AT&T's September-quarter revenue grew 5.3% from a year earlier, the fastest in the twelve quarters shown. The shares went the other way in the same week.
Growth sped up, and that is the real headline
AT&T put out its third-quarter numbers on 21 October 2026. The top line is the simplest place to start, and this time it moved more than it usually does. Measured against the same quarter of 2025, revenue was up 5.3%. Three months earlier that year-on-year figure was 2.3%, so the top line is not just growing, it is growing faster than it was.
Data table
| period | revenue | yoy |
|---|---|---|
| 2023Q4 | $32.0bn | 2.2% |
| 2024Q1 | $30.0bn | -0.4% |
| 2024Q2 | $29.8bn | -0.4% |
| 2024Q3 | $30.2bn | -0.5% |
| 2024Q4 | $32.3bn | 0.9% |
| 2025Q1 | $30.6bn | 2.0% |
| 2025Q2 | $30.8bn | 3.5% |
| 2025Q3 | $30.7bn | 1.6% |
| 2025Q4 | $33.5bn | 3.6% |
| 2026Q1 | $31.5bn | 2.9% |
| 2026Q2 | $31.6bn | 2.3% |
| 2026Q3 | $32.3bn | 5.3% |
Keep some perspective. Over the three years to the September quarter, revenue compounded at 2.1% a year. This is a big, slow business having a good quarter, not a start-up. The figures here run through 2026Q3, the last quarter in the data.
The share price did not clap
Here is the odd part. On the day of the report, AT&T's return minus the peer basket's return was -4.5%. The basket holds 3 peers: Verizon, T-Mobile US and Comcast. Counting from the report day, that gap reaches -8.9%. The move happened in the same window as the release; these numbers show the two together, not one causing the other.
How did AT&T's shares do against its three peers on the day the results landed?
Actual-4.5%
The answer is -4.5%. The surprise is the direction. Revenue growth was the best in the data, and the shares still lagged the peer group on the day. A good quarter and a good day in the market are not the same thing.
Show answer
-4.5% The answer is -4.5%. The surprise is the direction. Revenue growth was the best in the data, and the shares still lagged the peer group on the day. A good quarter and a good day in the market are not the same thing.
Data table
| day | series | value | series_role |
|---|---|---|---|
| -5 | AT&T | 0.9% | target |
| -4 | AT&T | 2.8% | target |
| -3 | AT&T | 2.6% | target |
| -2 | AT&T | 1.5% | target |
| -1 | AT&T | 2.5% | target |
| 0 | AT&T | -4.1% | target |
| 1 | AT&T | -0.5% | target |
| 2 | AT&T | -8.4% | target |
| -5 | Peer basket | 1.8% | peer |
| -4 | Peer basket | 2.8% | peer |
| -3 | Peer basket | 3.8% | peer |
| -2 | Peer basket | 2.6% | peer |
| -1 | Peer basket | 4.0% | peer |
| 0 | Peer basket | 1.9% | peer |
| 1 | Peer basket | 5.5% | peer |
| 2 | Peer basket | 2.1% | peer |
| -5 | Cumulative abnormal return | -1.0% | neutral |
| -4 | Cumulative abnormal return | 0.0% | neutral |
| -3 | Cumulative abnormal return | -1.2% | neutral |
| -2 | Cumulative abnormal return | -1.1% | neutral |
| -1 | Cumulative abnormal return | -1.5% | neutral |
| 0 | Cumulative abnormal return | -5.9% | neutral |
| 1 | Cumulative abnormal return | -5.6% | neutral |
| 2 | Cumulative abnormal return | -10.4% | neutral |
One caveat on timing: only 3 trading days of prices after the report are available so far, so the post-report figure covers just those days, not a full window.
Growth costs cash, and the price tag is ordinary
Networks are expensive. In the September quarter capex Short for capital expenditure: the money a company spends on long-lived things such as cables, towers and equipment. was 15.7% of revenue, while depreciation An accounting charge that spreads the cost of past equipment over the years it is used, so it reduces profit without cash leaving today. was 15.4% of revenue. Put another way, capex was 1.0x depreciation: the company spent roughly what it wrote off.
After the slide, AT&T's P/E Price divided by earnings per share: roughly what you pay for each dollar of yearly profit. A lower number means the market is paying less for that profit. was 11.3x against a peer median of 11.6x, a gap of -2.7%. That is close to the middle of the group. Over the year to 2026-10-23 the shares returned -10.9% while the market returned 14.4%, a reminder that a cheap-looking multiple is not a floor.
Glossary
- capex
- Short for capital expenditure: the money a company spends on long-lived things such as cables, towers and equipment.
- depreciation
- An accounting charge that spreads the cost of past equipment over the years it is used, so it reduces profit without cash leaving today.
- P/E
- Price divided by earnings per share: roughly what you pay for each dollar of yearly profit. A lower number means the market is paying less for that profit.
Risks
- One-off items can flatter a single quarter; the segment tables do not separate them.
- Three peers is a small basket, and cable and wireless names react to different news.
- Currency moves and accounting changes can distort the year-on-year comparison, especially for the Latin America unit.
Sources
- SEC EDGAR XBRL companyfacts, AT&T INC. — data as of 2026-09-30; fetched 2026-10-24 18:09 UTC
- FinMind USStockPrice T — data as of 2026-10-23; fetched 2026-10-24 18:08 UTC; License note: FinMind open data; original source TWSE/TPEx or US exchanges
- FinMind USStockPrice CMCSA — data as of 2026-10-23; fetched 2026-10-24 18:09 UTC; License note: FinMind open data; original source TWSE/TPEx or US exchanges
- FinMind USStockPrice TMUS — data as of 2026-10-23; fetched 2026-10-24 18:09 UTC; License note: FinMind open data; original source TWSE/TPEx or US exchanges
- FinMind USStockPrice VZ — data as of 2026-10-23; fetched 2026-10-24 18:09 UTC; License note: FinMind open data; original source TWSE/TPEx or US exchanges