Lumen Technologies Inc. Common Stock (LUMN)

FairStock Score: 15/100 — RISKY

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

I approach Lumen with Graham's question: is there a durable business earning consistent profits at a sensible price? The evidence is poor. The company sells telecom and networking services, but in fiscal 2025, the year ended 2025-12-31, revenue was $11.3B while it lost $1.7B, or $1.75 per diluted share. In fiscal 2024, the year ended 2024-12-31, revenue was $12.1B and the loss was $55.0M. In fiscal 2023, the year ended 2023-12-31, the loss was $10.3B. More recently, in fiscal Q2 2026, the quarter ended 2026-06-30, revenue was $2.5B and net income was -$201.0M, or -$0.20 per diluted share. Revenue is shrinking, and profits are absent. The one genuine positive is cash generation: trailing 12-month free cash flow was $837.0M, and FairStock calculates a 16.3% FCF yield on the $5.1B market cap at the 2026-10-13 close of $4.99. EV/EBITDA is 7.27. But cheapness on cash flow can be a trap if the business is melting and the balance sheet is fragile. FairStock's Altman Z-Score of -0.74 and Piotroski F-Score of 3/9 point to financial weakness. ROCE is -0.87%, the P/E is -4.89 because earnings are negative, and the FairStock Score is 15/100. The Lynch screen finds no category because of four consecutive loss years. I see no moat and no margin of safety in the equity. Positive FCF deserves watching, but until revenue stabilizes and losses reverse, this is speculation, not investment.

In plain English: Lumen is a telecom and networking company that sells internet, data, and voice services to businesses and consumers. The business looks weak: sales are shrinking and it has been losing money. At $4.99, the price may look low, but compared with its losses and declining revenue, it does not look clearly cheap.

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Data as of 2026-10-13 close · note generated 2026-10-15 · model deepseek-flash

Sources (SEC EDGAR): fiscal Q2 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-06-30) · fiscal Q1 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-03-31) · fiscal Q3 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-09-30) · fiscal Q2 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-06-30) · FY2025 10-K (period ended 2025-12-31) · FY2024 10-K (period ended 2024-12-31) · FY2023 10-K (period ended 2023-12-31)

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer