Major ClientsWide moat

Verizon (VZ) — moat facet

Verizon has no customer at a tenth of revenue, but its only large institutional buyers are shrinking and its household customers are borrowing more to pay for phones.

Verizon has no major clients in the usual sense. The 10-K says "No single customer accounted for more than 10% of our total operating revenues" in any of the last three years1, and the customer base is 146,953 thousand retail connections2. Families on postpaid plans pay most of the bills.

Allowance as a share of gross device payment receivables (%)4.20%End-2024: $1,315M of $31,308M4.79%End-2025: $1,628M of $34,004MMoat Explorer calc from Verizon Form 10-K FY2025, device payment receivables note
The allowance rose faster than the receivables it covers.

That does not mean there is nothing to watch. Revenue concentration and backlog concentration are different questions, and Verizon answers only the first. Remaining performance obligations were $58.1 billion at the end of 20253, with no split by customer.

The four pages below describe four different relationships. No Customer at Ten Percent is the retail base. Enterprise and Public Sector: Down a Tenth is the group of large institutional customers, the only big buyers Verizon has, and the ones buying less. The Customer Who Owes for the Phone is the credit relationship created by instalment plans. $58 Billion Contracted, Undisclosed by Customer is the backlog.

The cable companies buy wholesale access from Verizon, but their relationship is argued on Comcast and Charter: Customers Who Compete, because they are rivals first.

The largest institutional customers are shrinking fastest. Enterprise and Public Sector revenue fell from $15,076 million in 2023 to $13,532 million in 20254, while Business Markets and Other rose to $13,555 million5, so small and medium companies now buy slightly more from Verizon than large institutions do. The credit side is growing: the allowance on device payment receivables rose from $1,315 million to $1,628 million in 20256.

The position is wide on concentration and narrowing on quality. What would change the verdict is credit: if the allowance on device payment receivables grows faster than the receivables for a second year, from $1,315 million to $1,628 million in 20257, the household customers who carry the company will be under more strain than the churn rate shows.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

No customer at 10%; Enterprise and Public Sector down 10.2% in two years.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Device payment receivables, gross, full year
$34,004M (end-2025), from $31,308M

How much customers owe for phones; growth with a faster-rising allowance would signal strain.

Source: Verizon Form 10-K, FY2025 ↗
Dig deeper
DIG DEEPER 01
No Customer at Ten Percent
No customer reaches a tenth of Verizon's revenue; about 147 million retail connections pay the bills, which protects the company from any one buyer…
DIG DEEPER 02
Enterprise and Public Sector: Down a Tenth
Revenue from Verizon's large enterprise and government customers fell 10.2% in two years, while small-business revenue grew 6.8%.
DIG DEEPER 03
The Customer Who Owes for the Phone
Verizon's customers owe it $34 billion for phones, a lock-in and a source of secured funding whose loss allowance grew 24% in 2025.
DIG DEEPER 04
$58 Billion Contracted, Undisclosed by Customer
Verizon has $55 billion of contracted revenue due mostly within three years, but it does not say who stands behind it.
References
  1. ReportedThe 10-K says "No single customer accounted for more than 10% of our total operating revenues" in any of the last three years, and the customer base is 146,953 thousand retail connections.
    Verizon Communications Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (year ended 31 December 2025) - Item 1 business: services, networks, employees and the Frontier and Starry acquisitions. — FY2025 · publ. 17 February 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedThe 10-K says "No single customer accounted for more than 10% of our total operating revenues" in any of the last three years, and the customer base is 146,953 thousand retail connections.
    Verizon second-quarter 2026 results release, Form 8-K exhibit 99 - consolidated and segment results, operating statistics, cash flow, balance sheet and guidance - operating statistics: connections, net additions, churn, ARPA, upgrades and broadband. — Q2 2026 · publ. 24 July 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedRemaining performance obligations were $58.1 billion at the end of 2025, with no split by customer.
    Verizon Communications Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (year ended 31 December 2025) - financial statements and notes: debt, interest, pensions, receivables, performance obligations and taxes. — FY2025 · publ. 17 February 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedEnterprise and Public Sector revenue fell from $15,076 million in 2023 to $13,532 million in 2025, while Business Markets and Other rose to $13,555 million, so small and medium companies now buy slightly more from Verizon than large institutions do.
    Verizon Communications Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (year ended 31 December 2025) - segment note (Note 13) and MD&A segment results: Consumer and Business revenue, operating income and costs. — FY2025 · publ. 17 February 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedEnterprise and Public Sector revenue fell from $15,076 million in 2023 to $13,532 million in 2025, while Business Markets and Other rose to $13,555 million, so small and medium companies now buy slightly more from Verizon than large institutions do.
    Verizon Communications Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (year ended 31 December 2025) - segment note (Note 13) and MD&A segment results: Consumer and Business revenue, operating income and costs. — FY2025 · publ. 17 February 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedThe credit side is growing: the allowance on device payment receivables rose from $1,315 million to $1,628 million in 2025.
    Verizon Communications Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (year ended 31 December 2025) - financial statements and notes: debt, interest, pensions, receivables, performance obligations and taxes. — FY2025 · publ. 17 February 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedWhat would change the verdict is credit: if the allowance on device payment receivables grows faster than the receivables for a second year, from $1,315 million to $1,628 million in 2025, the household customers who carry the company will be under more strain than the churn rate shows.
    Verizon Communications Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (year ended 31 December 2025) - financial statements and notes: debt, interest, pensions, receivables, performance obligations and taxes. — FY2025 · publ. 17 February 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 29, 2026