Verizon's CEO Just Admitted Its Pricing Strategy Cost the Company 2.25 Million Customers

Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) strategy over the past few years has centered around using price increases to drive revenue higher. With CEO Dan Schulman now a few months into his tenure, that strategy is getting a big shake-up.

"One of the reasons why we have such high churn rate, one of the reasons why we've been losing share over the last several years is because we keep raising our pricing without corresponding value," Schulman said during the fourth quarter earnings .

Image source: Verizon.

While competitors AT&T and T-Mobile have been consistently winning new wireless subscribers, Verizon has struggled to do the same. In 2025, the company recorded net reductions in its wireless retail postpaid phone subscriber base during the first three quarters of the year.

The era of misguided price increases now appears to be over as Schulman refocuses the company on winning subscribers and market share. Ultimately, that's a good thing for investors.

The right comeback strategy

Over the past three years, Verizon's churn has increased by 0.25 percentage points. That may seem small, but every 0.01 percentage point increase corresponds to a reduction of 90,000 in net additions. Schulman did the math during the earnings call, saying that this increase in churn reduced net additions by about 2.25 million.

Price increases weren't the only culprit, but they played a major role. Verizon implemented four distinct price increases in 2025 alone, with some affecting monthly plans and others tacking on additional fees. The problem was that these price hikes didn't deliver enough new value to customers.

"We will not rely on empty price increases to drive short-term revenue and earnings," said Schulman. "That is not a sustainable financial model nor an engine of long-term growth." Price increases aren't completely off the table, but they must be justified by the value they provide to Verizon's customers.

Wireless revenue is expected to be flat this year as Verizon laps its prior price increases, but the company expects to deliver between 750,000 and 1 million postpaid net phone additions. For comparison, that's around 2 to 3 times as many as the company added in 2025. While revenue growth will take a hit in the short term, Verizon is laying a foundation for stronger growth in the long run.

Is it time to buy Verizon stock?

Shares of Verizon surged on Friday following months of weakness as investors bought into the turnaround strategy. The company's postpaid net phone additions guidance was certainly welcome and overshadowed the weak wireless revenue forecast.

While Verizon still must implement its plan and execute on its strategy, the stock trades for less than 10 times the average analyst estimate for 2026 earnings. With a viable growth strategy now in place, it's not a bad time to bet on a turnaround.

Timothy Green has positions in AT&T. The Motley Fool recommends T-Mobile US and Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.