Lumen Completes Acquisition of Cloud Networking Firm Alkira

Lumen CFO Chris Stansbury explains the strategic rationale behind the acquisition of Alkira, a cloud-native networking company, and how it accelerates Lumen's transformation from a legacy telco into a provider of AI networking infrastructure. He argues the market still undervalues the stock, highlights an EBITDA inflection this year with potential revenue acceleration, and outlines a growth-focused capital allocation strategy following the sale of the consumer business to AT&T. The conversation also touches on the dividend, the broader AI investment landscape, and possible future M&A. - Lumen closed the acquisition of Alkira, gaining cloud-to-cloud networking capabilities critical for AI workloads. - The deal brings east-west traffic management years ahead of internal build plans and at lower cost. - Management says over half of Lumen's revenue is now in growth areas, yet the stock is still valued like a declining telco. - CFO Stansbury expects EBITDA to inflect this year and signals early potential to pull forward the 2028 revenue inflection target. - The company has restructured its balance sheet, sold non-strategic assets, and unified its credit structure. - Dividend policy is on hold; all resources are directed toward high-ROIC growth investments. - Lumen may pursue additional deals to expand its networking footprint and continues to explore options for the legacy business. - Stansbury describes Lumen's network as a 'nervous system' for AI, essential regardless of which AI companies ultimately win.