Verizon Communications (VZ) had a rough Wednesday. The telecom giant suffered a nationwide outage that left customers unable to make calls, send texts, or use data for hours. Emergency alerts went off unnecessarily, people couldn't reach each other, and the complaints flooded in from across the country.

By Wednesday night, Verizon announced the outage was resolved. But here's where things get interesting for investors: the company also promised account credits for affected customers. On Thursday morning, they put a number on it: $20 per customer.

The Math Gets Uncomfortable Fast

Let's do some back-of-the-envelope math. Verizon has over 140 million customers in the United States alone. If every customer qualifies for that $20 credit, you're looking at more than $2.8 billion in credits. And that number could climb higher since Verizon said it will contact business customers separately about credits.

Verizon tried to soften the blow with its messaging. The company said the $20 credit "on average, covers multiple days of service" and clarified that it "isn't meant to make up for what happened." Instead, it's meant to acknowledge customers' time and show that they matter to the company. They added a sincere apology for the disruption.

It's a smart PR move, and it might help with customer retention. But it doesn't change the fact that Verizon is about to take a significant financial hit.

What This Means for the Bottom Line

The impact will show up in Verizon's first quarter results. The company is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 30, and you can bet analysts will be asking pointed questions about the outage and its financial implications.

The big question is whether Verizon will break out the specific financial damage from the outage or simply roll it into their guidance figures. Either way, investors want clarity on how this affects the company's outlook for the next fiscal year and the first quarter.

For context, analysts are expecting fourth-quarter revenue of $36.06 billion, up from $35.70 billion in the prior year, according to data from MarketDash Pro. The company has beaten revenue estimates in three of the last four quarters.

On the earnings side, analysts expect fourth-quarter earnings per share of $1.06, down from $1.10 in last year's fourth quarter. Verizon has beaten EPS estimates for three straight quarters, so it has some momentum going into the report.

How the Market Is Reacting

Here's what's curious: Verizon shares actually closed higher on Wednesday, while the outage was still fresh news. Investors seemed unfazed by the disruption or didn't immediately price in the potential financial consequences.

Thursday was a different story. The stock dropped 1.3% to $39.30 as reality set in. Investors appear to be reassessing what the outage means for earnings and whether customers might defect to competitors over the incident.

For most customers, Wednesday's outage was an inconvenience rather than a catastrophe. But inconveniences have consequences in the telecom business. Sometimes customers leave for competitors. Other times, companies have to shell out credits to keep people happy. In this case, Verizon is doing the latter on a potentially massive scale.

The stock is trading well within its 52-week range of $10.60 to $47.36, but all eyes will be on that Jan. 30 earnings call. Investors and analysts will be listening carefully for guidance that provides a clear picture of just how much this outage will cost the company beyond the immediate credit payouts.