NEW YORK, June 23, 2026, 11:08 EDT
AT&T shares climbed 1.9% to $22.52 in New York morning trading on Tuesday after recent losses, as buyers picked up large U.S. telecom stocks. Verizon added 1.4% and T-Mobile US gained 1.3%. The QQQ ETF, tracking the Nasdaq 100, dropped around 2.5%.
AT&T is still around pressure levels, and the latest bounce looks more like a technical repair than a shift in mood. MarketWatch put the stock’s 52-week range between $21.99 and $29.79 earlier Tuesday. Shares are down 3.65% for the past five days and off 10.81% for the month, so Tuesday’s upside doesn’t signal a clear change in sentiment.
Earnings are the next thing to watch. AT&T will report Q2 results before the New York Stock Exchange opens on July 22 and plans a call at 8:30 a.m. ET. Investors are likely to look for updates on wireless subscriber numbers, fiber demand and cash generation.
AT&T is guiding for 2026 with low-single-digit service revenue growth, adjusted EBITDA up 3% to 4%, and adjusted earnings per share between $2.25 and $2.35. The company is planning capital investment at $23 billion to $24 billion and says it expects free cash flow of more than $18 billion. Adjusted EBITDA is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, minus certain items. Free cash flow is what’s left after capital spending.
AT&T’s plan is focused on locking in more wireless-and-fiber customers. The company signed up 294,000 new postpaid phone users and 512,000 consumer advanced internet customers in the first quarter. That includes 273,000 who chose fiber and 239,000 who went with AT&T Internet Air. Revenue for the first quarter came in at $31.5 billion, topping the $31.25 billion analysts saw in LSEG data, Reuters said.
UBS analyst Ryan Gravett kept his Buy rating on AT&T and a $31 price target, according to TipRanks on Monday. UBS’s John Hodulik stuck with Hold on Verizon and a $48 target. TipRanks said the average analyst target for AT&T is $31.07 with a Moderate Buy consensus.
AT&T finance chief Pascal Desroches told investors this month the company is “delivering returns to shareholders today” even as it keeps network spending up. He was direct on broadband: “Fiber is our lead offer.” Fixed wireless—broadband over mobile spectrum instead of fiber—remains an option. But management keeps describing it as a selective play, not the main product. AT&T Investor Relations
AT&T’s first-quarter numbers point to hefty spending, Brian Mulberry, chief market strategist at Zacks Investment Management, told Reuters. Mulberry said the bet is that “data is going to be the revenue of the future.” That’s the bullish view—frontload investment to smooth out revenue down the line. Reuters
Risks are still on the table. AT&T’s second-quarter free-cash-flow outlook of $4 billion to $4.5 billion missed the $4.6 billion analysts were looking for, Reuters said in April. California regulators also asked a court and the FCC to block AT&T’s effort to shut off some old copper-wire phone service. The fight centers on “carrier of last resort” rules, which require the company to keep offering basic service even if it costs more to run the legacy network. Reuters
AT&T said keeping the California copper network going costs around $1 billion each year and now that copper only reaches 3% of its households in the state, Reuters reported. A slower regulatory process or weak fiber and wireless take-up could erase Tuesday’s gains in a hurry.
