LUMN Nasdaq Alternative Carriers Financials FY2016βFY2025
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.
Hi! I read Lumen Technologiesβs latest annual report (fiscal 2025). Here is what stands out:
Good So-so Weak
Are sales growing?
β5.4%
No. Sales fell 5.4% last year.
Does it make a profit?
β14.0%
No. It lost money last year.
Does profit turn into cash?
3.0%
Partly. 3.0% of sales ends up as free cash.
Is debt under control?
8.7x
Heavy. Repaying its debt would take 8.7 years of operating profit.
How healthy are the accounts?
4 / 9
Mixed. It passes 4 of 9 health tests.
Rules of thumb on reported numbers. A starting point, not a recommendation.
Is it selling more, and how much does it keep?
KIRA Β· Lumen Technologies had $12.4B of revenue in fiscal 2025, down 5.4% on the year before. Over five years, revenue changed β9.8% a year on average. Its operating margin was β6.6%, down 10.1Β pts: of every 100 in sales, about β7 is left after running the business.
In plain words: Revenue is all the money customers paid. The margins show how many cents of each dollar of sales are left over at each step: after making the product (gross), after running the business (operating) and after everything, tax included (net).
Revenue
Revenue
Margins, % of revenue
Margins, % of revenue
KIRA Β· Lumen Technologies lost $1.7B in fiscal 2025.
Loss periods are shown in red.
In plain words: Net income is the profit left after every cost and tax. Earnings per share (EPS) splits that profit across every share, so it shows what one share earned.
Net income
Net income
Diluted EPS
Diluted EPS
How much cash comes in, and where does it go?
KIRA Β· Free cash flow was $371M in fiscal 2025, 3.0% of revenue.
Cash from operations minus capital spending.
In plain words: Profit on paper is not the same as cash in the bank. Free cash flow is the cash left after paying to run and maintain the business: the money it can hand back to shareholders, save or invest.
Free cash flow
Free cash flow
Cash from operations vs capital spending
Cash from operations vs capital spending
KIRA Β· Lumen Technologies returned $1.0M to shareholders in fiscal 2025, 0% of free cash flow. The diluted share count rose 0.7%.
In plain words: Companies hand cash back in two ways: dividends (cash paid to shareholders) and buybacks (buying back their own shares, so each remaining share owns a bigger slice).
Dividends and buybacks
Dividends and buybacks
Diluted shares outstanding (annual)
KIRA Β· In the last 12 months, insiders bought $1.1M and sold $0.4M of shares on the open market.
Open-market purchases and sales by officers, directors and 10% owners, from Form 4 filings. βPlanβ marks trades under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
In plain words: Insiders are the people who run or own a big part of the company. Buying with their own money can signal confidence; selling often has personal reasons, like taxes or diversifying.
Bought, 12 months
$1.1M
1 insider
Sold, 12 months
$0.4M
1 insider
Of sales under plans
0%
$0.0M
Can it carry its debts, and how well does it use its money?
KIRA Β· Lumen Technologies owes $16.8B more than it holds in cash, about 8.7 years of operating profit.
Cash, debt and the ratios that show how comfortably Lumen Technologies can carry it.
In plain words: What the company owns and what it owes. More cash than debt is a cushion for bad times; a lot of debt leaves less room when business slows down.
Cash vs debt (incl. leases)
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | $354M | $1.3B | $2.2B | $1.9B | $1.0B |
| Debt incl. finance leases | $29.2B | $20.7B | $20.1B | $18.5B | $17.8B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.5x | 5.9x | β | 4.9x | 8.7x |
| Debt / equity | 2.5x | 2.0x | β | β | β |
| Interest coverage | 2.8x | 0.1x | β8.3x | 0.3x | β0.6x |
| Current ratio | 1.6x | 1.1x | 1.4x | 1.2x | 1.8x |
| Quick ratio | 1.6x | 1.1x | 1.4x | 1.2x | 1.8x |
| Total assets | $58.0B | $45.6B | $34.0B | $33.5B | $34.3B |
| Total liabilities | $46.2B | $35.2B | $33.6B | $33.0B | $35.5B |
| Shareholders' equity | $11.8B | $10.4B | $417M | $464M | β$1.1B |
| Net debt (β = net cash) | $28.8B | $19.5B | $17.9B | $16.6B | $16.8B |
KIRA Β· Its return on capital was β3.9%: every 100 invested in the business earned about β4 in a year.
After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
In plain words: How much profit the business makes on the money put into it. A higher percentage means each dollar invested works harder.
Return on capital, equity and assets (annual)
KIRA Β· Lumen Technologies passes 4 of 9 financial health tests (Piotroski F-score).
Nine pass/fail tests of profitability, funding and efficiency. 8β9 is strong, 0β2 weak.
In plain words: Nine yes/no tests of financial health, one point each. A green tick is a pass: 7 to 9 points is solid, 0 to 3 is weak.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | β | β | β |
| Cash from operations is positive | β | β | β |
| Return on assets rose | β | β | β |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | β | β | β |
| Debt fell relative to assets | β | β | β |
| Current ratio rose | β | β | β |
| Share count didn't rise | β | β | β |
| Gross margin rose | β | β | β |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | β | β | β |
| F-score | 5 / 9 | 4 / 9 | 4 / 9 |
| Accruals ratio | β31.3% | β13.0% | β19.1% |
| Altman Z'' | β3.36 | β1.49 | β1.39 |
What does the share cost, and how does it compare?
