AT&T Inc.

Second-quarter total revenue increased 2.3% year over year, driven by service revenue growth of 2.7%. Adjusted EBITDA rose 5.2% year over year, and adjusted EBITDA margin improved 110 basis points to 39.1%. Adjusted EPS was $0.65, up from $0.54 a year ago, and free cash flow was $4.7 billion, up roughly $300 million year over year and above the $4 billion-$4.5 billion guidance range. Advanced Connectivity service revenue grew 5.1% year over year, Advanced Connectivity EBITDA rose 8%, wireless service revenue grew 3.3%, and business Advanced Connectivity service revenue grew 1.8%; legacy service revenue fell 26% and legacy EBITDA declined about 46%. For the full year, AT&T still expects consolidated service revenue growth in the low single-digit range, consolidated adjusted EBITDA growth of 3%-4%, adjusted EPS of $2.25-$2.35, free cash flow of $18 billion+, and capital investment of $23 billion-$24 billion. The company also expects free cash flow to be relatively stable year over year in the third quarter and to grow strongly in the fourth quarter.

John Stankey framed the quarter as proof that AT&T’s strategy is working, pointing to accelerated customer growth, better margins, and record fiber performance. He emphasized the company’s push toward convergence, saying AT&T aims to win across the value and premium spectrum on fiber and wireless, not just maximize single-product ARPU. He also highlighted longer-term themes: AI-driven traffic growth, the need for dense fiber and better upstream wireless capacity, and the company’s plan to keep shrinking legacy copper and footprint costs.

Pascal Desroches focused on the financial acceleration and reaffirmed guidance. He noted a 2.3% revenue increase, 5.2% EBITDA growth, 39.1% adjusted EBITDA margin, and $0.65 adjusted EPS, with free cash flow of $4.7 billion versus a $4 billion-$4.5 billion guide. He said capex was $6.1 billion in the quarter as fiber locations grew by over 1 million, but still expects $23 billion-$24 billion of full-year capital investment and $18 billion+ of free cash flow. He also said AT&T returned $4.1 billion to shareholders in the quarter, expects about $10 billion of buybacks in 2026, and ended the quarter at 2.68x net debt to adjusted EBITDA, with leverage expected to rise to the 3.2x range after EchoStar closes before moving back toward the mid-2x target over about three years.

Analysts pressed on whether new wireless plans and lower-priced fiber offers meant AT&T was moving down market, and management said the changes are deliberate and are improving new-account additions, churn, and margins rather than sacrificing profitability. Questions also focused on fiber volume ramping in the Lumen footprint, where Stankey clarified that the 45% figure referred to the converged rate in that footprint, not a 45% increase in broadband sales, and said the company is still building out the footprint and brand transition. On satellite and spectrum, management said satellite is intended to solve the small percentage of cases where customers leave AT&T coverage, not replace the core model, and that the EchoStar deal plus dense fiber should give AT&T enough control of capacity while the long-delayed C-band auction remains years away.