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AT&T Stock Rises as Q2 Beat Fuels Bigger Buybacks

ELLIS HOBBS•UPDATED JUL. 24, 2026, 4:09 PM ET
Reviewed by Matt Monacoand Fact-checked by Bryce Tuohey

AT&T Inc. stocks have been trading up by 4.79 percent following upbeat news on network expansion and subscriber growth.

What Traders Need To Know

  • Q2 adjusted EPS came in at $0.65 versus $0.59 expected and $0.54 a year ago, with 2.3% revenue growth slightly under forecasts but backed by strong wireless and record fiber plus fixed wireless net adds.
  • Management reaffirmed 2026 EPS guidance of $2.25–$2.35, expects 3%–4% EBITDA growth, at least $18B in 2026 free cash flow, and aims to return over $45B to shareholders from 2026–2028 while reducing leverage.
  • An accelerated $10B buyback and higher planned 2026 repurchases ($10B vs. $8B) show management sees T as undervalued, leaning on solid fiber and wireless performance.
  • Strategy is shifting hard toward fiber and 5G, with the largest-ever fiber build in 2026, faster copper shutdown, and heavy AI-focused network investment to support advanced connectivity.
  • Major brokers including RBC, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Citi remain bullish on AT&T Inc., with RBC and Morgan Stanley lifting targets and others only trimming slightly while still citing strong wireless, fiber, and advanced connectivity trends.

Candlestick Chart

Weekly Update Jul 20 – Jul 24, 2026: On Friday, July 24, 2026 AT&T Inc. stock [NYSE: T] is trending up by 4.79%! Discover the key drivers behind this movement as well as our expert analysis in the detailed breakdown below.

Media industry expert:

Analyst sentiment – positive

AT&T’s fundamentals show a mature, cash‑rich telecom with underappreciated earnings power. With $125.6B revenue, EBIT margin of 23% and EBITDA margin near 40%, profitability now sits at the high end of global telco peers. A 7.5x P/E and ~6x P/FCF multiple are clearly undemanding given ROE near 20% and ROIC above 10%. Leverage remains elevated (total debt/equity 1.47x, ~3.9x leverage), but 6.9x interest coverage and $18B+ FCF guidance make the balance sheet manageable.

Technically, the weekly tape shows a sharp bullish inflection: a clean progression from ~$22 to $24 with a strong breakout candle on 7/24, confirming an emerging uptrend from a multi‑month base. Recent 5‑minute action has shown persistent dip‑buying and above‑average volume on up‑moves, indicating institutions are adding. First actionable level is $23.00–23.10 as near‑term support; sustained closes above $24 open room toward the high‑20s as the next resistance band.

Catalysts are skewed positively: repeated EPS beats, reaffirmed 2026–2028 guidance, a $10B accelerated buyback, and consensus Overweight ratings (targets $27–30) underpin a clear re‑rating path versus Media/Telecom peers trading at higher multiples with weaker FCF visibility. Fiber and 5G/AI‑network investments, plus copper shutdown‑driven cost savings, support mid‑single‑digit EBITDA growth and rising FCF to >$21B by 2028. I see fair value at $27–28 within 12–18 months, with strong support at $22 and resistance at $25.50–26.

More Breaking News

Quick Financial Overview

AT&T Inc. just printed a clean earnings beat on the bottom line. Adjusted EPS of $0.65 topped the $0.59 estimate and improved from $0.54 last year, even as revenue grew 2.3% and landed a bit below consensus. That tells traders the margin engine is doing the heavy lifting, helped by wireless adds, record combined fiber and fixed wireless net adds, and advanced connectivity growth.

The weekly chart shows T grinding higher from roughly $22 to a $24.08 close, with each dip getting bought and new highs printed into the latest session. Intraday, the 5‑minute tape shows a steady intraday uptrend: an opening push from the low $23s, a midday base around $23.70–$23.80, and a late ramp that held above $24 into the close. That pattern is classic post‑earnings accumulation rather than a one‑and‑done spike.

Under the hood, the fundamentals back that price action. AT&T Inc. runs strong margins for a telco, with about 23.1% EBIT margin and a rich 74.2% gross margin, on roughly $125.6B in revenue. The stock trades at a low 7.48 P/E and about 1.26x sales, with price to free cash flow near 6.1, so the valuation is still compressed. Free cash flow for the quarter was about $5.1B, easily covering cash dividends of roughly $1.98B and supporting a dividend yield near 4.8%. Leverage is real, with total debt to equity around 1.47 and a leverage ratio of 3.9, but interest coverage near 6.9x and management’s plan for at least $18B in 2026 free cash flow and rising to $21B+ by 2028 show a path to gradual balance sheet improvement.

Conclusion

This is stock news, not investment advice. Timothy Sykes News delivers real-time stock market news focused on key catalysts driving short-term price movements. Our content is tailored for active traders and investors seeking to capitalize on rapid price fluctuations, particularly in volatile sectors like penny stocks. Readers come to us for detailed coverage on earnings reports, mergers, FDA approvals, new contracts, and unusual trading volumes that can trigger significant short-term price action. Some users utilize our news to explain sudden stock movements, while others rely on it for diligent research into potential investment opportunities.

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The available research on day trading suggests that most active traders lose money. Fees and overtrading are major contributors to these losses.

A 2000 study called “Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors” evaluated 66,465 U.S. households that held stocks from 1991 to 1996. The households that traded most averaged an 11.4% annual return during a period where the overall market gained 17.9%. These lower returns were attributed to overconfidence.

A 2014 paper (revised 2019) titled “Learning Fast or Slow?” analyzed the complete transaction history of the Taiwan Stock Exchange between 1992 and 2006. It looked at the ongoing performance of day traders in this sample, and found that 97% of day traders can expect to lose money from trading, and more than 90% of all day trading volume can be traced to investors who predictably lose money. Additionally, it tied the behavior of gamblers and drivers who get more speeding tickets to overtrading, and cited studies showing that legalized gambling has an inverse effect on trading volume.

A 2019 research study (revised 2020) called “Day Trading for a Living?” observed 19,646 Brazilian futures contract traders who started day trading from 2013 to 2015, and recorded two years of their trading activity. The study authors found that 97% of traders with more than 300 days actively trading lost money, and only 1.1% earned more than the Brazilian minimum wage ($16 USD per day). They hypothesized that the greater returns shown in previous studies did not differentiate between frequent day traders and those who traded rarely, and that more frequent trading activity decreases the chance of profitability.

These studies show the wide variance of the available data on day trading profitability. One thing that seems clear from the research is that most day traders lose money .

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Citations for Disclaimer

Barber, Brad M. and Odean, Terrance, Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors. Available at SSRN: “Day Trading for a Living?”

Barber, Brad M. and Lee, Yi-Tsung and Liu, Yu-Jane and Odean, Terrance and Zhang, Ke, Learning Fast or Slow? (May 28, 2019). Forthcoming: Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=2535636”

Chague, Fernando and De-Losso, Rodrigo and Giovannetti, Bruno, Day Trading for a Living? (June 11, 2020). Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=3423101”