AT&T Inc. (T)

AT&T reported on 21 October 2026 that third-quarter revenue rose 5.3 percent to $32.3 billion, with its best growth in service revenue, the monthly bills for connections, in more than four years 1. Profit fell, though: income from continuing operations was $1.3 billion, against $9.7 billion a year earlier 1. The year-ago quarter held a gain on selling the DIRECTV stake, and this one a $2.6 billion write-down of the Mexico wireless business being sold 1.

The growth came from selling fiber and wireless together 1. AT&T added 442,000 fiber and 327,000 fixed wireless internet customers, a record 769,000 in all, plus 379,000 phone customers on monthly bills 1. It says 42.8 percent of homes with its advanced internet also take its wireless service, the bundle it calls convergence 1.

The open questions are two deals 21. On 13 October AT&T agreed to sell AT&T Mexico to Grupo Televisa and Fintech Holdings, expecting about $2 billion in cash at a closing planned for the first quarter of 2027 21. On 6 October it agreed to sell half of the venture holding its newly bought Lumen fiber to BlackRock's GIP and CPP Investments 2.

AT&T began as SBC Communications, one of the regional telephone companies split off from the old AT&T Corp. under an antitrust decree on 1 January 1984 3. SBC took over Pacific Telesis in 1997 and Ameritech in 1999, then merged with AT&T Corp. in 2005 and adopted its name 3. Buying BellSouth in 2006 gave it full ownership of the wireless carrier now called AT&T Mobility 3.

In 2015 AT&T bought DIRECTV, the satellite television company, and wireless carriers in Mexico 213. The annual report said DIRECTV's nationwide reach and content relationships improved the economics of its own video service 21.

In June 2018 it bought Time Warner, owner of HBO, Turner and the Warner film studio, and revenue rose from $160.5 billion in 2017 to $181.2 billion in 2019 7. The 2019 report credited a full year of Time Warner for that year's rise, while older telephone and video services kept shrinking 7.

The media bet was then unwound: in July 2021 AT&T moved its U.S. video business into DIRECTV, a new company formed with TPG 3. On 8 April 2022 it spun off WarnerMedia into a merger with Discovery 6. AT&T received about $40.4 billion, and its shareholders got about 71 percent of the combined company 6.

With WarnerMedia counted out of the figures, revenue fell from $143.1 billion in 2020 to $120.7 billion in 2022 6. The report blamed the video separation, the 2020 sale of its Puerto Rico operations and falling demand for older business services 6. In 2022 it also wrote down $24.8 billion of goodwill, the premium once paid for businesses, leaving an operating loss of $4.6 billion 6.

The money went into airwaves: AT&T paid $23.4 billion for C-Band licenses, mid-band frequencies suited to fast 5G, won in February 2021, and $9.1 billion for 3.45 GHz licenses won in January 2022 6. It also cut the yearly dividend to $1.11 a share in 2022, from $2.08 in 2021 6.

Revenue held near $122 billion in 2023 and 2024, then rose 2.7 percent to $125.6 billion in 2025 on higher wireless and home internet sales 3. In 2024 AT&T wrote down $4.4 billion of goodwill in its business wireline unit 3. On 2 July 2025 it sold its remaining DIRECTV stake to TPG, booking a gain of about $5.6 billion 3.

In 2026 AT&T bought Lumen's mass-market fiber business for $5.8 billion on 2 February and EchoStar's 600 MHz and 3.45 GHz licenses for $22.65 billion on 28 July 2. It also began reporting by Advanced Connectivity, its fiber and 5G services, and Legacy, the copper network it is retiring 2.

Wireless service

Wireless service is the core: monthly phone and data plans under the AT&T brand, and prepaid plans under Cricket and AT&T PREPAID 3. It brought in 54 percent of revenue in 2025 3. In the third quarter of 2026 it earned $17.8 billion, up 5.0 percent, from more customers and price rises partly offset by promotional discounts 1.

AT&T counted 75.3 million phone customers on monthly bills at 30 September 2026, and 0.92 percent of them left in an average month of the third quarter 2. Its 5G network covers more than 322 million people in the U.S., the annual report says 3. Through FirstNet it also runs a nationwide wireless broadband network for public safety agencies 3.

Cricket's monthly plans ran from $30 to $55 a line on its plans page 19. In wireless AT&T faces two other national carriers and cable companies, the annual report says 3.

AT&T Fiber

AT&T Fiber is home internet over fiber-optic lines, priced from $70 a month for 1-gigabit service on the company's order page 17. It had 12.6 million customers at 30 September 2026, up 24.1 percent in a year, partly from the Lumen purchase 2. Revenue from advanced home internet, fiber plus Internet Air, rose 23.4 percent to $3.0 billion in the quarter 1.

