NEW YORK, May 31, 2026, 14:04 (EDT)
- AT&T shares closed at $24.80 Friday, slipping 0.32% on the day and losing 1.82% over five sessions.
- AT&T plans to release its second-quarter results July 22. The company is holding an investor webcast with CFO Pascal Desroches June 9.
- Investors are watching free cash flow, capex, and how the wireless competition with Verizon and T-Mobile is shaking out.
AT&T Inc. heads into its July 22 earnings report with shares a touch weaker this holiday-shortened week. The stock slipped while most of the U.S. market pushed to new highs.
AT&T shares finished Friday at $24.80, off 0.32% on the day. The stock dropped 1.82% over the last five sessions and is down 0.16% so far this year, MarketScreener data show. The New York Stock Exchange was closed Monday for Memorial Day.
AT&T has set July 22 for its Q2 earnings report, with results out before the NYSE opens that Wednesday. The company will hold its call at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Sectors other than telecom pushed stocks up Friday. Wall Street’s main indexes closed at new record highs, Reuters reported. The S&P 500 gained 0.22% and the Nasdaq was up 0.21%, both finishing the week and month higher as tech led the way. AT&T didn’t take part in the move.
AT&T is sticking to its script. The company said Desroches will speak at the Mizuho Technology Conference on June 9. It reaffirmed both its 2026 and long-term goals, and still expects over $45 billion in shareholder payouts from 2026 to 2028. AT&T again put its second-quarter free cash flow guidance in a $4.0 billion to $4.5 billion range. Free cash flow measures cash left after operations and capital expenses.
AT&T’s Q1 got a lift from subscriber growth. The company posted revenue of $31.5 billion with adjusted earnings of 57 cents a share. It signed up 294,000 new postpaid phone users in the quarter. CEO John Stankey said it was AT&T’s “best first quarter ever” for Advanced Connectivity internet net adds. AT&T Newsroom
Bundling wireless and home internet is still the top reason bulls like the stock. J.P. Morgan’s Sebastiano Petti wrote in May that AT&T’s setup “positions the company well to drive share gains,” citing fiber, spending on 5G, and where home internet crosses over with wireless customers. Barron’s
Analysts are split. RBC Capital’s Jonathan Atkin kept his Outperform call and stuck to the $31 target on May 20. Scotiabank’s Maher Yaghi maintained Sector Perform in April, but trimmed his target to $31.
Telecom shares slipped Friday. Verizon closed at $47.81, down 0.39%. T-Mobile US finished off 0.87% at $187.53. AT&T ended lower too, but the loss was smaller. The sector lagged as investors favored tech and other growth plays over dividend stocks.
Wiliot said this week it’s growing its work with AT&T Business, as it tries to ramp up its Physical AI tech. The platforms track goods in supply chains using sensors and data. Lee Wagner at AT&T said companies “need actionable data from the physical world.” That’s in line with AT&T’s strategy to move past just connectivity for business users. PR Newswire
AT&T is facing higher capital needs that could weigh on returns. Free cash flow fell to $2.5 billion in the first quarter, down from $3.1 billion a year earlier, as the company increased capital investment. AT&T expects to spend $23 billion to $24 billion on capital investment in 2026. Net debt stood at $126.4 billion at the end of the quarter.
AT&T is off the earnings calendar this week, but traders are watching for macro headlines. The key U.S. jobs report drops June 5 at 8:30 a.m. ET. Reuters flagged jobs, rates and bond yields as key risk points for markets. Higher rates could mean more scrutiny on AT&T’s debt and payouts.
AT&T keeps its outlook in place and has named the date, but shares haven’t kept up as the index gained. Next month, investors will see if this is just a pause before July numbers land, or if telecoms like AT&T need to do more to get attention.
