AT&T Beats Q3 Estimates, Raises 2026 EPS Outlook to About $2.40
AT&T ($T) beat Q3 earnings estimates, reporting revenue of $32.30 billion, up 5.3% from a year earlier, versus $31.69 billion expected, and adjusted EPS of $0.65, up 20.4%, versus $0.60, while GAAP EPS fell to $0.13 from $1.29 on a $2.6 billion noncash impairment of its Mexico wireless business.
AT&T (T) beat third-quarter estimates on revenue and adjusted earnings and raised its 2026 adjusted EPS outlook to about $2.40. Revenue rose 5.3% to $32.30 billion against $31.69 billion expected, and adjusted EPS of $0.65, up 20.4% from $0.54, topped the $0.60 consensus. GAAP EPS fell to $0.13 from $1.29 because of a $2.6 billion noncash impairment on its Mexico wireless business. Shares still fell more than 5% in premarket trading, according to MoneyCheck. Figures below come from AT&T's results as published, and more is on its investor relations site.
Q3 results versus expectations
| Measure | Q3 2026 | Consensus | Q3 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $32.30B | $31.69B (beat) | $30.7B |
| Adjusted EPS | $0.65 | $0.60 (beat) | $0.54 |
| Adjusted EBITDA | $12.5B | $12.32B (beat) | $11.9B |
| Free cash flow | $5.0B | — | $4.9B |
| GAAP EPS (continuing operations) | $0.13 | — | $1.29 |
| Adjusted operating income | $7.6B | — | $6.6B |
The EBITDA and EPS consensus figures come from the summary supplied for this article. Adjusted EBITDA was up about 5.0% by our calculation. GAAP operating income fell to $4.1 billion from $6.1 billion. The Mexico impairment of $2.6 billion on the held-for-sale business subtracts $0.41 a share from adjusted results, according to the company, and last year's GAAP figure included a gain on the sale of its DIRECTV investment. AT&T agreed on October 13 to sell the Mexico business to Grupo Televisa and Fintech Holdings. MoneyCheck also cited employee separation charges.
Segments
| Segment | Revenue | Change | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Connectivity | $29.5B | +7.2% | Operating income +18.9% to $7.6B; service revenue $23.9B, +6.1% |
| Latin America | $1.24B | +13.2% | EBITDA $236M, +18.6% |
| Legacy | $1.5B | −24.5% | Operating income $498M, −26.7% |
Advanced Connectivity, the fiber, 5G and broadband core, produced almost all of the growth, with EBITDA up 7.3% to $12.3 billion. The headline of AT&T's release called it the best consolidated service revenue growth in more than four years.
Subscribers and network
| Metric | Q3 2026 |
|---|---|
| Postpaid phone net adds | 379,000 (432,000 in Q2) |
| Postpaid phone churn | 0.92% |
| Fiber net adds | 442,000 |
| Fixed wireless (Internet Air) net adds | 327,000 |
| Total internet net adds | 769,000, a record quarter |
| Fiber locations | More than 39M (40M+ expected by end-2026) |
Phone adds of 379,000 were close to the roughly 379,300 expected, according to MoneyCheck, and below the second quarter's 432,000. About 42.8% of advanced home internet households also take AT&T wireless, and the company added about 350,000 converged relationships. It aims for more than 60 million fiber locations by the end of 2030.
2026 guidance and the longer outlook
| 2026 guidance | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Adjusted EPS | About $2.40 (consensus $2.34) |
| Adjusted EBITDA growth | Upper portion of 3% to 4% |
| Advanced Connectivity service revenue growth | 5% or more |
| Capital investment | $23B to $24B |
| Free cash flow | More than $18B |
The consensus EPS figure of $2.34 comes from the summary supplied for this article. For 2027 and 2028, AT&T guided to a double-digit annual adjusted EPS growth rate through 2028, EBITDA growth improving to 5% or better in 2028, capital investment of $22 billion to $23 billion a year, and free cash flow of more than $19 billion in 2027 and $21 billion in 2028. Those figures exclude Mexico.
Shareholder returns and leverage
| Measure | Latest |
|---|---|
| Returned in Q3 | About $4.8B ($2.8B buybacks, $1.95B dividends) |
| 2026 buybacks planned | About $10B |
| 2026–2028 returns planned | More than $45B, including more than $24B of buybacks |
| Annualized dividend | $1.11 per share |
| Net debt to adjusted EBITDA | 3.13x (2.59x a year earlier) |
Net debt was $149.8 billion, up from the prior quarter after the EchoStar spectrum transaction closed. AT&T expects leverage to return to about 2.5 times in 2029. Higher leverage is one reason the buyback and free-cash-flow plans matter to investors.
Stock reaction
MoneyCheck reported that AT&T fell more than 5% in premarket trading on October 21, after closing up about 1% the day before. It did not give a share price. That article, not an analyst, suggested possible reasons including phone adds in line with estimates, competition worries and the weak GAAP result. We could not verify a current price, so check live quotes. For a competitor angle, see our report on SpaceX's results.
Sources: AT&T investor relations, plus published copies of its Q3 2026 release and coverage of the stock move. We did not open the release on AT&T's site directly. Consensus figures for EBITDA and 2026 EPS come from the summary supplied for this article.
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