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The Moat Index

Lumen Technologies, Inc.

LUMN · Communications · $6.4B mkt cap · FY2025 filings · No moat ·

Doesn't clear the bar

33/ 100
No moat

The four filters

Pricing power82

Median gross margin 52.4% over 10y, stable.

Returns on capital0

Median ROIC 1.3%, above the 9% hurdle in 0% of years.

Balance-sheet safety0

Net debt/EBITDA 8.5x, interest coverage -1x.

Capital discipline44

Owner earnings trend unclear, share count n/a.

Margin of safety

Above valueOn sale
No price data
Owner earnings (normalized)
—
Est. intrinsic value / share
—
Recent price
$6.28
Discount to value
No price data

Conservative model: 9% discount rate, 0% assumed growth (capped at 4%), maintenance capex ≈ min(capex, D&A).

19 years of fundamentals

The business, in plain English

Lumen Technologies, Inc. booked $11.3B of revenue in FY2025 in the Communications sector and kept 41.4% of it as gross profit — a solid-margin business by that measure. After every other cost, −15.3% of each revenue dollar reached the bottom line.

Across the filed record, revenue grew from $2.6B (FY2008) to $11.3B (FY2025) — about 9.0% a year compounded over 17 years.

It earned −4.2% on invested capital in FY2025, with a median of 3.2% across 18 filed years. The Returns on Capital filter above scores it 0/100.

The balance sheet carried $17.4B of total debt in FY2025. Balance-Sheet Safety scores it 0/100.

The share count rose 845.2% between FY2007 and FY2025 — existing owners have been diluted over the record. Capital Discipline scores it 44/100.

Put together: Pricing Power is the strongest of the four filters (82/100) and Returns on Capital the weakest (0/100), which is how LUMN lands at 33/100 — a None moat.

This breakdown is generated from the filed numbers and sub-scores above — no outside narrative, no estimates. Where a filing doesn’t disclose an input, the sentence that would need it is omitted instead of guessed.

FY2007–FY2025 · 19 fiscal years, normalized from LUMN’s SEC filings

RevenueSales, as filed$11.3B FY2025
$0$10B$20B2007201320192025
Gross marginRevenue kept after cost of goods41.4% FY2025
0%25%50%2007201320192025
Return on invested capitalOperating profit on the capital employed−4.2% FY2025
−25%0%2007201320192025
Owner earningsCash an owner could take out−$1.7B FY2025
−$10B$02007201320192025

Gaps in a line mean that item isn’t in LUMN’s filings for that year — the series is never interpolated or estimated. The Table view lists every filed value, including operating and net margins, total debt, and share count.

Moat Score history

3 logged readings since Jul 17, 2026 · append-only, never rewritten

Moat Score over timeLast scored reading of each day, on the 0–100 scale33.3 / 100
0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatJul 17, 2026

Score history begins Jul 17, 2026 — the record builds from here and can’t be backfilled.

Tier changesSame-methodology crossings of the Wide / Narrow / Shallow bars

None yet — LUMN has read No moat for every logged capture since Jul 17, 2026.

Scores are logged append-only and never overwritten — this record can’t be backfilled, which is exactly why it’s worth keeping.

Communications context

#37 of 56 scored Communications companies, ranked by Moat Score.

Nearest peers by Moat Score

  1. #35SHEN Shenandoah Telecommunications Company34.8No moat
  2. #36VSAT VIASAT, INC.34.8No moat
  3. #38SPIR SPIRE GLOBAL, INC.31.5No moat
  4. #39AD ARRAY DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE, INC.31.4No moat

Compare LUMN with its nearest peers →All Communications companies on the Index →

Common questions about LUMN

Does Lumen Technologies, Inc. have an economic moat?
Based on its FY2025 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores Lumen Technologies, Inc. (LUMN) 33.3 out of 100 — below the Shallow-moat bar, so no moat. The four filters behind that score (each 0–100): pricing power 82, returns on capital 0, balance-sheet safety 0, capital discipline 44.
How has LUMN's Moat Score changed over time?
The record logs 3 readings since Jul 17, 2026; the latest reads 33.3 out of 100 (no moat). No tier changes on record yet. The history is append-only — readings are only ever added, never rewritten.
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Scored from primary SEC filings via the public methodology. Educational only — not a recommendation to buy or sell LUMN. See the disclaimer.

Lumen Technologies, Inc. (LUMN) Moat Score — The Moat Index · Buy Like Buffett