AT&T beat third-quarter revenue and profit estimates and lifted its adjusted profit outlook, pointing to demand for its bundled internet and wireless plans.
Revenue rose 5.3% from a year earlier to $32.3B, ahead of the $31.69B analysts expected. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.65, topping the $0.60 estimate and up from $0.54 a year ago.
The carrier now expects adjusted earnings per share of about $2.40, above its prior forecast of $2.25 to $2.35 and above the $2.34 consensus.
AT&T shares are down about 16% over the past year
Weekly closing price of AT&T stock in US dollars, Oct. 20, 2025 to Oct. 21, 2026 (latest point is intraday Oct. 21)
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Bundling is doing the heavy lifting
Record internet net additions hit 769K in the quarter, made up of 442K fiber and 327K fixed wireless customers.
Postpaid phone additions came in at 379K, roughly matching the 379.3K FactSet estimate, with postpaid phone churn of 0.92%.
Of households buying AT&T's advanced home internet, 42.8% chose AT&T wireless too, a mix that tends to cut disconnections.
Advanced home internet revenue jumped 23.4% to $3.0B, helped by the first-quarter purchase of Lumen's mass markets fiber business.
"We are growing valuable customer relationships as more homes and businesses choose AT&T."
John Stankey, AT&T
The company bought Lumen's fiber unit for $5.75B in May 2025, and struck a multiyear supply deal worth more than $3B with Corning last month.
Spending comes down as fiber targets rise
AT&T lowered its long-term capital investment outlook to $23B to $24B in 2026 and $22B to $23B annually in 2027 and 2028.
Free cash flow guidance sits at $18B or more in 2026, rising to $21B or more by 2028.
Management plans to return over $45B to shareholders during 2026 through 2028 via dividends and buybacks, keeping the annualized dividend at $1.11 a share.
The fiber network has passed more than 39M locations, with targets of over 40M by the end of 2026 and more than 60M by the end of 2030.
Reported results carried a $2.6B non-cash impairment charge on the Mexico wireless business, which AT&T has agreed to sell to Grupo Televisa and Fintech Holdings.
Satellite competition remains the open question for US carriers after SpaceX agreed to buy a nationwide 800 MHz spectrum portfolio from Grain Management, a deal awaiting FCC approval.
Stankey has described direct-to-cell satellite service as solving the last 2% of coverage, and doubts it can replace ground networks.
For now, the quarter suggests AT&T's broadband growth is holding up while the industry argues about what comes next.
