New York, February 12, 2026, 07:34 EST — Premarket
- AT&T down about 0.3% in premarket after a 3.9% rise on Wednesday
- Verizon and T-Mobile also rallied in the prior session as telecom sentiment improved
- Traders await weekly jobless claims later Thursday and the January CPI report on Friday
AT&T shares edged down about 0.3% to $28.39 in premarket trading on Thursday, after jumping 3.9% to close at $28.47 in the previous session. Verizon rose 3.3% and T-Mobile climbed 5.1% on Wednesday. (Public)
The quick turn matters because the big U.S. carriers have become a blunt read on rates. They carry large debt loads and pay hefty dividends, so changes in bond yields can move the group fast.
It is also a proxy for the state of competition. If one carrier can talk up long-run cash and pricing power, the others get dragged into that debate, even if nothing has changed at their own shops.
T-Mobile set the tone on Wednesday after it lifted its 2027 service-revenue forecast to as much as $81.5 billion and raised its 2027 adjusted free cash flow — cash after capital spending — to $19.5 billion to $20.5 billion. It added 962,000 monthly-bill-paying phone customers in the fourth quarter, short of the 981,330 expected by analysts polled by FactSet, and said it will stop reporting postpaid phone subscriber additions starting this quarter; MoffettNathanson senior analyst Craig Moffett called that a case where “more is more.” Finance chief Peter Osvaldik said premium plans are running at 60% take rates in new accounts, while CEO Srini Gopalan said, “Our ARPA has grown by 13% since 2020.” (Reuters)
For AT&T, the read-through is familiar. Investors want growth in higher-value wireless customers and broadband without a fresh round of discounting, and they watch cash generation as closely as headline revenue.
Postpaid phone additions are monthly-billed subscribers and are still the cleanest yardstick for wireless momentum. Churn — the share of customers who leave — is the other one, and it can jump quickly when promotions heat up.
The broader market is still doing its own work. U.S. stock index futures were modestly higher, but traders have cut back rate-cut bets after strong jobs data, with inflation the next hurdle. Weekly U.S. jobless claims are due later Thursday, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the January CPI report for Friday, Feb. 13 at 8:30 a.m. ET. (Reuters)
That inflation print matters for dividend-heavy telecoms. A hotter number can lift yields and revive worries about funding costs; a cooler report tends to have the opposite effect, at least for a day.
There is a catch, and it is not small. The sector’s upside case leans on steadier pricing and cleaner disclosure, yet the latest results also showed churn ticking higher and subscriber growth missing estimates at the industry leader — reminders that switching still happens and perks are expensive.
AT&T’s premarket dip is minor, but the stock will need follow-through once regular trading starts. Traders are watching how it opens after the weekly claims data and, more importantly, how it trades through Friday’s CPI release.
