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Lumen Technologies

LUMN
22
Telecommunications Services · Communication Services
Price
$6.28
-0.03 (-0.48%)
Market Cap
$6.47B
Winston Score
22
Winston is worried
Weak fundamentals across most pillars.

Share count falling — buybacks

6.8% over 4y

The company has reduced its share count over this period, returning value to shareholders through buybacks.

Diluted shares outstanding: 1.07B (2021) → 994.5M (2025)

Lumen Technologies is a large American telecommunications company that sells internet, networking, and phone services. Its main customers are other businesses and government agencies, not everyday consumers. Lumen owns a massive network of fiber-optic cables that runs across the United States and connects to other countries.

Lumen makes money by charging businesses monthly fees to use its network for things like moving large amounts of data, connecting office locations, and hosting cloud services. The company operates primarily in the U.S. but has some international reach. Lumen carries a very heavy debt load from past acquisitions, which is its biggest challenge — the negative operating margin and negative return on invested capital reflect that the business is currently spending more than it earns. The key question going forward is whether growing demand for high-speed network capacity, especially from AI-driven data traffic, can help Lumen reverse its revenue decline and manage its debt obligations.

Winston Score History

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Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

-8.9% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue declining

EPS Growth

+0.0% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Slow EPS growth

R&D Spend

$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (12%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

8.0%ownership

Flat

Insiders holding steady — not selling despite ability to

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$1.6B cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Revenue declining

Lumen Technologies's revenue is actually shrinking. In a growth stock, that removes the core investment thesis. The low Winston Score here may be warranted — unless there's a turnaround story.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Gross Margin
50.5%
Healthy — 50.5% gross margin
Operating Margin
0.2%
Thin — 0.2% operating margin
ROCE
0.0%
Weak — 0.0% return on capital

ROIC between 0% and 5%. They earn a few cents back per dollar invested in the business.

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Growth

Sales YoY
-6.8%
Shrinking sales (-6.8% YoY)
EPS YoY
N/A
Data not available
EPS Consistency
0/8 quarters
Earnings rarely grow — volatile business

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion
N/A
Data not available
FCF Margin
3.7%
Thin free cash flow (3.7%)

FCF margin between 0% and 10%. Some cash from sales, but not a lot.

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Stability

Debt / Equity
1.14
Elevated debt (1.14)
Interest Cover
N/A
Data not available

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)
N/M
Negative earnings — P/E not meaningful
P/E vs Forward
N/A
not available
Data not available

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Dividends

Not applicable for this business.
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