Overall verdict
Sell
3.1/10
1-year performance
-54.70%
Score breakdown
Down 54.7% over 1 year, 5% of the 52-week range.
Strongest: Shareholder return 4.5/10. Weakest: Growth 0.0/10.
10 analysts, target +0.5% vs the price.
Lumen Technologies, Inc., a networking company, provides integrated products and services to business and mass customers in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Business and Mass Markets. It offers dark fiber and conduit, edge cloud, internet protocol (IP), voice over IP, managed security, software-defined wide area networks, unified communications and collaboration, and optical services ;
ethernet and VPN data networks services ; and legacy services to manage cash flow, including time division multiplexing voice and private line ; other legacy services, such as Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) based ethernet, legacy data hosting services, and conferencing services ; and managed and professional service solutions, as well as sells communications equipment. The company also provides high speed and lower speed broadband service to residential and small business customers; local and long-distance voice services, professional services, and other ancillary services; and federal broadband and state support programs.
It serves its products and services under the Lumen, CenturyLink, Black Lotus Labs, and Quantum Fiber brand name. The company was formerly known as CenturyLink, Inc. and changed its name to Lumen Technologies, Inc. in September 2020. Lumen Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana.
Sector
Communication Services
Industry
Diversified Telecommunication Services
Primary listing
Nasdaq
United States
CEO
Kathleen Johnson
Founded
1968
Employees
24 000
Revenue / employee
516 750 USD
Next earnings
February 2, 2027 (estimated)
Institutional holders
- FMR LLC3.76%
- GEODE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC2.38%
- Bank of New York Mellon Corp0.63%
- Rest of the register93.23%
3 13F filings as of September 30, 2026: US managers above $100M, filed up to 45 days after quarter end. No insiders, no retail. A share on loan is declared by its lender and by whoever bought it from the short seller, so the total can exceed 100%.
Research uses the underlying stock’s market history. The purchase quote is calculated separately when you review your order.
52-week high
11.30 USD
52-week low
3.83 USD
1-year performance
-54.70%
Declining
Year-to-date performance
-46.27%
Declining
Drawdown
-62.43%
Major drawdown
Position in the 52-week range
5% of range
Against the world ETF
Over 26 years, from December 2000 to October 2026, the share did not clearly beat the world ETF once risk is accounted for. It earned less, while shaking 3.8 times harder.
$10,000 placed at the end of December 2000 are worth today
| Lumen Technologies | $1,365 |
| World ETF | $65,117 |
| S&P 500 | $91,204 |
| Risk-free placement | $15,894 |
The risk
- Shaking:the share moves 3.8 times as much as the world ETF.
- Worst fall:-98Â % between May 2007 and June 2024. $10,000 placed at the top fell to $223. The world ETF, at worst: -53Â %. The share has not returned to its high yet.
Lumen Technologies earned less than the world ETF since 2000
Value of $10,000 placed at the end of December 2000, dividends reinvested, in dollars
- Lumen Technologies: $1,365
- World ETF: $65,117
- S&P 500: $91,204
- Risk-free placement: $15,894
Share price without dividends; the world ETF and the index reinvest theirs. A dividend payer is therefore understated here.
Based on past performance. This is not a recommendation.
Gross margin 25.1%, the company loses 5.8% of its revenue, ROIC -4.8%, ROE 46.1%.
Net margin
-5.83%
Negative
Sector 5.46%|S&P 13.40%
Gross margin
25.09%
Fair
Return on equity (ROE)
46.15%
Exceptional
Sector 6.99%|S&P 17.06%
Return on invested capital (ROIC)
-4.80%
Negative
Free cash flow margin (FCF)
-8.61%
Negative
Margin stability
22.2 pts
Very uneven
Revenue to net income
Growth
0.0/10Revenue down 12.1% over 1 year, -9.7% a year over 5.
Revenue (trailing 12 months)
11.5Md USD
Revenue growth (1y)
-12.05%
Declining
Revenue growth (3y)
-29.04%
Declining
EPS growth (1y)
—
EPS CAGR (5y)
—
EPS revisions (3 months)
—
Valuation
3.6/10The company loses money, so no valuation multiple can be read: a negative P/E is not a discount.
