AT&T Shares Surge: Strong Performance Shields Against Market Decline

Dallas, Texas-based AT&T Inc. (T) stands as a leading wireless service provider and communications carrier in North America. Sporting a market cap of $196 billion, AT&T operates through its Communications and Latin America segments, serving over 240 million customers.

Impressive Market Performance

Recently, shares of AT&T have outperformed the broader market significantly over the past 52 weeks. The stock has surged by 64%, while the S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has only risen by 10.6%. Year-to-date, AT&T shares are up 21.7%, contrasting sharply with the S&P 500’s decline of 5.3%.

Comparison with Communication Services Sector

In a closer examination, AT&T has also surpassed the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF Fund’s (XLC) 22.6% rise over the last year and its 1.4% year-to-date decline.

Q1 2025 Results Overview

Following the release of mixed Q1 2025 results on April 23, AT&T’s stock saw a slight increase. The company reported revenue of $30.6 billion, marking a 2% year-over-year growth. This increase was driven by improvements in Mobility and Consumer Wireline revenues. Notably, the company added 324,000 postpaid phone subscribers, achieving a postpaid phone churn of 0.83%. Postpaid phone ARPU also grew by 1.8% year over year. Adjusted EPS reached $0.51, reflecting a 6.3% increase from the same quarter last year. Looking forward, AT&T projects adjusted EPS for fiscal 2025 to range between $1.97 and $2.07.

Analysts’ Insights and Future Expectations

For the current fiscal year ending in December 2025, analysts expect AT&T’s adjusted EPS to decrease by 8.4% year-over-year to $2.07. The company’s earnings surprise history is mixed; it has beaten consensus estimates in two of the last four quarters but missed the mark on two other occasions.

Consensus Rating Among Analysts

Currently, 28 analysts cover AT&T’s stock, and the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy,” which is based on 17 “Strong Buy” ratings, three “Moderate Buys,” seven “Holds,” and one “Strong Sell.” This overall outlook is slightly more positive than three months ago, which had 16 “Strong Buy” ratings.

Price Target Adjustments

On April 30, Tigress Financial raised AT&T’s price target to $34, while maintaining a “Buy” rating. AT&T’s mean price target of $29.41 implies a modest 6.2% premium to current prices, while the highest target of $34 suggests a notable 22.7% upside potential.

On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article are solely for informational purposes. For more information, please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.