Ookla, which runs the Speedtest app, named AT&T Fiber the best and fastest home internet provider in the U.S. for the first half of 2026 14. Its users' median download speed was 374.75 megabits a second, ahead of Spectrum at 351.96 14. Speedtest users rated it 3.63 out of 5, the top score among providers 14.

The company says its fiber reaches more than 39 million homes and businesses, counting networks run by its ventures and partners 1. Cable companies are its main rivals for home internet in most U.S. markets, the annual report says 3.

AT&T Internet Air

Internet Air is home internet carried over the 5G cell network where fiber does not reach, from $55 a month on the company's page 183. It had 2.2 million connections at 30 September 2026, up 74.8 percent in a year 2.

Ookla research found its median download speed rose nearly 60 percent to 167.34 megabits a second between the third quarter of 2025 and the first of 2026, Telco Magazine reported 15. T-Mobile's rival service was faster still, at 222.7 megabits a second in the second quarter of 2026 15.

Business connections

For companies and governments AT&T sells fiber lines, dedicated internet, fixed wireless and managed services 3. In the third quarter of 2026 that newer business revenue grew 8.7 percent to $2.0 billion 1. Older business services such as private networks and wholesale fell 14.6 percent to $1.0 billion 1.

Legacy copper services

Legacy is the old copper network's phone lines and slower internet, which AT&T aims to retire across most of its footprint by the end of 2029 1. Its revenue fell 24.5 percent to $1.5 billion in the third quarter of 2026 as fewer customers use it 1. The company warns that waiting for approvals could delay the shutdown beyond 2029 1.

Mexico

AT&T Mexico sells phone service under the AT&T and Unefon brands and had 23.3 million customers at 30 September 2026 32. Light Reading calls it the country's second largest mobile operator, far behind América Móvil's Telcel with 84.5 million customers 12. Its third-quarter revenue rose 13.2 percent to $1.2 billion, helped by currency rates and more customers on monthly bills 1.

Network and property

AT&T owns most of the buildings and land holding its central office equipment, and leases many towers, garages, offices and stores 3. At the end of 2025, outside cable and wiring made up 29 percent of its property and equipment, and central office equipment 25 percent 3. In 2013 Crown Castle took the rights to lease and operate 9,048 of its towers, on leases averaging about 28 years 3.

The people

John Stankey has been chief executive since July 2020 and chairman since February 2025 11. Finance chief Pascal Desroches retires at the end of 2026, and Jennifer Biry, formerly finance chief at McAfee and WarnerMedia, takes over on 1 January 2027 5. Lori Lee, head of marketing and international, retires on 31 December 2026, and her role goes with the Mexico sale 4.

AT&T employed about 133,030 people at the end of 2025, and about 43 percent were represented by unions such as the Communications Workers of America 3. Third-quarter results carried employee separation charges, the cost of job cuts 1.

Rivals

T-Mobile was the fastest mobile network in the U.S. in the first half of 2026, Ookla found, with a median download of 275.55 megabits a second to AT&T's 159.3 14. Telco Magazine names T-Mobile and Verizon as AT&T's rivals in home internet over 5G as well 15.

SpaceX, which bought EchoStar airwaves for $19.6 billion, plans a full mobile service on Starlink, Wireless Estimator reported 16. Stankey called that "not a viable strategy" in an interview with Axios on 29 September 16.

Problems

In 2024 AT&T disclosed that hackers had copied records of calls and texts of nearly all its wireless customers from a third-party cloud workspace, covering May to October 2022 8. The records held phone numbers and counts, not the content of calls or Social Security numbers 8.

Its 2025 costs included about $440 million of legal settlements 3. In the third quarter of 2026 it wrote Mexico down by $2.6 billion, and total debt stood at $159.6 billion after the EchoStar purchase 1.

The umbrella, in words

The brands are AT&T, AT&T Business, Cricket, AT&T PREPAID, AT&T Fiber and AT&T Internet Air in the U.S., and AT&T and Unefon in Mexico 3. Exhibit 21 lists its principal subsidiaries, among them Pacific Bell, Southwestern Bell, BellSouth Telecommunications, AT&T Mobility LLC, Cricket Wireless LLC and AT&T Services, which runs AT&T Labs 9.

