Key Takeaways for AT&T Stock as of July 2026
- Adjusted EPS hit $0.65 in the second quarter, up from $0.54 a year ago and well above the $0.59 the company had guided toward, while free cash flow of $4.7 billion topped the high end of AT&T’s own $4 billion to $4.5 billion range.
- Revenue of $31,558 million grew 2.3% year over year but landed just short of expectations, leaving the top line as the one soft spot in an otherwise clean quarter.
- Management raised its 2026 buyback plan by 25%, to roughly $10 billion, pulling forward repurchases it had originally slated through 2028.
- CEO John Stankey called the current share price “incredibly undervalued” and tied that view directly to the accelerated buyback, a signal that AT&T’s own management sees a gap between the business and the stock.
Compare AT&T’s Q2 earnings against its own history and the TIKR valuation model on TIKR for free →
AT&T’s Fiber Land Grab Is Finally Showing Up in the Margin Line
AT&T (T) closed its second quarter of 2026 with adjusted EPS of $0.65, a 20% jump from $0.54 a year earlier and a beat against the $0.59 the company had pointed to heading into the print. Revenue reached $31,558 million, up 2.3% year over year, though that fell 0.8% short of where AT&T itself expected the quarter to land. The miss was narrow and the growth still accelerated from the first quarter’s pace, but it was the only line in the report that didn’t clear its own bar.
Everything below revenue told a stronger story. Adjusted EBITDA margin climbed 103 basis points to 39.1%, the highest level since AT&T refocused the business around fiber and wireless earlier this decade. Free cash flow of $4.7 billion beat the top of the company’s $4 billion to $4.5 billion guidance range and grew $300 million from a year ago, even as capital investment rose to $6.1 billion from $5.1 billion to fund the fastest pace of fiber construction in the company’s history. That combination, spending more while generating more cash, is the clearest evidence yet that the fiber and convergence strategy is paying for itself rather than just adding cost.
The engine behind that margin expansion is convergence: customers who buy both fiber internet and wireless service from AT&T. CFO Pascal Desroches said advanced connectivity, the segment covering fiber and 5G that now generates over 90% of service revenue, grew EBITDA 8% year over year on 5.1% service revenue growth, an acceleration of 150 basis points from the first quarter. Consumer postpaid wireless account additions hit 147,000, the best result in three years, while 42.5% of home internet customers now also carry an AT&T wireless line.
CEO John Stankey addressed the capital return decision directly on the Q2 earnings call: “I probably have a bias that says, I’d like to buy more of it back because I think it’s incredibly undervalued.” That comment came alongside the decision to lift 2026 buybacks by $2 billion to roughly $10 billion, pulling forward repurchases originally planned through 2028. That buyback push has come alongside a dividend AT&T stock has kept steady for four consecutive quarters, a signal management is funding growth and shareholder returns without touching the payout.
Legacy copper is the drag management is actively cutting away. That segment’s service revenue fell 26% and EBITDA dropped 46% as AT&T won FCC approval to retire copper voice service across more than 30% of its wire centers, with a couple hundred expected to reach zero customers by year end. Net debt sits at 2.68 times adjusted EBITDA, and AT&T still expects that ratio to rise toward 3.2 times once its EchoStar spectrum deal closes before leverage retreats to a 2.5 times target within roughly three years. Full-year guidance held at $2.25 to $2.35 in adjusted EPS and $18 billion plus in free cash flow, numbers that now look more conservative given how the second quarter came in.
See how AT&T’s margin expansion and buyback pace compare to its full financial history on TIKR for free →
TIKR’s $39 Target Prices AT&T Stock for a 71% Return
TIKR’s mid-case model values AT&T stock at $39 by the end of 2030, implying a 71% total return from the current price of $23, or 13% annualized over 4.4 years.
That annualized figure sits well above what most income-oriented telecom investors have come to expect from a business this size, and it comes without requiring the multiple expansion that riskier growth names depend on.
The model’s return case leans on exactly the dynamics management described on the call: margin expansion from convergence, cash flow strong enough to fund an accelerated buyback, and a legacy cost base that keeps shrinking as copper gets retired. AT&T stock’s own management just backed that view with capital, lifting the 2026 repurchase target by 25% while calling the shares undervalued in the same breath.
Should You Invest in AT&T Inc.?
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Pull up AT&T Inc. stock and you’ll see years of historical financials, what Wall Street analysts expect for revenue and earnings in the quarters ahead, how valuation multiples have moved over time, and whether price targets are trending up or down.
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Disclaimer:
Please note that the articles on TIKR are not intended to serve as investment or financial advice from TIKR or our content team, nor are they recommendations to buy or sell any stocks. We create our content based on TIKR Terminal’s investment data and analysts’ estimates. Our analysis might not include recent company news or important updates. TIKR has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading, and happy investing!