KIRA Β· At $4.43 a share, the company is worth $4.4B.
Change the assumptions and see what they imply per share. These are models, not forecasts or price targets β the answer depends entirely on what you put in.
In plain words: Move the sliders to try your own guesses about growth. The result is what one share would be worth if those guesses came true. Different guesses give very different answers.
Value per share
β
Adds net cash of β$16.8B and divides by 994.5M diluted shares. Ten years of cash flows plus a terminal value, discounted to today.
KIRA Β· Lumen Technologies grew sales faster than 1 of its 4 similar companies.
Each companyβs latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so periods donβt line up exactly.
In plain words: The same numbers for similar companies, so you can tell whether a figure is high or low for this kind of business.
| Company | Market cap | Growth | Op. margin | FCF margin | ROIC | P/E | F-score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lumen Technologies LUMN | $4.4B | β5.4% | β6.6% | 3.0% | β3.9% | β | 4 | |
| Uniti Group UNIT | $1.2B | 91.5% | 11.7% | β19.6% | 4.0% | β | β | Compare β |
| Cogent Communications CCOI | $362M | β5.8% | β10.4% | β20.3% | β3.8% | β | 4 | Compare β |
| Iridium Communications IRDM | $4.8B | 4.9% | 27.1% | 34.4% | 8.7% | 29.4x | 7 | Compare β |
| EchoStar ECHO | $31.4B | β5.2% | β118.1% | β7.1% | β39.9% | β | 1 | Compare β |
Every number, year by year.
Amounts in USD. Hover a ratioβs name for its definition.
In plain words: Every number we have, year by year. Download it as a spreadsheet if you want to dig deeper.
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | $17.5B | $17.7B | $22.6B | $21.5B | $20.7B | $19.7B | $17.5B | $14.6B | $13.1B | $12.4B |
| Gross profit | $9.7B | $9.5B | $12.6B | $12.3B | $11.8B | $11.2B | $9.6B | $7.4B | $6.4B | $5.8B |
| Operating income | $2.3B | $2.0B | $570M | β$2.7B | $962M | $4.3B | $95.0M | β$9.6B | $460M | β$812M |
| Interest expense | $1.3B | $1.5B | $2.2B | $2.0B | $1.7B | $1.5B | $1.3B | $1.2B | $1.4B | $1.3B |
| Pretax income | $1.0B | $540M | β$1.6B | β$4.8B | β$782M | $2.7B | β$991M | β$10.2B | β$230M | β$2.7B |
| Income tax | $394M | β$849M | $170M | $503M | $450M | $668M | $557M | $61.0M | β$175M | β$977M |
| Net income | $626M | $1.4B | β$1.7B | β$5.3B | β$1.2B | $2.0B | β$1.5B | β$10.3B | β$55.0M | β$1.7B |
| Diluted EPS | $1.16 | $2.21 | β$1.63 | β$4.92 | β$1.14 | $1.91 | β$1.54 | β$10.48 | β$0.06 | β$1.75 |
| Diluted shares | 0.54B | 0.63B | 1.07B | 1.07B | 1.08B | 1.07B | 1.01B | 0.98B | 0.99B | 0.99B |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | $4.6B | $3.9B | $7.0B | $6.7B | $6.5B | $6.5B | $4.7B | $2.2B | $4.3B | $4.7B |
| Capital expenditure | $3.0B | $3.1B | $3.2B | $3.6B | $3.7B | $2.9B | $3.0B | $3.1B | $3.2B | $4.4B |
| Free cash flow | $1.6B | $772M | $3.9B | $3.1B | $2.8B | $3.6B | $1.7B | β$940M | $1.1B | $371M |
| Depreciation and amortization | $3.9B | $3.9B | $5.1B | $4.8B | $4.7B | $4.0B | $3.2B | $3.0B | $3.0B | $2.7B |
| Stock-based compensation | $80.0M | $111M | $186M | $162M | $175M | $120M | $98.0M | $52.0M | $29.0M | $48.0M |
| Acquisitions | $0.0M | $7.3B | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M |
| Share buybacks | $16.0M | $17.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $1.0B | $200M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M |
| Dividends paid | $1.2B | $1.5B | $2.3B | $1.1B | $1.1B | $1.1B | $780M | $11.0M | $3.0M | $1.0M |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.2B | $1.5B | $2.3B | $1.1B | $1.1B | $2.1B | $980M | $11.0M | $3.0M | $1.0M |
| Balance sheet | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | $222M | $551M | $488M | $1.7B | $406M | $354M | $1.3B | $2.2B | $1.9B | $1.0B |
| Total debt | $19.7B | $37.7B | $36.1B | $34.7B | $31.8B | $29.2B | $20.7B | $20.1B | $18.5B | $17.8B |
