Lumen Technologies
Lumen Technologies' revenue fell 5.4% to $12.4 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was −6.5%, down from 3.5% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $371 million, down 66.3%. It paid out $1 million in dividends and buybacks, 0% of free cash flow. The diluted share count rose 0.7%.
Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.
What Lumen Technologies does
Lumen Technologies sells networking and communications services, mostly to businesses. It runs a large fiber-optic network across North America and Asia Pacific, and sells connectivity, edge computing, network-as-a-service and cybersecurity products to customers that range from small offices to global enterprises. Its Lumen brand serves enterprise and wholesale customers.
At the end of 2025 Lumen had two segments. The Business segment serves domestic and global customers. The Mass Markets segment serves households and small businesses in the United States, mainly under the CenturyLink brand, which relies on older copper-based services that the company manages for cash flow.
In February 2026 Lumen completed the sale of its Mass Markets fiber-to-the-home business in 11 states to AT&T, which narrows the company toward business customers. It sells through direct sales staff, call centers and channel partners. It also reports declining revenues, and it describes legal matters over lead-sheathed cables.
Its biggest risks, as it describes them
- Declining revenues, and the uncertainty that follows from them.
- Not realizing the benefits of its focus on its private connectivity fabric solutions for business customers.
- Efforts to win business in artificial intelligence that may fall short.
- Failures of its network, platforms or services.
- Claims about lead-sheathed cables that could bring lawsuits, regulatory action and costs.
Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.
Revenue and margins
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2016 to 2021, earnings per share grew 10.5% a year and net income 26.6% a year, as new shares raised the share count by 97% and diluted each share's earnings. Lumen Technologies then lost money in fiscal 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Payouts and share count
Valuation
Two ways to value Lumen Technologies yourself, both starting from its filings: a discounted cash flow model and the price-to-earnings method.
Discounted cash flow (DCF)
A discounted cash flow (DCF) model values a business as the cash it may generate in future, discounted back to today. The starting figures come from Lumen Technologies' 10-K (or, for net cash and shares, its latest 10-Q) and the assumptions are yours: start from one of three example scenarios, then change any figure to see what it implies for a share, and how that compares with the last share price.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Lumen Technologies' cash from operations minus depreciation in fiscal 2025 (free cash flow before spending to grow: capital spending was 1.6 times depreciation, which holds its free cash flow down) of $2.0B, net cash of −$16.8B at December 31, 2025 and 994 million diluted shares, from its filings. The scenarios are fitted to Lumen Technologies: the base scenario's growth in years 1 to 5 is its revenue growth over the last 3 years, -10.8% a year, kept between 0% and 20%; the cautious and optimistic ones are lower and higher, and growth in years 6 to 10 is halfway to the long-run rate. The base scenario's discount rate is 11%: 9% for a business of moderate risk (Alternative Carriers), plus 1 point as a smaller company, worth $4.4B, plus 1 point for unsteady results (a loss in fiscal 2025); the cautious and optimistic ones use a point more and a point less. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target. A negative value means Lumen Technologies' net debt is larger than what that scenario's cash flows are worth today.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $4.43
- Value on these assumptions, against the last close
- —
- Cash flows in years 1 to 10, valued today
- —
- Everything after year 10, valued today
- —
- Plus net cash
- —
- Share of value from after year 10
How the value changes with two assumptions
Price-to-earnings (P/E) method
Another common way to value a company is to multiply its earnings per share by a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple: the number of years of today's earnings an investor pays for a share. A higher multiple usually means investors expect earnings to grow. Choose a multiple, for example from similar companies, to see the value it gives.
The P/E method needs positive earnings, and Lumen Technologies' latest diluted earnings per share were negative or zero.
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 0.4 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 1.0 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 29.2 | 20.7 | 20.1 | 18.5 | 17.8 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | 28.8 | 19.5 | 17.9 | 16.6 | 16.8 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 3.5x | 5.8x | — | 4.9x | 8.7x |
| Debt to equity | 2.5x | 2.0x | — | — | — |
| Interest coverage | 2.8x | 0.1x | −8.3x | 0.3x | −0.6x |
| Current ratio | 1.6x | 1.1x | 1.4x | 1.2x | 1.8x |
| Quick ratio | 1.6x | 1.1x | 1.4x | 1.2x | 1.8x |
Insider trades
Over the 12 months between October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026, 1 insider bought $1.1 million of Lumen Technologies shares on the open market, and 1 insider sold $355,050.
