NEW YORK, June 29, 2026, 12:09 EDT
- As of 12:09 EDT, regular trading was underway in U.S. cash markets. The NYSE trades from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. According to the 2026 holiday schedule, the next closure falls on July 3 for Independence Day.
- AT&T NYSE:T dropped 5.2% to $21.55 as of 11:56 a.m. ET. The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLC) gained 1.8%, and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) was up 1.3%.
- The AT&T-Charter spread during the session was near 17 points. Verizon NYSE:VZ dropped 6.9%. T-Mobile US NASDAQ:TMUS was down 4.7%.
- AT&T’s $1.11 annualized dividend gives a yield near 5.2%. The company’s planned shareholder payouts of more than $45 billion represent around 30% of its market value.
AT&T Inc. NYSE:T lagged the rest of the communications sector as the market climbed. The stock dropped 5.2% to $21.55 just before noon in New York, trailing the XLC by nearly 7 points. Shares touched a session low of $21.28, trading just 1.2% above that by late morning.
The spread is key since this wasn’t just a sector drop. Cash flowed to cable and space plays as legacy wireless carriers fell.
| Instrument | Google Finance ticker | Price | Move | Intraday range | Gap vs AT&T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T | NYSE:T | $21.55 | -5.2% | $21.28-$22.69 | — |
| Verizon | NYSE:VZ | $43.34 | -6.9% | $42.79-$46.47 | -1.7 pts |
| T-Mobile US | NASDAQ:TMUS | $174.06 | -4.7% | $169.30-$182.99 | +0.5 pts |
| Charter Communications | NASDAQ:CHTR | $149.53 | +11.9% | $135.12-$171.50 | +17.1 pts |
| Comcast | NASDAQ:CMCSA | $24.82 | +7.1% | $23.08-$29.66 | +12.3 pts |
| SpaceX | NASDAQ:SPCX | $156.82 | +2.3% | $151.78-$159.73 | +7.5 pts |
| XLC | NYSEARCA:XLC | $108.05 | +1.8% | $107.69-$108.50 | +6.9 pts |
| SPY | NYSEARCA:SPY | $738.19 | +1.3% | $732.30-$739.76 | +6.4 pts |
Quote data was recorded around 11:56 a.m. ET. Gaps show percentage-point spreads versus AT&T’s price move.
Pressure on AT&T is coming from outside the company after Reuters said Space Exploration Technologies Corp. NASDAQ:SPCX and Charter Communications NASDAQ:CHTR have discussed a consumer mobile-phone partnership at the executive level in the U.S. Reuters, citing Bloomberg, reported Charter wouldn’t comment and SpaceX did not reply right away. SpaceX has told investors it wants to launch a U.S. Starlink mobile offering, according to the Financial Times, which would put it in head-to-head competition with Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile.
This worry about AT&T isn’t new. Oppenheimer’s Timothy Horan told investors earlier this month they may be missing the risk from low-earth-orbit satellite broadband for AT&T, according to MarketWatch.
AT&T’s Monday move looks more like a play on subscriber risk than on cash from the spectrum auction. Light Reading, citing FCC data, reported Verizon picked up 82 AWS-3 licenses at $3.16 billion, T-Mobile got 102 for $277.78 million, and AT&T took 10 for $120.77 million. Roger Entner of Recon Analytics called AT&T’s bidding “very selective and judicious.” Entner’s main point on SpaceX was direct: “The big takeaway is that Elon is coming.” Light Reading
Comcast Corp. NASDAQ:CMCSA is breaking itself up. The company said Monday that it will split, creating two separate public firms, one for its cable, wireless, and business-services unit and another for NBCUniversal and Sky. After news of the split, Comcast shares jumped almost 8%. Charter climbed 11.2%. Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile slipped between 3.9% and 5.8%. PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore told Reuters, “Connectivity and media are no longer naturally moving at the same speed.” Reuters
AT&T is sticking with fiber and wireless as its main strategy and not planning another big deal. CFO Pascal Desroches told the Mizuho Technology Conference the company’s focus is on organic growth and making the most of its recent assets. “We don’t need to do anything at this stage,” he said. As for AI, he said, “AI doesn’t exist without our connectivity.” AT&T Investor Relations
Desroches said AT&T bought around 4.5 million fiber passings from Lumen Technologies NYSE:LUMN for about $5.8 billion. Those assets have 25% penetration, below AT&T’s national average of 40%. He said AT&T wants to more than double the number of passings over five years and that demand is running higher now than it did under Lumen.
| AT&T investor math | Latest figure | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Share price | $21.55 | Lower shares push up yield, buyback leverage |
| Market value | $151.4 billion | Used in returns to holders |
| Price/earnings ratio | 7.3x | Cheap vs most, but market skeptical on long-term cash |
| Annualized common dividend | $1.11 a share | Quarterly dividend is $0.2775 |
| Implied dividend yield | About 5.2% | Yield is a bigger chunk of the bull story now |
| 2026-2028 return plan | $45 billion-plus | Close to 30% of market cap at today’s price |
| Q2 free cash flow outlook | $4.0 billion-$4.5 billion | Key number for funding the dividend and buybacks |
The table is based on AT&T’s most recent quote, the June dividend announcement, and the Mizuho update.
For investors, the trade-off is direct. Shares are down, so the cash return looks bigger, but that same cash flow still has to support fiber spending, spectrum, and debt while SpaceX changes how investors value wireless and broadband. AT&T said it expects stronger wireless service revenue growth in the second quarter compared to the first, more advanced home internet net adds, and free cash flow between $4.0 billion and $4.5 billion.
AT&T will report its Q2 numbers before the market opens on July 22. The company’s earnings call is set for 8:30 a.m. ET.
