Is the business good?
How good a business is LUMN?
Lumen Technologies, Inc. earns −2.5% on the capital it employs against a 9.0% cost of capital, so growth costs more than it returns.
−2.5%
Return on invested capital · cost of capital 9.0% · 12 points below what the capital costs: growth destroys value
- Operating margin
- −2.6%
Operating margin · Telecom Services median 11% · 12 months to Q1 2026
- Share count, year on year
- +0.77%
Share count, year on year · flat: no meaningful dilution
- Gross margin
- 47%
Gross margin
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2020 | 4.6% |
| FY2021 | 22% |
| FY2022 | 0.54% |
| FY2023 | −66% |
| FY2024 | 3.5% |
| FY2025 | −6.6% |
Details›
- Gross margin12 months to Q1 2026
- 47%
- Operating margin12 months to Q1 2026
- −2.6%
- Net margin12 months to Q1 2026
- −14%
- Free cash flow margin
- 3.7%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $12.1B
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- $447M
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- −$1.74B
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- −2.5%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion from the cash flow statement.