Why Lumen Stock Is Soaring Today

Lumen (NYSE: LUMN) stock is soaring higher Monday. The telecom company's share price was up 11% as of 3:30 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.5%.

Lumen's valuation is surging today thanks to positive analyst coverage. The company's stock is still down roughly 21% across 2025's trading, but it's up 219% over the last year.

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Raymond James upgrades its rating on Lumen stock

In a note published before the market opened this morning, Raymond James raised its rating on Lumen from market perform to outperform. The firm also set a one-year price target of $4.50 per share on the stock. Following big gains for the company's share price today, the new target implies additional upside of roughly 7%.

What's next for Lumen?

Lumen has been racking up some significant wins with sales of fiber internet infrastructure and services to support artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. On the other hand, the company could be on the verge of a significant business shakeup that sees it sell off its consumer fiber business to AT&T or another buyer.

The market had a negative reaction to a report suggesting that AT&T was potentially poised to buy the consumer fiber unit for $5.5 billion. If such a sale were to go through, it could be a sign that Lumen is gearing up to exit the consumer space entirely. On the other hand, the move could help Lumen reduce its large debt load and fund a pivot to focusing almost entirely on the enterprise market that has been its most promising performance catalyst lately.

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Keith Noonan has positions in AT&T. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.