Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - Lumen reported total revenue of $3,092,000,000, a decline of 5.4% year over year, while business segment revenue decreased by 3.4% to $2,490,000,000 [26][21] - Adjusted EBITDA was $877,000,000 with a margin of 28.4%, down from approximately $1,000,000,000 in the same quarter last year [33][21] - Free cash flow was negative $209,000,000, with expectations for improvement in future quarters [34][36] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - Total IP sales increased nearly 38%, with IP revenue up in the mid-single digits [21] - North American enterprise grow revenue increased by 8.5% year over year, while nurture revenue decreased by 18% [30][27] - Mass markets segment revenue declined by 12.8%, but fiber broadband revenue increased by 19.9% year over year [32][26] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - Public sector revenue grew by 8.2% year over year, driven by a 9.4% increase in grow revenue and a 49% increase in harvest revenue [27] - Wholesale revenue declined approximately 5% year over year, with harvest revenue contracting by 6.2% [28] - International and other revenue decreased by 10.9%, primarily due to VPN declines [29] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company is focused on transforming its network to support the AI economy, emphasizing the construction of new infrastructure and digital platforms [20][7] - Lumen aims to leverage its physical network and digital platform to create a scalable commercial ecosystem for customers [20][19] - The company is committed to maintaining discipline in deal-making, ensuring that new contracts are value-accretive [10][4] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management expressed confidence in returning to EBITDA growth and highlighted the importance of modernization and simplification efforts [37][38] - The company anticipates continued lumpiness in cash flow related to PCF contracts and the sale of its consumer fiber business [36][34] - Management noted that the recent reconciliation bill will significantly reduce tax liabilities, providing additional financial flexibility [25][36] Other Important Information - The company successfully refinanced $2,000,000,000 in debt, extending maturities and reducing annual interest expenses by approximately $100,000,000 [24][23] - Lumen's free cash flow guidance for 2025 has been raised to between $1,200,000,000 and $1,400,000,000, primarily due to expected tax refunds and lower CapEx spending [36][34] Q&A Session Summary Question: Performance of North American enterprise segment - Management highlighted that the grow bucket is performing well at 8.5%, which is crucial for future revenue inflection, while nurture revenue is expected to decline [42][43] Question: Expectations for 2026 EBITDA - Management indicated that there are no changes to the expectations for 2026 EBITDA, which is still anticipated to inflect next year [56][57] Question: Incremental costs and their impact - Management noted that there are about $100,000,000 in costs related to forced disconnects and cloud workload transitions, which will impact EBITDA in the second half [64][65] Question: Drivers of PCF sales - The recent $500,000,000 in new PCF contracts is primarily driven by over pull work, which is lower risk and higher margin [62][63] Question: Complexity of building new routes - Management explained that the complexity of building new routes is a significant factor affecting CapEx guidance, but it does not impact revenue timing [80][79]

Core Insights - Lumen Technologies reported a narrower adjusted loss of 13 cents per share for Q1 2025, compared to a consensus estimate of a 29-cent loss and a 4-cent loss in the prior year [1][2] - Total revenues for the quarter were $3.182 billion, down 3.3% year over year, but exceeded the consensus estimate by 2.7% [2] Financial Performance - Business revenues fell 3% year over year to $2.524 billion, while revenues from Large Enterprises dropped 4% to $737 million [5] - Mid-Market Enterprise revenues declined 11% to $513 million, but Public Sector revenues increased by 15% to $483 million [5] - Operating income rose to $107 million from $45 million in the previous year, while adjusted EBITDA decreased to $929 million from $977 million, reflecting respective margins of 29.2% and 29.7% [9] Revenue Drivers - The North American Grow Business saw a revenue increase of 9.9% year over year, contributing positively to overall revenue performance [2] - Lumen secured $8.5 billion in PCF deals in 2024, driven by rising AI connectivity demand, with partnerships established with major tech companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Google Cloud, and Meta Platforms [3] Innovations and Customer Engagement - Lumen introduced Fabric Ports, a new hardware innovation that allows for digital and remote management of network infrastructure, supporting thousands of services on a single port [4] - The customer base for Lumen Digital grew by 23% quarter over quarter, indicating strong customer adoption of the new networking architecture [4] Subscriber Growth - The company added 39,000 Quantum fiber subscribers, bringing the total to 1.1 million in the reported quarter [6] - Lumen enabled 101,000 new Fiber broadband locations, totaling 4.3 million enabled locations as of March 31, 2025 [8] Cash Flow and Liquidity - Lumen generated $1.095 billion in net cash from operations, slightly down from $1.102 billion in the prior year [10] - Free cash flow for the quarter was $354 million, compared to $518 million in the previous year [10] - As of March 31, 2024, Lumen had $1.9 billion in cash and cash equivalents and $17.334 billion in long-term debt, reflecting a significant refinancing effort [11] Future Outlook - For 2025, Lumen expects adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $3.2 billion to $3.4 billion, with capital expenditures between $4.1 billion and $4.3 billion [12] - Free cash flow is anticipated to be between $700 million and $900 million, with management noting variability in cash flow as the company progresses through PCF builds [13]