Lumen Technologies, Inc., a facilities-based technology and communications company, provides various integrated services and solutions under CenturyLink name to business and residential customers in the United States and internationally. The company operates through five segments: International and Global Accounts Management, Enterprise, Small and Medium Business, Wholesale, and Consumer. It offers IP and data services, including VPN data network, Ethernet, internet protocol (IP), and content delivery services. The company also offers transport and infrastructure services comprising high bandwidth optical networks; unlit optical fiber networks, and related professional and management services; private line services, a direct circuit or channel specifically dedicated for connecting two or more organizational sites; colocation and data center services; and consulting services, which include network management, installation and maintenance of data equipment, and building of proprietary fiber-optic broadband networks for government and business customers. In addition, the company provides voice and collaboration services, including primary rate interface service, local inbound service, switched one-plus, toll free, long distance, and international services; and voice over internet protocol services. Further, it offers IT and managed service that include network, hosting, public and private cloud, and other IT services, as well as intuitive management tools. Additionally, the company is involved in leasing and subleasing of space. As of December 31, 2020, it served approximately 4.5 million broadband subscribers. The company was formerly knowen as CenturyLink, Inc. and changed its name to Lumen Technologies, Inc. in September 2020. Lumen Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana.
Lumen Technologies, Inc. is scheduled to report third-quarter 2021 results on Nov 3, after the closing bell. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered an earnings surprise of 11.6%, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5 cents. In the third quarter, the Monroe, LA-based telecommunications company is expected to have recorded lower revenues on a year-over-year basis owing to a challenging macroeconomic environment in the face of the pandemic. However, Lumen is focused on bolstering its fiber investments across Business and Mass Markets segments, which should position it well for future growth. With improved platform capabilities, the company is making efforts to optimize the Lumen asset portfolio while catering to the dynamic requirements of its wide enterprise customer base on the back of various strategic initiatives. Factors at Play During the quarter under review, Lumen partnered with Microsoft Corporation MSFT to incorporate Microsoft Azure capabilities in the Lumen platform. The partnership will enable businesses and developers to run their Microsoft-based solutions with the Edge Computing services of Lumen, thereby transforming the enterprise application delivery with in-depth insights and customized use cases. Telco giant, T-Mobile US, Inc. TMUS, joined forces with Lumen to extend their support to government agencies by rapidly deploying fixed wireless access service at field locations throughout the United States for improved data access and storage, and continuity of operations. As part of the General Services Administration's 15-year, $50 billion Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions program, the wireless access service from these entities is now available to the federal government and public sector agencies. The federal agencies capitalized on T-Mobile’s 5G network and Lumen’s edge computing platform for the deployment initiative. Lumen secured a contract worth $52 million from the U.S. Army Recruiting Command during the third quarter. It will provide high-speed connectivity to the U.S. Army Recruiting sites as part of this 12-year task order. The company also augmented its fiber network infrastructure in Europe, reinforcing its broadband speed and service capabilities in Switzerland, France, and Spain. In order to address the growing requirement for more data flow between the United States and Europe, Lumen augmented network capacity across the Trans-Atlantic route from Richmond, VA to Paris, France. The new on-net subsea fiber route leveraged the Google Dunant subsea cable system. Moreover, it unveiled Lumen Edge Private Cloud to increase the capacity required for interaction-intensive applications while connecting them to a global fiber network. The solution is fully managed by Lumen and built on VMware Cloud Foundation and Software-Defined Data Center technology with VMware Cloud Director. In the third quarter, Lumen announced that it will aid sustainable datacenter developer, Wyoming Hyperscale White Box, with adaptive and reliable networking and security technology solutions. Wyoming Hyperscale intends to launch its first development site in Aspen, WY, in early 2022. Further, the network services provider also teamed up with the U.S. Postal Service (“USPS”) to revamp the latter’s network services on the back of highly resilient broadband, wireless access, and software-defined networking solutions. Lumen will enhance USPS’ network performance and cost-efficiency with real-time network monitoring and analytics. This task order was awarded under a new USPS multi-vendor, indefinite-quantity, indefinite-delivery contract vehicle. However, a decline in legacy voice services, coupled with economic difficulties as a result of the virus outbreak, is likely to have had an adverse impact on Lumen’s third-quarter revenues. Substitution of its traditional wireline telephone services by wireless and other competitive low-priced offerings together with a massive debt burden might have further dampened its top line in the to-be-reported quarter. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lumen-lumn-gears-q3-earnings-130501789.html
Third Quarter 2021 Highlights - Reported Net Income of $544 million for the third quarter 2021, compared to reported Net Income of $366 million for the third quarter 2020 - Diluted EPS of $0.51 for the third quarter 2021, compared to $0.34 per share for the third quarter 2020. Excluding Special Items, Diluted EPS of $0.49 per share for the third quarter 2021, compared to $0.35 per share for the third quarter 2020 - Generated Adjusted EBITDA of $2.078 billion for the third quarter 2021, compared to $2.132 billion for the third quarter 2020, excluding Special Items of $(31) million benefit and $20 million charge, respectively - Reported Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities of $1.730 billion for the third quarter 2021 - Generated Free Cash Flow of $1.072 billion for the third quarter 2021, compared to $879 million, excluding cash paid for Special Items of $32 million and $73 million, respectively - Updated guidance for the full year 2021 for free cash flow and capital expenditures - Completed the $1 billion August 2021 Stock Repurchase Program on Oct. 5, 2021 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lumen-technologies-reports-third-quarter-201500891.html