| Finance lease liabilities | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $220M | $293M | $270M | $250M | $231M | $215M | $202M |
| Current assets | $5.2B | $4.2B | $3.8B | $4.8B | $3.2B | $11.5B | $5.5B | $4.8B | $4.4B | $7.9B |
| Current liabilities | $5.3B | $4.9B | $5.5B | $7.3B | $6.6B | $7.2B | $4.9B | $3.5B | $3.6B | $4.4B |
| Inventory | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M |
| Property and equipment, net | $17.0B | $26.9B | $26.4B | $26.1B | $26.3B | $20.9B | $19.2B | $19.8B | $20.4B | $19.6B |
| Total assets | $47.0B | $75.6B | $70.3B | $64.7B | $59.4B | $58.0B | $45.6B | $34.0B | $33.5B | $34.3B |
| Total liabilities | $33.6B | $52.1B | $50.4B | $51.3B | $48.2B | $46.2B | $35.2B | $33.6B | $33.0B | $35.5B |
| Shareholders' equity | $13.4B | $23.5B | $19.8B | $13.5B | $11.2B | $11.8B | $10.4B | $417M | $464M | β$1.1B |
| Margins | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | 55.5% | 53.5% | 55.7% | 57.4% | 56.9% | 56.9% | 55.0% | 50.9% | 48.9% | 46.5% |
| Operating margin | 13.4% | 11.4% | 2.5% | β12.7% | 4.6% | 21.8% | 0.5% | β65.8% | 3.5% | β6.6% |
| EBITDA margin | 35.8% | 33.7% | 25.2% | 9.8% | 27.4% | 42.2% | 19.1% | β45.3% | 26.1% | 15.6% |
| Net margin | 3.6% | 7.9% | β7.7% | β24.6% | β6.0% | 10.3% | β8.9% | β70.7% | β0.4% | β14.0% |
| FCF margin | 9.3% | 4.4% | 17.1% | 14.2% | 13.5% | 18.3% | 9.8% | β6.5% | 8.4% | 3.0% |
| Returns | ||||||||||
| Return on capital | 4.3% | 4.3% | 0.8% | β4.2% | 1.7% | 7.8% | 0.2% | β31.4% | 2.1% | β3.9% |
| Return on capital employed | 5.5% | 3.6% | 0.8% | β4.5% | 1.8% | 8.3% | 0.2% | β26.9% | 1.5% | β2.7% |
| Return on equity | 4.6% | 7.5% | β8.0% | β31.7% | β10.0% | 17.7% | β14.0% | β190.9% | β | β |
| Return on assets | 1.3% | 2.3% | β2.4% | β7.8% | β2.0% | 3.5% | β3.0% | β25.9% | β0.2% | β5.1% |
| Growth | ||||||||||
| Revenue growth | β2.4% | 1.1% | 27.9% | β5.0% | β3.5% | β5.0% | β11.2% | β16.7% | β10.0% | β5.4% |
| Net income growth | β28.7% | 121.9% | β224.8% | β | β | β | β176.1% | β | β | β |
| EPS growth | β26.6% | 90.5% | β173.8% | β | β | β | β180.6% | β | β | β |
| FCF growth | β28.7% | β52.6% | 399.6% | β20.9% | β8.4% | 28.8% | β52.3% | β154.7% | β | β66.3% |
| Share count change | β2.6% | 16.3% | 69.5% | 0.5% | 0.7% | β1.1% | β5.6% | β2.4% | 0.5% | 0.7% |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.1x | 6.3x | 6.3x | 15.7x | 5.5x | 3.5x | 5.9x | β | 4.9x | 8.7x |
| Debt / equity | 1.5x | 1.6x | 1.8x | 2.6x | 2.9x | 2.5x | 2.0x | β | β | β |
| Interest coverage | 1.8x | 1.4x | 0.3x | β1.4x | 0.6x | 2.8x | 0.1x | β8.3x | 0.3x | β0.6x |
| Current ratio | 1.0x | 0.9x | 0.7x | 0.7x | 0.5x | 1.6x | 1.1x | 1.4x | 1.2x | 1.8x |
| Quick ratio | 1.0x | 0.9x | 0.7x | 0.7x | 0.5x | 1.6x | 1.1x | 1.4x | 1.2x | 1.8x |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Capex / revenue | 17.1% | 17.6% | 14.1% | 16.9% | 18.0% | 14.7% | 17.3% | 21.3% | 24.7% | 35.2% |
| Stock comp / revenue | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.4% |
| Payouts / FCF | 72.7% | 190.4% | 59.9% | 36.0% | 39.7% | 58.0% | 57.0% | β | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| Quality scores | ||||||||||
| Piotroski F-score | 7.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 9.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Altman Z'' | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.2 | β0.6 | β0.5 | 0.9 | β0.1 | β3.4 | β1.5 | β1.4 |
| Accruals ratio | β8.4% | β4.1% | β12.0% | β17.7% | β12.5% | β7.6% | β12.1% | β31.3% | β13.0% | β19.1% |
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings (CIK 0000018926). Data updated October 11, 2026. Quarterly fourth quarters are the full year minus the first nine months. For information only β not investment advice. Check the original filings before relying on any figure.
