AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) edged up 0.4% to $24.52 in premarket trading on Tuesday, following a 1.2% gain on Monday. The telecommunications giant has surged 10.6% over the past week, driven by its aggressive capital return strategy and robust subscriber additions.
The company plans to repurchase approximately $10 billion in shares this year, representing about 6.0% of its $167.34 billion market capitalization as of Monday. Combined with its current 4.55% dividend yield, this creates a shareholder-yield metric of roughly 10.5%, though this figure is not a total-return projection. The buyback target is an annual goal, with AT&T having already spent $4.44 billion through the end of June.
In the second quarter, AT&T acquired 86.2 million shares at an average price of $25.01 per share. Shares closed Monday at $24.42, a 2.4% discount to that average, implying that each additional dollar could repurchase about 2.4% more shares at current levels.
The buyback contrasts with rival Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), which has a maximum 2026 repurchase target of $4.5 billion, or 2.3% of its market value. While Verizon generated $6.4 billion in quarterly free cash flow—$1.7 billion more than AT&T's $4.7 billion—AT&T's buyback goal is 2.6 times larger relative to market cap.
Subscriber Growth and Earnings
AT&T reported a gain of 432,000 postpaid phone users and 646,000 advanced internet subscribers in the second quarter. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.65, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59, though revenue of $31.56 billion missed the $31.81 billion forecast.
“The cross-selling they have been working on is now appearing in the figures,” said David Wagner of Aptus Capital Advisors, as reported by Reuters. Management maintained its 2026 free-cash-flow guidance above $18 billion and expects adjusted earnings per share between $2.25 and $2.35.
EchoStar Spectrum Deal and Quantum Partnership
Investors are focused on the pending $23 billion spectrum acquisition from EchoStar Corp. (NASDAQ: ECHO), expected to close by Friday, July 31. The deal will be financed through cash and term loans, with AT&T targeting a net leverage ratio near 2.5 times within three years.
Additionally, AT&T announced an expanded partnership with D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NASDAQ: QBTS) to enhance network optimization. An initial workload that previously took about an hour now completes in less than 15 seconds. The technology could be applied to outage management, technician deployment, and network infrastructure planning. “The speed we’re seeing with D-Wave challenges what’s currently possible,” said Lucus Haugen, an AT&T data-science director, in a statement via Business Wire. No contract value or savings target was disclosed.
Risks and Outlook
Risks remain, as spectrum acquisitions financed through debt and rising bad-debt expenses could offset the benefits of the buyback. However, the strong subscriber momentum and capital return program have buoyed investor sentiment.
