue it carried went from $134.0B to $138.2B. FY2023's operating profit carried a $5.8B goodwill write-off that alone took about 1.2 points off that year's return, so about 1.2 of the 1.9-point rise across FY2023–FY2025 is that charge leaving the base year rather than the capital earning more. A non-cash write-down lowers the reported return in the year it lands.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$138.19B

Revenue Growth YoY+2.5%

Revenue CAGR (2yr)+1.6%

Net Margin12.4%

Free Cash Flow$20.13B

Return on Equity16.6%

Debt / Equity1.50x

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Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Nov 8, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.

See a wrong number? Report an error with the filing it should match.