AT&T (NYSE:T), a provider of telecommunications and technology services worldwide, closed Thursday at $22.79, down 3.23%. The stock fell after the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in favor of the Federal Communications Commission, which had imposed $57 million in penalties against the company. This news comes one day after an analyst at Oppenheimer downgraded T stock to neutral due to increased competition from satellite constellations. Trading volume reached 72.1 million shares, about 79% above its three-month average of 40.2 million shares. AT&T IPO’d in 1983 and has grown 487% since going public.
How the markets moved today
The S&P 500 added 0.41% to finish at 7,585, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.09% to 26,831. Within telecommunications, industry peers Verizon Communications closed at $44.87 (-3.82%), and T-Mobile U.S. finished at $177.02 (-2.44%) as investors weighed the court’s decision.
What this means for investors
While a $57 million fine is chump change for a $160 billion stock like AT&T, losing the decision to the FCC shows that the FCC still wields measurable sway over how business is done in the U.S. The case arose from the FCC’s finding that AT&T sold confidential customer location data, prompting sanctions for violating federal telecommunications laws. Said another way, today’s ruling means that AT&T — and the other carriers — will likely remain under tighter scrutiny going forward, rather than the FCC being weakened.
This news, paired with yesterday’s Oppenheimer’s statement that AT&T was “most at risk” from satellite internet access, has helped T stock slide 8% over the last week.
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