AT&T climbs as subscribers and cash flow top Wall Street targets

AT&T gave investors the three things they wanted Wednesday morning: more phone customers than expected, stronger profit than Wall Street modeled and a bigger free-cash-flow haul.

The telecom company’s shares were up about 3% in premarket trading after its second-quarter results showed momentum behind its push to sell households both wireless service and home internet, according to MarketWatch.

AT&T reported 432,000 postpaid phone net additions for the quarter. That topped the 338,500 additions analysts tracked by FactSet had expected. Postpaid customers pay after each billing cycle, making them a closely watched group for wireless carriers.

The company has been spending heavily on fiber as part of a multiyear plan to deepen its relationship with customers by bundling mobile and internet services. AT&T said 42.5% of homes using its home-internet products also had AT&T wireless service in the latest quarter, up from 42% in the first quarter.

Fiber and fixed wireless add to the story

AT&T’s advanced connectivity business added 367,000 fiber customers on a net basis, the company said. It also recorded 279,000 net additions for fixed-wireless access, an internet service delivered through a carrier’s mobile network.

The subscriber numbers landed at a useful moment for the stock. AT&T shares had fallen 14% over the prior three months, a slide MarketWatch linked to worries about competition in the U.S. wireless market and the possible threat from Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

AT&T also said it is speeding up its buyback plans. The company had previously planned $8 billion of share repurchases this year as part of a broader capital-return program. It now plans $10 billion of buyback activity during 2026.

Revenue misses, but profit beats

Second-quarter revenue came in at $31.6 billion, up 2.3% from the same period a year earlier, according to AT&T. That was slightly below the $31.8 billion FactSet consensus.

MarketWatch reported that the revenue shortfall was tied to equipment sales coming in below expectations. Investors often view that favorably because it can indicate fewer device sales carrying subsidies.

Adjusted earnings were 65 cents a share, AT&T said, up from 54 cents a share a year earlier. Analysts tracked by FactSet had expected 59 cents a share.

Free cash flow also cleared Wall Street’s bar. AT&T generated $4.7 billion in free cash flow for the quarter, compared with $4.4 billion a year earlier and ahead of the $4.5 billion FactSet estimate.

Chief Executive John Stankey said in the company’s release that the quarter’s accelerated growth showed AT&T’s structural advantages as it seeks to lead what he called the next era of connectivity.

This story draws on original reporting from MarketWatch.