Lumen Technologies Shares Surge 29.2% After CEO Stock Purchase
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 1h ago
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Should l Buy LUMN?
Source: Fool
- Stock Recovery: Lumen Technologies' shares surged 29.2% on Friday, marking a significant rebound from the sharp decline following Tuesday's earnings report, indicating renewed market confidence in the company's future prospects.
- CEO Stock Purchase: CEO Kate Johnson capitalized on the post-earnings sell-off by purchasing 78,685 shares at an average price of $6.35, totaling approximately $500,000, reflecting her confidence in the company's turnaround strategy.
- Financial Outlook: While the fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share exceeded expectations, revenue only met them, with management projecting full-year free cash flow between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion, including $300 million to $450 million in non-recurring tax refunds.
- Debt Management: Lumen successfully reduced its debt burden by selling its consumer-focused fiber-to-the-home business for $4.8 billion, bringing its debt-to-EBITDA ratio down to 3.8 times, although overall revenue and profit growth remains a critical focus.
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Analyst Views on LUMN
Wall Street analysts forecast LUMN stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for LUMN is 8.33 USD with a low forecast of 7.00 USD and a high forecast of 11.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
6 Analyst Rating
0 Buy
5 Hold
1 Sell
Hold
Current: 6.230
Low
7.00
Averages
8.33
High
11.00
Current: 6.230
Low
7.00
Averages
8.33
High
11.00
About LUMN
Lumen Technologies, Inc. is a networking company, which connects people, data, and applications quickly and securely. The Company is engaged in providing an array of integrated products and services to its domestic and global business customers and its domestic mass market customers. It operates through two segments: Business segment and Mass Markets segment. The Company conducts its operations under four brands: Lumen, which is its flagship brand for serving the enterprise and wholesale markets, including its Private Connectivity Fabric (PCF) network architecture, Lumen Digital products, and its priority services including Edge, Network-as-a-Service and cybersecurity; Quantum Fiber, which provides fiber-based broadband services to residential and small business customers; CenturyLink, which is engaged in providing primarily mass-marketed copper-based communications services, and Black Lotus Labs, which is its cyberthreat research and intelligence arm.
About the author

Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
- Stock Recovery: Lumen Technologies' shares surged 29.2% on Friday, marking a significant rebound from the sharp decline following Tuesday's earnings report, indicating renewed market confidence in the company's future prospects.
- CEO Stock Purchase: CEO Kate Johnson capitalized on the post-earnings sell-off by purchasing 78,685 shares at an average price of $6.35, totaling approximately $500,000, reflecting her confidence in the company's turnaround strategy.
- Financial Outlook: While the fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share exceeded expectations, revenue only met them, with management projecting full-year free cash flow between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion, including $300 million to $450 million in non-recurring tax refunds.
- Debt Management: Lumen successfully reduced its debt burden by selling its consumer-focused fiber-to-the-home business for $4.8 billion, bringing its debt-to-EBITDA ratio down to 3.8 times, although overall revenue and profit growth remains a critical focus.
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- Dow Jones Performance: The Dow Jones index rose over 700 points on Friday, indicating a strong market rebound that reflects investor optimism about economic recovery, which could further drive consumer spending and investment.
- Strategic Shares Surge: Strategy shares jumped 14.1% to $122.56 on Friday, signaling a positive market outlook for the company and potentially attracting more investor interest in its future growth prospects.
- Overall Market Trend: The overall rise in U.S. stocks suggests a restoration of investor confidence, which may lead to increased capital inflows into the stock market, thereby promoting economic growth and corporate earnings.
- Market Data Source: This market update is provided by Benzinga APIs, highlighting improved market information transparency that aids investors in making more informed decisions.
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- Insider Share Purchase: Lumen Technologies CEO Kathleen Johnson purchased $499,900 worth of company shares on Thursday, a move typically interpreted as management's confidence in the business, despite the stock declining about 30% over the last three sessions.
- Earnings Report Meets Expectations: The fourth-quarter results released on Tuesday showed a 9% revenue decline to $3.03 billion, yet the net loss narrowed sharply from $85 million last year to $2 million, indicating some success in cost management.
- Optimistic Future Outlook: Lumen forecasts adjusted EBITDA of $3.1 billion to $3.3 billion for 2026, with analysts suggesting that this milestone provides crucial financial flexibility to accelerate investments in AI connectivity, which could drive margin improvements over time.
- Retail Investor Sentiment Rebounds: Despite the sharp stock decline, retail investor sentiment on Stocktwits has turned bullish, reaching 'extremely bullish', indicating a recovery in market confidence regarding the company's future, with message volume also reported as extremely high.
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- Executive Share Purchase: Lumen Technologies CEO Kathleen Johnson disclosed in a regulatory filing that she purchased approximately $500,000 worth of company shares, indicating strong confidence in the company's future prospects.
- Transaction Details: Johnson acquired 78,685 shares of LUMN common stock at a price of $6.3535 per share, reflecting her recognition of the company's value and potentially influencing market perceptions of the stock.
- Strategic Goals: Lumen aims to achieve $700 million in cost savings by 2026 while advancing its AI network strategy, a move designed to enhance the company's position in a competitive market.
- Earnings Outlook: With Lumen set to release its Q4 2025 earnings soon, market expectations are rising, and analysts are generally optimistic about the company's growth potential in 2026.
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Company Acquisition: Lumen Technologies' CEO, Kathleen Johnson, reports the open market purchase of 78,685 shares of common stock.
Transaction Details: The shares were acquired on February 5 at an average price of $6.3535 per share.
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