New York, Feb 12, 2026, 14:49 EST — Regular session
- AT&T shares climbed roughly 2% in afternoon trading, bucking the broader market downturn.
- T-Mobile’s boosted multi-year targets highlighted its strength in wireless pricing and broadband expansion.
- Traders are eyeing Friday’s U.S. inflation report, expecting it to move yields and dividend stocks once again.
AT&T Inc. shares climbed 2.1%, reaching $29.06 in afternoon trading, bucking the broader Wall Street trend as most stocks slid.
The telecom sector’s bid surfaced as investors retreated from tech stocks, eyeing Friday’s U.S. consumer price index release, while Treasury yields dipped. Jay Hatfield, CEO and CIO of Infrastructure Capital Advisors, noted that the “bull case” for rate cuts hinged on weaker jobs data “was challenged.” Reuters
AT&T’s rise mirrored a wider upswing among major telecom stocks. Verizon gained 1.8%, while T-Mobile US jumped roughly 4.5%.
T-Mobile dropped some big news Wednesday: it’s raising its 2027 targets for service revenue and “adjusted free cash flow,” a key cash metric that excludes one-time items and hints at how much flexibility the carrier has for buybacks and paying down debt. At the same time, it announced it will no longer report postpaid phone subscriber additions. Craig Moffett, senior analyst at MoffettNathanson, slammed the move as a step backward in transparency—“more is more,” he said. Reuters
AT&T’s late-January pitch is still settling with investors. The company claims fiber buildout and spectrum deals will back up earnings and cash flow. It projects adjusted profit between $2.25 and $2.35 per share in 2026. Key moves include a nearly $6 billion deal for Lumen’s consumer fiber segment and a $23 billion purchase of EchoStar spectrum licenses. CEO John Stankey also said the carrier aims to reach “over 40 million customer locations” with fiber by the end of the year. Reuters
Investors have focused on a few key indicators in the sector: subscriber growth, bundled deals combining home broadband with mobile discounts, and free cash flow supporting dividend payouts.
The trade isn’t straightforward. Competition in U.S. wireless shifts fast, and dialing back promotions is tough to interpret until churn kicks in — that’s the percentage of customers who leave.
AT&T is also navigating political and regulatory pressure. This week, the company informed a Senate panel that it’s developing new procedures to more accurately identify phone numbers linked to members of Congress. Lawmakers have been critical of telecom companies’ handling of subpoenas for phone records.
Next up is mostly macro. Traders are eyeing Friday’s January CPI report to gauge the next shift in yields — and, by extension, to see if income-heavy, debt-loaded telecom stocks will continue attracting buyers.
