AT&T (NYSE:T) Shares Up 1.3% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• AT&T shares rose 1.3% to about $24.44 on heavier-than-usual trading volume, following recent positive investor sentiment around the company.
• AT&T beat quarterly earnings expectations with adjusted EPS of $0.65 versus $0.59 expected and raised its planned 2026 share buyback to approximately $10 billion. However, revenue slightly missed estimates at $31.56 billion, and substantial debt remains a concern.
• The stock offers income appeal with a roughly 4.5% dividend yield and a low P/E ratio, while fiber expansion and an expanded D-Wave quantum-computing partnership support its growth narrative. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $29.19, despite some recent rating downgrades.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) traded up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $24.52 and last traded at $24.4350. 74,225,479 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 45% from the average daily volume of 51,334,801 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.13.

Key AT&T News

Here are the key news stories impacting AT&T this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Expanded D-Wave partnership supports innovation narrative: AT&T will broaden its use of D-Wave Quantum’s annealing systems for network optimization, including outage detection, technician routing and traffic management. Initial testing reportedly reduced processing time from about one hour to 15 seconds, or roughly a 240-fold improvement. The agreement validates AT&T’s use of emerging technology, although financial terms were not disclosed. D-Wave Wins Wider AT&T Deal After 15-Second Test
• Positive Sentiment: Earnings beat and larger buyback improve capital-return appeal: AT&T reported adjusted earnings of $0.65 per share, ahead of the $0.59 consensus estimate and above $0.54 a year earlier. Management also increased its 2026 share-repurchase plan to approximately $10 billion from $8 billion, reinforcing the investment case for a low-valued, income-oriented stock. AT&T Beat on Earnings and Announced a $10 Billion Buyback
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation and fiber growth remain supportive: Recent commentary highlights AT&T’s low earnings multiple, roughly 4.6% dividend yield and continued fiber expansion. These factors may attract income-focused investors and help explain why the stock has moved higher despite broader market volatility. AT&T: 235% Coverage, Fiber Growth Surge, Low P/E
• Neutral Sentiment: Partnership impact is strategically positive but financially unquantified: The D-Wave expansion could improve network efficiency over time, but AT&T has not provided a revenue contribution, cost-savings estimate or implementation timeline. The immediate stock reaction is therefore likely driven more by investor sentiment than by revised earnings expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue slightly missed expectations: Quarterly revenue was $31.56 billion versus the $31.80 billion analyst consensus, tempering the earnings beat. AT&T also continues to carry substantial debt, which remains an important risk for investors focused on interest costs and balance-sheet flexibility.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on T shares. Weiss Ratings lowered AT&T from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of AT&T from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of AT&T in a research note on Monday, July 13th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of AT&T from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $30.00 target price on AT&T in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.19.

AT&T Trading Up 1.3%

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.44 billion, a PE ratio of 8.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. AT&T had a return on equity of 12.86% and a net margin of 16.94%.The business had revenue of $31.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. AT&T's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. AT&T has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. Equities analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a $0.2775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. AT&T's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of AT&T by 34.5% in the second quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,075,110 shares of the technology company's stock worth $22,255,000 after buying an additional 275,985 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AT&T by 42.4% in the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 7,554 shares of the technology company's stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 2,249 shares in the last quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group lifted its stake in AT&T by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 22,692 shares of the technology company's stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,569 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 14.2% in the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,513,051 shares of the technology company's stock worth $31,025,000 after buying an additional 187,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of AT&T by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 30,562 shares of the technology company's stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 5,074 shares in the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc is a global telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and digital entertainment services. Its core activities include consumer and business wireless services, broadband and fiber internet, and network infrastructure. The company operates branded wireless services through AT&T Mobility and deploys fixed-line and fiber networks to deliver high-speed internet and related home services.

AT&T's product and service portfolio spans mobile voice and data plans, smartphones and device sales, home internet (including fiber-to-the-home where available), and managed connectivity solutions for enterprise customers.

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