| Date | Insider | Trade | Shares | Price | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | Kathleen E JohnsonChief Executive Officer, Director | Bought | 100,000 | $6.13 | $613,000 | Form 4 |
| Feb 20, 2026 | Diankha LinearDirector | Sold | 45,000 | $7.89 | $355,050 | Form 4 |
| Feb 5, 2026 | Kathleen E JohnsonPresident & CEO, Director | Bought | 78,685 | $6.35 | $499,650 | Form 4 |
Piotroski F-score
The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Fail | Pass | Fail |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Fail | Fail | Pass |
| Current ratio rose | Pass | Fail | Pass |
| Share count didn't rise | Pass | Fail | Fail |
| Gross margin rose | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Pass | Pass | Fail |
| F-score | 5 of 9 | 4 of 9 | 4 of 9 |
| Accruals ratio | −31.3% | −13.0% | −19.1% |
Compare
Put Lumen Technologies side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lumen Technologies | FY25 | −5.4% | −6.5% | 3.0% | −3.9% | 8.7x | 4 | |
| Uniti Group | FY25 | 91.5% | 11.7% | −19.6% | 4.0% | 10.3x | — | Compare |
| Cogent Communications | FY25 | −5.8% | −10.4% | −20.3% | −3.8% | 13.0x | 4 | Compare |
| Iridium Communications | FY25 | 4.9% | 27.1% | 34.4% | 8.7% | 3.7x | 7 | Compare |
| EchoStar | FY25 | −5.2% | −118.1% | −7.1% | −39.9% | — | 1 | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | 17.5 | 17.7 | 22.6 | 21.5 | 20.7 | 19.7 | 17.5 | 14.6 | 13.1 | 12.4 |
| Revenue growth | −2.4% | 1.1% | 27.9% | −5.0% | −3.5% | −5.0% | −11.2% | −16.7% | −9.9% | −5.4% |
| Gross profit | 9.7 | 9.5 | 12.6 | 12.3 | 11.8 | 11.2 | 9.6 | 7.4 | 6.4 | 5.8 |
| Research and development | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating income | 2.3 | 2.0 | 0.6 | −2.7 | 1.0 | 4.3 | 0.1 | −9.6 | 0.5 | −0.8 |
| Net income | 0.6 | 1.4 | −1.7 | −5.3 | −1.2 | 2.0 | −1.5 | −10.3 | −0.1 | −1.7 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | 1.16 | 2.21 | −1.63 | −4.92 | −1.14 | 1.91 | −1.54 | −10.48 | −0.06 | −1.75 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 541 | 629 | 1,066 | 1,071 | 1,079 | 1,067 | 1,008 | 983 | 988 | 994 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | 4.6 | 3.9 | 7.0 | 6.7 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 4.7 | 2.2 | 4.3 | 4.7 |
| Capital expenditure | 3.0 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 4.4 |
| Free cash flow | 1.6 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 3.6 | 1.7 | −0.9 | 1.1 | 0.4 |
| Dividends paid | 1.2 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Share buybacks | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Acquisitions | 0.0 | 7.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Stock-based compensation | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 1.0 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 19.7 | 37.7 | 36.1 | 34.7 | 31.8 | 29.2 | 20.7 | 20.1 | 18.5 | 17.8 |
| Total assets | 47.0 | 75.6 | 70.3 | 64.7 | 59.4 | 58.0 | 45.6 | 34.0 | 33.5 | 34.3 |
| Total liabilities | 33.6 | 52.1 | 50.4 | 51.3 | 48.2 | 46.2 | 35.2 | 33.6 | 33.0 | 35.5 |
| Shareholders' equity | 13.4 | 23.5 | 19.8 | 13.5 | 11.2 | 11.8 | 10.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | −1.1 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | 55.5% | 53.5% | 55.7% | 57.4% | 56.9% | 56.9% | 55.0% | 50.9% | 48.9% | 46.5% |
| Operating margin | 13.3% | 11.4% | 2.5% | −12.7% | 4.6% | 21.8% | 0.5% | −65.8% | 3.5% | −6.5% |
| Net margin | 3.6% | 7.9% | −7.7% | −24.6% | −6.0% | 10.3% | −8.9% | −70.7% | −0.4% | −14.0% |
| Free cash flow margin | 9.3% | 4.4% | 17.1% | 14.2% | 13.5% | 18.3% | 9.8% | −6.5% | 8.4% | 3.0% |
| Return on capital | 4.3% | 4.3% | 0.8% | −4.2% | 1.7% | 7.8% | 0.2% | −31.4% | 2.0% | −3.9% |
| Return on equity | 4.6% | 7.5% | −8.0% | −31.6% | −10.0% | 17.7% | −14.0% | −190.9% | — | — |
| Return on assets | 1.3% | 2.3% | −2.4% | −7.8% | −2.0% | 3.5% | −3.0% | −25.9% | −0.2% | −5.1% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 3.1x | 6.2x | 6.2x | 15.7x | 5.5x | 3.5x | 5.8x | — | 4.9x | 8.7x |