DALLAS, August 20, 2026, 13:12 EDT — Trading has begun in U.S. cash markets.
- New trend data shows AT&T outages in Reseda and Lexington following fiber vandalism incidents.
- AT&T stock was steady at $25.14 as of 13:12 EDT.
- The reported $76 million yearly loss from theft represents approximately 0.42% of projected 2026 free-cash-flow guidance.
AT&T Inc. NYSE:T shares showed little change on Thursday amid reports of service outages originating in Reseda, California, and Lexington. The trend page connected both incidents to damage caused to a fiber line but did not specify the number of customers affected or provide a timeframe for repairs, leaving the financial implications uncertain.
The subdued response from the stock market reflects investors’ stance. While localized outages may significantly impact customers and emergency responders, a one-off event generally does not affect AT&T’s earnings expectations unless the outages expand or are prolonged.
AT&T shares were last at $25.14, rising 0.02% as of 13:12 EDT. The stock moved between $25.04 and $25.27 during the session. The price was 15.6% under the 52-week peak of $29.79.
| Thursday snapshot | Verified reading | Investor relevance |
|---|---|---|
| AT&T price | $25.14 at 13:12 EDT | Rises 0.02%; no apparent outage markdown |
| Day range | $25.04–$25.27 | Narrow intraday range |
| Outage locations | Reseda and Lexington | Regional event, not nationally verified |
| Customer/cost count | Not publicly quantified | Effects still initial |
Chronic infrastructure crime remains a significant problem. AT&T reported close to 8,700 instances of copper theft across the country throughout 2025. Repair expenses totaled roughly $76 million, an AT&T engineering executive said.
The amount appears significant. It represents about 0.42% of AT&T’s projected free cash flow exceeding $18 billion for 2026. It also accounts for just 0.06% of annualized revenue from the most recent quarter.
| Scale comparison | Amount | $76 million theft cost as share |
|---|---|---|
| Costs for 2025 repairs nationwide | $76 million | Reference amount |
| Second quarter 2026 revenue | $31.6 billion | 0.24% |
| 2Q revenue annualized | $126.4 billion | 0.06% |
| Free cash flow forecast 2026 | $18 billion+ | 0.42% or less |
| Capital spending in 2Q 2026 | $6.1 billion | 1.25% |
The process remains under scrutiny. According to AT&T, thieves targeting copper can unintentionally sever adjacent fiber. The duration for repairs depends on cable type, extent of damage, and accessibility. The company pays rewards of $20,000 in California and $10,000 in Kentucky.
“A lot of times they don’t know what is copper versus fiber,” AT&T engineering executive Jeff Luong said in a 2025 interview. This confusion can turn a theft aimed at outdated copper networks into an outage affecting fiber. CNN via Yahoo Finance
| Network and customer metric | 2Q 2026 | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Fiber net additions | 367,000 | Grows the higher-value broadband segment |
| Fixed-wireless net additions | 279,000 | Introduces another option for home internet |
| Postpaid phone net additions | 432,000 | Drives steady service revenue growth |
| Postpaid phone churn | 0.86% | Indicates retention remained strong |
| Fiber locations reached | 38.6 million | Increases the network’s security scope |
The increase in customers far outweighs local disruption, which remains unquantified. Advanced Connectivity service revenue increased 5.1% in the second quarter, while segment operating income rose 20.3%.
Chief Executive John Stankey said the quarter demonstrated AT&T’s “structural advantages to lead the next era of connectivity.” The management team increased its planned repurchases for 2026, bringing the total to roughly $10 billion. That amount in capital return is over 130 times larger than the company’s reported theft costs for 2025.
| Analyst | Firm | Recommendation | Target | Upside from $25.14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Funk | Bank of America | Buy | $34 | 35.2% |
| Peter Supino | Wolfe Research | Buy | $29 | 15.3% |
| Simon Flannery | Morgan Stanley | Overweight | $27 | 7.4% |
| Gregory Williams | TD Cowen | Hold | $33 | 31.3% |
| Marie Ferguson | Argus Research | Buy | $30 | 19.3% |
Analyst commentary has stayed largely positive, though results are mixed. Bank of America cited improvements in subscriber additions and free cash flow, while Wolfe Research noted minimal churn and ongoing share repurchases.
Risks: Ongoing vandalism may increase expenses related to repairs, security and customer credits. More extensive outages have the potential to boost churn and prompt oversight from regulators. Verified details on the number of affected customers, outage length and company expenses are still missing from the current Reseda and Lexington updates.
At present, investors are treating the incident as insignificant. The focus remains on whether it happens again, rather than this single cable cut. The risk would become significant only if there is a change in churn, fiber deployments, or the $18 billion cash-flow objective.
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| Signal | Current read |
|---|---|
| Service reports | Reseda + Lexington |
| Public customer count | Not disclosed |
| Fiber locations reached | 38.6M |
| 2026 buybacks planned | ~$10B |
| Key threshold | Churn / FCF guide |
