The telecommunications company also increased its full-year share-buyback target to as much as $4.5 billion. The announcement is a target, not a statement that Verizon has completed that amount of repurchases.

Verizon’s results provide a closely watched reading on demand for wireless and broadband services, competition over customers, retention costs and the financial performance of one of the largest telecommunications providers in the United States.

Subscriber growth and retention

Verizon reported 184,000 total postpaid phone net additions for the second quarter. The company described the result as its strongest Consumer second-quarter postpaid phone net-addition performance in five years.

Postpaid phone net additions measure the change in customers who receive wireless service and are billed after using it. Verizon presented the figure as evidence of improved momentum in its consumer business, alongside lower churn and better customer-acquisition and retention costs.

Churn refers to customers leaving a service. Lower churn can reduce the expense of replacing customers, while improved acquisition and retention costs can affect how efficiently a company converts spending into subscriber growth. Verizon said those factors strengthened its operating performance during the quarter.

The company also cited stronger operating cash flow and improved profitability in describing the quarter. The release did not provide the complete set of financial figures needed to compare every reported result on a GAAP and adjusted basis, but it identified subscriber performance, cost trends and cash generation as central parts of the quarter’s results.

Transformation strategy

Verizon attributed the results to a strategic transformation that includes new Simplicity plans, Verizon One converged offerings and a loyalty program. The company said the initiatives are intended to support its consumer business as it competes for wireless and broadband customers.

Verizon also identified emerging AI-infrastructure revenue as part of its growth strategy. That opportunity is forward-looking: the company’s discussion describes a source of potential growth rather than reporting that the expected revenue has already been realized.

The combination of subscriber additions, lower churn and cost improvements matters beyond Verizon’s own earnings. The company’s performance can help indicate how customers are responding to wireless pricing and service offerings, how hard providers must work to retain subscribers and how telecom companies are balancing network and infrastructure investment with shareholder returns.

Restructuring continues alongside stronger results

The improved quarter comes as Verizon carries out a previously announced restructuring. The company planned to sell 274 company-owned retail locations, with those stores scheduled to change ownership on Aug. 16, 2026.

That announcement also included about 500 additional corporate job cuts and an estimated effect on about 3,000 retail and corporate employees. Those changes describe the scope of the restructuring; Verizon’s second-quarter results do not by themselves establish that the restructuring caused the stronger performance.

The contrast is significant for employees and communities connected to the affected locations. Verizon reported stronger operating indicators while also moving to change ownership of hundreds of stores and reduce corporate staffing.

What happens next

Verizon’s next stated financial objective is to execute against the higher full-year guidance it issued on July 24 and manage toward a share-buyback target of up to $4.5 billion. The company will also continue rolling out the plans, converged offerings and loyalty program identified in its transformation strategy.

The scheduled Aug. 16 ownership change for the 274 retail locations is the next specific date identified in the company’s restructuring timeline. Investors and customers will be watching whether subscriber growth, churn, cash flow and profitability continue to support Verizon’s raised outlook as the year progresses.

The Santa Fe County Board of County Commissioners adopted the ordinance July 2. County officials said the duration was extended from 12 months to 18 months after public input.

Lower threshold broadens review

A central change is the size of projects covered by the policy. The county lowered the threshold from a previously proposed 100 megawatts to 1 megawatt.

Santa Fe County describes 1 megawatt as roughly equivalent to the electricity use of 1,000 homes. That comparison illustrates why the threshold matters: the ordinance reaches substantially smaller proposed facilities than the earlier 100-megawatt benchmark would have covered.

Data centers support computing services, including cloud-based systems and some artificial-intelligence infrastructure. The county’s action is a local policy response to proposals for that type of infrastructure; it is not a finding about the performance of any particular facility or technology.

Safeguards and reporting requirements

The ordinance adds environmental-justice and cumulative-impact protections. Cumulative-impact review considers effects in combination with other relevant impacts, rather than examining a proposal only in isolation.

The county also added monitoring requirements and directed staff to report on progress at least twice during the 18-month moratorium. The county announcement does not specify the date of the first required progress report.

The action is temporary, not a permanent ban. Its stated purpose is to give the county time to develop permanent standards for data-center development.

What remains unknown

The county announcement does not identify a specific data-center project that was rejected or halted by the moratorium. It also does not establish that the policy will reduce electricity or water use; those outcomes would require further analysis.

Nor does the announcement establish that every proposal in the broader Santa Fe metropolitan area falls under the rule. The action was taken by Santa Fe County, so coverage depends on the county’s jurisdiction and the ordinance’s application to an individual proposal.

For technology developers and residents, the immediate verified change is the 18-month pause and the lower 1-megawatt threshold. The next known process step is staff work on permanent standards, accompanied by at least two progress reports to county officials during the moratorium.