AT&T (NYSE:T) Trading 1.3% Higher – Still a Buy?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s stock price shot up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $24.52 and last traded at $24.4350. 74,225,479 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 45% from the average daily volume of 51,334,801 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.13.

AT&T News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting AT&T this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Expanded D-Wave partnership supports innovation narrative: AT&T will broaden its use of D-Wave Quantum’s annealing systems for network optimization, including outage detection, technician routing and traffic management. Initial testing reportedly reduced processing time from about one hour to 15 seconds, or roughly a 240-fold improvement. The agreement validates AT&T’s use of emerging technology, although financial terms were not disclosed. D-Wave Wins Wider AT&T Deal After 15-Second Test
• Positive Sentiment: Earnings beat and larger buyback improve capital-return appeal: AT&T reported adjusted earnings of $0.65 per share, ahead of the $0.59 consensus estimate and above $0.54 a year earlier. Management also increased its 2026 share-repurchase plan to approximately $10 billion from $8 billion, reinforcing the investment case for a low-valued, income-oriented stock. AT&T Beat on Earnings and Announced a $10 Billion Buyback
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation and fiber growth remain supportive: Recent commentary highlights AT&T’s low earnings multiple, roughly 4.6% dividend yield and continued fiber expansion. These factors may attract income-focused investors and help explain why the stock has moved higher despite broader market volatility. AT&T: 235% Coverage, Fiber Growth Surge, Low P/E
• Neutral Sentiment: Partnership impact is strategically positive but financially unquantified: The D-Wave expansion could improve network efficiency over time, but AT&T has not provided a revenue contribution, cost-savings estimate or implementation timeline. The immediate stock reaction is therefore likely driven more by investor sentiment than by revised earnings expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue slightly missed expectations: Quarterly revenue was $31.56 billion versus the $31.80 billion analyst consensus, tempering the earnings beat. AT&T also continues to carry substantial debt, which remains an important risk for investors focused on interest costs and balance-sheet flexibility.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AT&T from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded AT&T from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Wolfe Research raised AT&T from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $29.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of AT&T from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.19.

AT&T Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.23. The company has a market capitalization of $167.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $31.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.80 billion. AT&T had a return on equity of 12.86% and a net margin of 16.94%.AT&T’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. AT&T has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2775 per share. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. AT&T’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AT&T

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of T. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of AT&T by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 48,579 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after buying an additional 10,188 shares in the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 4,352.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,234 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $180,000 after buying an additional 6,094 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 26,796 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $775,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 55,730 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,613,000 after buying an additional 9,115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its stake in AT&T by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 207,063 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,992,000 after acquiring an additional 3,677 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T Inc is a global telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and digital entertainment services. Its core activities include consumer and business wireless services, broadband and fiber internet, and network infrastructure. The company operates branded wireless services through AT&T Mobility and deploys fixed-line and fiber networks to deliver high-speed internet and related home services.

AT&T’s product and service portfolio spans mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and device sales, home internet (including fiber-to-the-home where available), and managed connectivity solutions for enterprise customers.