P/E (TTM)
—
N/A (loss)
Sector 24.5x|S&P 23.6x
Forward P/E (adjusted)
—
N/A (loss)
EV / EBITDA
5.9x
Cheap
Sector 13.3x|S&P 15.5x
PEG
—
Sector 0.68|S&P 0.91
Market cap
4.4Md USD
Financial strength
0.4/10Cash covers 7.3% of the debt, net debt/EBITDA 6.9x.
Net debt / EBITDA
6.9x
Stretched
Gearing (net debt / equity)
—
Cash
981M USD
Cash / market cap
22.41%
Very solid
Cash / total debt
7.28%
Stretched
Interest coverage
0.2x
Stretched
Net debt
12.5Md USD
Equity
-1.7Md USD
Closed daily candles, 2 years
Last close on November 10, 2026: 4.71 USD
- MM204.56
- MM505.51
- MM2007.11
- RSI 1447.5
Top panel: closed candles, 20, 50 and 200-day moving averages, with volume in grey. Bottom panel: 14-day RSI with dashed 30 and 70 levels.
200-day average slope, 1 month
-4.94%
200-day average slope, 3 months
-11.52%
50-day average slope, 1 month
-11.14%
Price structure
Lower lows
Bullish RSI divergence
Yes
20-day volatility
5.16 % per day
Volatility change
+36.74%
Forecasts by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | EPS | Normalised EPS | Revenue | EBITDA | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | -0.77 (6) | -0.76 (6) | 11 098 (10) | 3 170 (8) | -770 (7) |
| 2027 | -0.41 (7) | -0.36 (5) | 10 612 (10) | 3 214 (8) | -484 (6) |
Amounts in millions of USD, EPS in USD per share. In brackets, the number of analysts. Consensus as of November 6, 2026.
Same sub-industry: 24 companies behind the medians.
| # | Company | Code | Country | Overall / 10 | Fundamentals / 10 | Mkt cap | P/E | Net margin | Revenue growth | ROIC | Net debt / EBITDA | FCF yield | 1-year perf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IRDM | 6.3 | 6.3 | 5.0Md USD | 31.3x | 18.1 % | 8.3 % | 6.8 % | 3.8x | 5.5 % | 186.8 % | ||
| 2 | SPCX | 5.3 | 4.6 | 1.9T USD | — | 5.6 % | 258.0 % | 0.9 % | -0.1x | — | -6.8 % | ||
| 3 | SPACE42 | 4.6 | 3.7 | 2.6Md USD | Not meaningful (loss) | -16.8 % | 29.2 % | -4.8 % | -8.6x | 7.6 % | 19.2 % | ||
| 4 | CJLU | 4.5 | 3.6 | 2.9Md USD | 44.4x | 19.6 % | 1.6 % | 2.7 % | 2.8x | 4.7 % | -6.6 % | ||
| 5 | ASTS | 4.0 | 2.6 | 14.3Md USD | Not meaningful (loss) | -439.7 % | 187.1 % | -16.1 % | -2.7x | -12.6 % | -46.0 % | ||
| 6 | LBTY.A | 3.6 | 1.7 | 3.5Md USD | Not meaningful (loss) | -44.4 % | 59.1 % | -9.8 % | 6.8x | -0.6 % | -2.6 % | ||
| 7 | DNET | 3.5 | 3.0 | 7.6Md USD | 131.3x | 59.1 % | 10.2 % | 5.0 % | 5.3x | -0.2 % | 10.3 % | ||
| 8 | LUMN | 3.1 | 2.4 | 4.4Md USD | Not meaningful (loss) | -5.8 % | -12.1 % | -4.8 % | 6.9x | -22.6 % | -54.7 % | ||
| 9 | GSAT | 2.2 | 1.3 | 11.1Md USD | Not meaningful (loss) | -25.7 % | -4.0 % | -9.3 % | 1.0x | 0.0 % | 49.7 % |
