New York, July 12, 2026, 13:10 (EDT)
AT&T Inc. NYSE:T posted a 4.0% total return for the week ending Friday, calculated from the July 2 close, even with just a 2.7% climb in its unadjusted share price. The difference came from a $0.2775 quarterly dividend that went ex-div on July 10. AT&T’s 0.4% one-day Friday move works out closer to 1.75% for shareholders getting that payout. U.S. cash equity markets are closed Sunday.
Ex-dividend means if you buy now, you miss the next payout. The share price typically drops by about the dividend amount. With four payments of $0.2775 each, that’s $1.11 per year, for a 5.3% yield at Friday’s $21.13 close. That’s the annual payout divided by the share price. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) rose 1.2% last week.
| Company | July 2 close | July 10 close | Dividend detached | Price return | Total return* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T | $20.58 | $21.13 | $0.2775 | up 2.7% | up 4.0% |
| Verizon Communications Inc. NYSE:VZ | $42.56 | $42.12 | $0.7075 | down 1.0% | up 0.6% |
| T-Mobile US Inc. NASDAQ:TMUS | $177.52 | $187.61 | None | up 5.7% | up 5.7% |
Looks at the return from the close on July 2 to the close on July 10. Total return includes dividends with ex-dates in that stretch, but does not include reinvestment or taxes.
T-Mobile stayed on top. AT&T’s income-adjusted return, though, was over six times what Verizon posted. Dividends aren’t free money, since they’re taken out of share price, but looking at just price ignores last week’s total haul for telecom income names.
AT&T’s pricing power is about to be tested. The company’s support pages show that starting in August, some retired Unlimited Your Way plans will go up by $5 per smartphone line. Other legacy unlimited plans will see a $10 hike for single-line accounts, and $20 more for multi-line users. Customers will get more hotspot data under the new rates, but AT&T doesn’t say how many lines will actually be hit by the changes. Churn—what percentage of subscribers leave—may matter more than the hike itself.
Wall Street can’t agree here. The latest four targets range from 15% down to 70% up from Friday’s close, a spread of 85 percentage points. Underweight suggests the analyst sees the stock trailing its benchmark.
| Firm and date | Rating | Price target | Move from $21.13 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wells Fargo, July 8 | Underweight | $18 | -14.8% |
| Barclays, July 8 | Equal Weight | $24 | +13.6% |
| Morgan Stanley, July 7 | Overweight | $25 | +18.3% |
| KeyBanc, July 6 | Overweight | $36 | +70.4% |
Implied moves use Friday’s close as the base.
Wells Fargo’s Steven Cahall set the low end at $18 and called AT&T “least likely to strike a Starlink Mobile MVNO” deal. An MVNO resells wireless service on another network. KeyBanc’s Brandon Nispel said the sector’s negative mood doesn’t fit with any short-term weakness in fundamentals. Over at BofA, Michael Funk said T-Mobile’s urban push gives it some cover from Starlink, the satellite play from SpaceX NASDAQ:SPCX. Yahoo Finance
AT&T could see a new cash hit after agreeing to a proposed $184.1 million settlement Friday over pensions for around 300,000 current and ex-employees. The deal—still needing a judge’s signoff—comes with no admission of wrongdoing by the company. The sum is roughly 1% of AT&T’s $18 billion-plus 2026 free cash flow goal, which is counted after capex and before the impact of the timing or accounting for any payment.
AT&T is set to release second-quarter numbers on July 22. Revenue last quarter came in at $31.5 billion, up 2.9%. The company picked up 292,000 fiber customers and 292,000 fixed-wireless customers, bringing in more home internet subscribers via its mobile network. CEO John Stankey called it AT&T’s “best first quarter ever for Advanced Connectivity internet customer net additions.” Investors watching to see if that pace holds in new churn, service revenue, and cash flow figures. PR Newswire
The June CPI on Tuesday, PPI on Wednesday and retail sales Thursday are in focus this week, right before major banks kick off earnings. Those reports will shape rate bets. When market rates are higher, dividend stocks can get hit since bonds look better and financing costs go up. “This is a high-bar quarter with a narrow margin of error,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. Reuters
But higher dividends don’t take away the downside. The August price hikes could spike churn, especially as Starlink pushes into both broadband and wireless. The pension deal still waits for court signoff. A strong inflation print could send yields up again. Cahall’s target is $18, which is about 15% below Friday’s close before accounting for dividends.
So Monday’s trading probably has more to do with rate moves and sector positioning than anything specific to AT&T’s business. Clearer signals come on July 22, when it will be about whether subscriber gains, price increases and cash flow back up a stock that leaned heavily on yield last week.
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