AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 1.9% – What’s Next?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) traded up 1.9% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $23.84 and last traded at $23.4850. Approximately 44,547,088 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 8% from the average daily volume of 48,559,848 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.05.

Key Stories Impacting AT&T

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

• Positive Sentiment: Mexico divestiture sharpens capital allocation: AT&T agreed to sell its Mexican wireless business to Grupo Televisa and Fintech Holdings for $2 billion in cash, plus potential additional benefits. The transaction, expected to close in early 2027 pending approvals, should allow AT&T to concentrate investment on its U.S. fiber and 5G networks. AT&T to Sell AT&T Mexico to Grupo Televisa and Fintech Holdings
• Positive Sentiment: Fiber expansion gains scale: AT&T’s $5.75 billion purchase of Lumen Technologies’ consumer fiber business adds more than 1 million subscribers and over 4 million locations. Buying established networks could accelerate broadband growth and support bundled wireless and internet offerings, though investors will assess whether the acquisition creates more value than internally building fiber. AT&T: Does Buying Fiber Create More Value Than Building It?
• Positive Sentiment: Customer-service initiative supports retention: AT&T expanded its “America’s Best Guarantee,” promising access to an expert within five minutes or a scheduled callback, along with dedicated support for customers combining fiber or Internet Air with wireless service. The move may improve customer satisfaction and reduce churn, although its direct financial impact is uncertain. AT&T Expands America’s Best Guarantee
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings optimism: Analysts expect AT&T’s upcoming results to benefit from favorable earnings trends and potential upside to estimates. Investors are also weighing management’s evolving emphasis on growth and network investment against the company’s debt-reduction priorities. AT&T Earnings Expected to Grow
• Negative Sentiment: SpaceX-related competition pressures wireless stocks: Reports linking SpaceX to spectrum or satellite-based connectivity developments have weighed on AT&T and other carriers by raising concerns about future competition. Some commentary views the selloff as a potential buying opportunity, but the technology’s longer-term impact on AT&T’s wireless economics remains unclear. AT&T Stock Got Crushed by SpaceX News
• Negative Sentiment: Data-breach settlement adds a legal overhang: A court approved a $177 million settlement related to two 2024 AT&T data breaches. The payment is unlikely to alter the company’s overall investment thesis, but it reinforces cybersecurity and reputational risks. AT&T Settlement Payout

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Argus reduced their target price on shares of AT&T from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AT&T from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of AT&T from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of AT&T from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of AT&T from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.05.

AT&T Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $24.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.25.

AT&T (NYSE:T) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. AT&T had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 12.86%. The firm had revenue of $31.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. AT&T has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AT&T Inc. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. AT&T’s payout ratio is 36.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in AT&T in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,310,898,000. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,223,364,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of AT&T during the 2nd quarter worth about $960,695,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 334,273,613 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,919,464,000 after acquiring an additional 18,468,679 shares during the period. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of AT&T during the 2nd quarter valued at about $259,954,000. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company’s stock.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T Inc (NYSE: T) is a telecommunications company that provides wireless communications, broadband, and related connectivity services. Its offerings include mobile voice and data plans, internet access, fiber broadband, fixed wireless services, and business communications solutions.

The company serves consumers, businesses, government agencies, and other organizations primarily in the United States. AT&T’s business operations include wireless network services, wireline connectivity, fiber-optic internet, voice services, and networking solutions designed to connect locations, devices, and applications.

AT&T traces its history to the Bell System and has operated under its current corporate name since 2005, following the acquisition of AT&T Corp.