Verizon is preparing to lay off about 4,800 employees by March, leading to a pre-tax write-off of up to $1.9 billion in severance costs for the third quarter. This move will reduce the company’s workforce by approximately 4.5%. 

In addition, Verizon is implementing cost-saving measures, including closing some offices and scaling back non-strategic business segments. The anticipated pre-tax charges for the third quarter are estimated to be between $230 million and $380 million, or $170 million to $290 million after tax.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect Verizon's Q3 adjusted earnings, set to be announced in mid-October, to be $1.18 per share on revenue of $33.7 billion. This is an increase from the previous year’s revenue of $33.3 billion and earnings of $1.08 per share.

Earlier this month, Verizon also announced its acquisition of Frontier Communications for $20 billion, which will extend its Fios fiber internet service to 22 new states. Frontier's 2.2 million fiber subscribers will be added to Verizon’s existing 7.4 million Fios connections.

Verizon’s shares have risen 15% this year, underperforming the S&P 500’s 16% gain. The stock closed at $43.86 on Thursday, slightly below its 52-week high of $43.88. Verizon's current valuation is $184.63 billion, trailing behind T-Mobile's $236.17 billion and AT&T's $154.81 billion. T-Mobile and AT&T have seen gains of 25.1% and 25.2% respectively this year.

This period is also significant for U.S. wireless carriers as pre-orders for the iPhone 16 series have begun, with official sales starting on September 20th.