Shares of Lumen Technologies (LUMN) slipped nearly 9% on Friday, despite the company beat EPS as well as revenue estimates for the third quarter.
The telecom and networking company reported Q3 non-GAAP EPS of -$0.20, beating consensus by $0.07, while revenue of $3.09 billion was $50 million higher than consensus.
However, shares dropped as the company posted a wider net loss of $621 million for the third quarter versus $148 million a year ago, with loss per share widening to $0.62 from $0.15. The company’s revenue also declined 4% Y/Y to $3.09 billion, while operating expenses rose 3% to $3.20 billion, reflecting ongoing cost pressures.
During the Q3 earnings call, Christopher Stansbury, Executive VP & CFO, reiterated, “we expect fourth quarter revenue to be negatively impacted by additional declines in public sector Harvest revenue as that revenue returns to more normalized levels, similar to the third quarter of 2024.”
For FY 2025, Lumen maintains its capital expenditure guidance at $4.1 billion to $4.3 billion and its full year free cash flow guidance at $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion, including an anticipated $400 million tax refund.