AT&T Surpasses Expectations with Strong Quarterly Performance
By Harshita Mary Varghese
(Reuters) – AT&T exceeded quarterly profit projections and attracted more wireless subscribers than anticipated, thanks to the popularity of its bundled 5G mobile and high-speed fiber plans.
The company announced on Wednesday that it plans to invest approximately $3.5 billion from savings generated by President Donald Trump’s tax law reforms to expedite the expansion of its fiber network, a crucial area of growth amid a saturated wireless market and increasing internet usage.
AT&T anticipates saving $6.5 billion to $8 billion in taxes through 2027 under the new legislation and expects free cash flow to be around $1 billion higher than previously estimated for both 2026 and 2027.
According to New Street Research analyst Jonathan Chaplin, some investors may be disappointed that the additional cash flow will be directed towards strategic investments rather than share repurchases.
Shares of the company experienced a slight decline of nearly 1% in early trading volatility.
AT&T, headquartered in Texas, added 243,000 fiber customers in the second quarter, slightly below the 250,610 expected by analysts at Visible Alpha.
The acquisition of Lumen’s mass markets fiber business, slated to be finalized in the first half of 2026, is projected to propel AT&T to over 60 million fiber locations by the end of 2030.
Industry analysts believe that the tax law savings, which also boosted annual forecasts at competitor Verizon, could help wireless carriers better compete with broadband giant Comcast, who has been expanding into wireless services.
AT&T announced the addition of 401,000 net monthly bill-paying wireless phone subscribers in the second quarter, surpassing FactSet estimates of 295,700. In contrast, Verizon saw a loss of 9,000 customers during the same period.
The company reported revenue of $30.8 billion, exceeding estimates of $30.50 billion, and adjusted earnings per share of 54 cents, surpassing expectations of 51 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Mobility revenue surged by 6.7%, driven by subscriber growth and increased sales volumes of wireless devices.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
