NEW YORK, June 30, 2026, 11:07 EDT
- AT&T Inc. NYSE:T dropped roughly 5% in late-morning trading, slipping past the 52-week low it reported on Monday.
- The stock is under pressure from Starlink mobile risk and also from AT&T getting dropped from the Russell Top 50 Index.
- AT&T’s $1.11 annual dividend gives a yield near 5.4% at $20.715.
- July 10 is set as the record date for the dividend. The next earnings test comes on July 22.
U.S. equities were trading during regular hours. The NYSE’s core session runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Its next full holiday is set for July 3, 2026, for Independence Day.
AT&T Inc. NYSE:T dropped 5.1% to $20.715 by late morning, with the last trade at 10:52 a.m. EDT. Shares hit a low of $20.68. That’s below the 52-week low of $21.29 reported Monday. AT&T lagged the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY), which was up 0.4%.
The drop comes from two main factors. Investors are nervous that Space Exploration Technologies Corp. NASDAQ:SPCX might push Starlink into the U.S. wireless space. The other factor is more technical. AT&T got cut from the Russell Top 50 Index as the June Russell rebalance hit on Monday. FTSE Russell said its reconstitution started after the market closed on June 26, with about $12.2 trillion linked to Russell U.S. index products.
| Security / index proxy | Monday move | Tuesday late-morning move | Two-session move, approx. |
|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T Inc. NYSE:T | dropped 4.2% | fell 5.1% | down 9.1% |
| Verizon Communications Inc. NYSE:VZ | lost 5.8% | off 4.5% | slid 10.1% |
| T-Mobile US Inc. NASDAQ:TMUS | off 4.0% | lower by 4.6% | total drop 8.4% |
| SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) | S&P 500 up 1.18% | up 0.4% | gained 1.6% |
Barron’s reported on telecom stocks Monday, with Tuesday prices based on the most recent market quotes. The two-day moves come from those percent changes.
AT&T’s price slide has reset its dividend yield for income-focused traders. The board set a $0.2775 quarterly payout on June 24, keeping record date at July 10 and pay date Aug. 3. The new yield is about 5.4% based on the $1.11 annual payout and current price of $20.715.
| AT&T cash metric | Latest cited figure | Market read |
|---|---|---|
| Current price | $20.715 | Price drops, yield goes up |
| Annualized common dividend | $1.11/share | Yield around 5.4% |
| March 31 common shares outstanding | 6.965 billion | Quarterly common dividend cost hits about $1.93 billion |
| Q1 free cash flow | $2.506 billion | 79.7% of free cash flow spent on dividends |
| Q2 free cash flow guide | $4.0 billion-$4.5 billion | Estimates at 2.1-2.3x the quarterly common dividend |
AT&T had 6.965 billion common shares out as of March 31, according to its first-quarter filing. Free cash flow for the quarter landed at $2.506 billion, with $1.997 billion paid out in dividends, putting the free-cash-flow payout ratio at 79.7%. In June, AT&T kept its second-quarter free cash flow target at $4.0 billion to $4.5 billion.
SpaceX and Charter Communications Inc. NASDAQ:CHTR held executive discussions about teaming up on a U.S. mobile phone offering, Bloomberg said. The potential partnership would have Charter handle some SpaceX mobile traffic over its land-based internet system, much like what Spectrum Mobile already does.
Fortune, quoting Bloomberg, said Starlink Mobile is already available to T-Mobile customers as a $10 monthly add-on for texts and internet calls in remote areas. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell told CNBC, “Starlink Mobile will far exceed Starlink broadband in the home.” Fortune
Oppenheimer’s Timothy Horan said investors might be “underestimating” the risk to AT&T from low-Earth-orbit satellite broadband. Horan downgraded AT&T to perform from outperform on June 3, MarketWatch reported. MarketWatch
AT&T is still relying on fiber, 5G, and cash flow as key parts of its story. Speaking at a J.P. Morgan event in May, CEO John Stankey told investors, “our guidance is sound” and said the company has never had a year with 7 million fiber passings before. Stankey also said, “I don’t need to pull back” on spending to compete. AT&T Investor Relations
Why it matters: AT&T’s stock is moving on more than just subscriber growth now. Investors are watching if its cash returns can hold up, as a new satellite-backed competitor enters and passive flows drop after the Russell Top 50 exit. Comcast Corp. NASDAQ:CMCSA edged up on Tuesday. Charter slid 4.1%, giving back some of Monday’s gains that were tied to the Starlink rally.
AT&T is coming up on some key dates. The common dividend record date lands July 10. Second-quarter earnings are due out before the NYSE bell on July 22, with an earnings call set for 8:30 a.m. ET.
