Geoffrey Seiler, The Motley Fool
5 min read
AT&T (NYSE: T) stock had been on a roll, more than doubling from July 2023 to a closing high of $28.10 on March 27, 2026. However, after a strong start to 2026, AT&T stock has since come under pressure from the potential threat of Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) entering the U.S. mobile market. While the stock is becoming more attractively valued, I wouldn’t be buying it just yet.
Let’s dig into AT&T’s recent results and prospects to see when might be a good time to buy the stock.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a “Double Down” signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same “Total Conviction” signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
The SpaceX threat
AT&T CEO John Stankey addressed a potential SpaceX threat on the company’s earnings call this week, although it wasn’t enough to assuage investor fears. He said that low earth orbit (LEO) satellites are a way to expand wireless connectivity in rural areas, but not a means to replace wireless networks. Stankey said that in metropolitan areas, typically 40% to 45% of wireless traffic comes from inside buildings that cannot be efficiently served by traditional outdoor macro cell towers or LEOs. As such, it would take years of heavy investments for SpaceX to get to the performance levels of incumbent players.
In addition to the fears of SpaceX entering the market, investors were also not impressed with the company’s wireless postpaid phone subscriber additions, which only met analyst expectations. It still added a robust 379,000 postpaid wireless phone customers in the quarter. Broadband, meanwhile, remained a bright spot. AT&T added 442,000 fiber subscribers and 327,000 fixed wireless users. It said the over 1 million advanced connectivity subscriber additions were its most in more than four years.
Turning to its results, total revenue climbed by 5.3% to $32.3 billion, while adjusted earnings per share (EPS) jumped by 20% to $0.65. The results surpassed Wall Street expectations for adjusted EPS of $0.60 on revenue of $31.7 billion.
Its advanced connectivity segment revenue increased 7.2% to $29.5 billion. Service revenue jumped 6.1% to $23.9 billion, while equipment sales rose 12.2% to $5.6 billion.
Within the segment, wireless revenue climbed 5% to $17.8 billion, while home internet revenue surged 23.4% to nearly $3 billion. Postpaid phone average revenue per subscriber (ARPU) rose 4% to $58.90, while broadband ARPU fell by 5.2% to $68.55.