AT&T owns 50 percent of Gigapower, a fiber network sold wholesale to other providers, and 16.6 percent of DriveNets, a maker of networking systems for carriers and AI infrastructure 3. Under the October agreement it would own 50 percent of Composite Fiber 37, joining Gigapower and the former Lumen network, with GIP and CPP Investments owning the rest 2. On 14 September 2026 it agreed with Verizon and T-Mobile to form a satellite venture that pools airwaves for dead zones 2.

It sold its 41.3 percent of SKY Mexico in June 2024 and its DIRECTV stake in July 2025 3. No holder controls AT&T; the largest reported is Vanguard Capital Management, with 7.53 percent of the common stock in a Schedule 13G dated 29 April 2026 10.

AT&T raised its 2026 outlook for adjusted earnings per share, a profit measure that leaves out one-time items, to about $2.40 1. It expects capital investment of $23 billion to $24 billion in 2026 and $22 billion to $23 billion a year in 2027 and 2028, lower than before 1. It expects free cash flow, the cash left after running and building the network, of $18 billion or more in 2026 and $21 billion or more in 2028 1.

The company plans to return more than $45 billion to shareholders over 2026 to 2028 through dividends and buybacks, keeping the yearly dividend at $1.11 a share 1. It plans about $10 billion of buybacks in 2026 and expects its net debt to come back to about 2.5 times adjusted EBITDA, a cash profit measure, during 2029 1.

It says it is on track to reach more than 40 million fiber locations by the end of 2026 and more than 60 million by the end of 2030 1. It expects legacy service revenue to fall more than 20 percent in 2026 and to be immaterial by the end of 2029 1. It expects Legacy EBITDA to turn negative after 2027 until it removes the copper network's direct costs 1.

The Mexico sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, pending regulators, and the fiber venture with GIP and CPP Investments in the first half of 2027 2. Once the venture closes, AT&T expects to count its half as an investment rather than as a business it controls 2. Jennifer Biry becomes finance chief on 1 January 2027 5.

Wireless Estimator reported that the satellite venture named Paul Roth interim chief executive but had not disclosed its airwaves, ownership split or launch date 16. AT&T expects to license some intellectual property to it and give satellite providers that contract with it access to certain of its airwave licenses 2.

Past

AT&T's revenue fell from $164 billion in fiscal 2016 to $126 billion in fiscal 2025, down 2.9% a year over the ten-year span, rising in four of nine years after the baseline year. The deepest fall was 33% from fiscal 2019 to fiscal 2022. Net income was positive in eight of ten years. Over the three fiscal years to 2025, the diluted share count shrank about 1.8% a year. Dividends and buybacks returned about 25% of operating cash flow over that span. Officers and directors filed zero sales and zero purchases of their own stock on the open market in the year to 2026-10-07. 1

The company's filings since 2017 show two warning events: a debt default or acceleration notice in 2018 and a material cybersecurity incident in July 2024. 1

Present

For the fiscal year ended 2025-12-31, AT&T reported revenue of $126 billion and profit of $22 billion. The company earned about 17 cents of profit for every dollar of shareholders' money. It owed about 70 cents per dollar of assets, and its share count shrank 0.3% over the year. 21

AT&T's revenue of $126 billion ranks in the top 12% by size among 19 graded names in its industry family, with a net margin of 17.5% ranking in the top 18%. The chief executive is Stankey, John T, filing under that title since 2020-07-02, 6.3 years; the 22 officers and directors filing in the last fifteen months have been on the record a median of seven years. 1

Future

A quarterly report for the quarter ending 2026-09-30 is due by 2026-11-09. An annual report for the fiscal year ending 2026-12-31 is due by 2027-03-01. 3

Over the last three filed years, revenue grew 1.3% a year against minus 2.9% over all ten years, speeding up; the newest year grew 2.7%. Cash from operations less capital spending is 15.5% of revenue. 1

How the company operates

AT&T operates as a subscription business in the Telephone Communications sector, based in Dallas, TX. By geography, the United States accounted for 96% of revenue, Mexico 4%, with Asia/Pacific Rim, Europe, Other, and Latin America each under 1%. 2

New moves

On 2026-10-16, AT&T filed a Form 8-K reporting an officer or director change. On 2026-09-09, AT&T filed a Form 8-K reporting another officer or director change. On 2026-09-08, AT&T filed a Form 25-NSE, a delisting notice showing the exchange is removing a class of securities. 3

On 2026-10-10, SpaceX agreed to buy Grain Management's 800 MHz airwaves for Starlink phones; Grain had acquired these licences from T-Mobile in August for $2.9 billion, reported at approximately $8 billion for the SpaceX sale. This story is adjacent to AT&T, as the company is not named in the event but is affected through the market for spectrum and wireless services. 4