Transcripts
AT&T Inc.'s management answers for the business every quarter. These are the exchanges that explain it best — verbatim, from the call transcripts preserved in Sources. Each link opens the full transcript at that page in a new tab.
Q2 FY2026 Earnings Call — Q2 FY2026
The current operating model in management's own words — the convergence flywheel, fiber pricing, the capital-return math, and the satellite-competitor question answered head-on. · Open the full transcript →
Why falling fiber ARPU is by design — the metric that matters is total Advanced Connectivity revenue, not per-product ARPU.
Pascal Desroches (CFO): This reflects our focus on growing converged customer accounts, which enjoy discounted pricing, but typically stay with us longer and increase their spending over time. […] As we said before, our goal is not to maximize ARPU of individual products, but instead to maximize total Advanced Connectivity service revenues in order to drive attractive returns on our investments in 5G and fiber, and we are expecting continued strong growth in service revenue.
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The capital-return math: ~$18B to holders (≈100% of FCF), buybacks pulled forward to $10B, and the post-EchoStar deleveraging path.
Pascal Desroches (CFO): We returned $4.1 billion to shareholders during the second quarter, including approximately $2.2 billion of share repurchases. We are on pace to repurchase nearly $1 billion ofstock in July. And as John previously shared, we now expect to buy back approximately $10 billion of our shares in 2026. This compares to our prior target of $8 billion of share repurchases this year and represents a pul forward of our planned buybacks through 2028. Together, our planned share repurchases and expected dividend payments wil total approximately $18 billion this year, which is essentially 100% of our outlook for free cash flow. […] We ended the second quarter with net debt to adjusted EBITDA of 2.68 times, which was essentially flat with the first quarter. We continue to expect that our net leverage ratio will increase following the close of our transaction with EchoStar to the 3.2 times range and then return to a level consistent with our target in the 2.5 times range within approximately three years following the close of the EchoStar transaction.
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Fiber pricing philosophy: serve the whole value-to-performance continuum on the lowest-cost network, optimizing the household.
John Stankey (Chairman & CEO): Once we put the fiber infrastructure in place, my point of view is there isn't a customer out there that shouldn't be ours. We have the best technology. It can be operated at the lowest marginal cost. […] But the silly thing would be to serve those value-oriented customers on a higher cost infrastructure. And so we want to make sure that our fiber product offerings match to the continuum, both the value-oriented and the performance-oriented shopper. And we can do that really well, especially when the customers converge, because we're not just optimizing for one product, but we're optimizing for the suite of products that the customer has in home. And as we shared with you, we get lower churn on those customers, a higher lifetime value and higher brand affinity.
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The hardest question — Starlink as an MVNO competitor. Stankey: a wholesale deal solves a problem he doesn't have at 98% coverage.
John Stankey (Chairman & CEO), answering Craig Moffett (MoffettNathanson): when we think about a wholesale arrangement, as I said before, the motivation for a wholesale arrangement is always to get on a part of the market that you can't get at yourself. […] And I don't necessarily need a wholesale arrangement to go and address that 2% of the traffic that I can't get at today, because I can get at 98% of the traffic. I'm solving for a much smaller equation. […] So I'm not prone to look for a wholesale agreement to go solve the problem I don't have. I am from to look for a partnership to solve the 2%.
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Q4 FY2025 Earnings Call — Q4 FY2025
The annual call that lays out the whole framework: long-term guidance through 2028, the $45B capital-return plan, and the convergence economics driving it. · Open the full transcript →
The three-year frame: capital intensity falling to mid-teens, $45B+ of returns equal to ~30% of market cap and >75% of free cash flow.
John Stankey (Chairman & CEO): As we complete these investments, we expect our capital intensity to decline from a high-teens percent of revenue to the mid teens, driving higher durable long-term cash flow. […] Over the next three years, we expect to drive accelerated growth in adjusted EBITDA, double-digit adjusted EPS growth, and strong free cash flow. We also expect to return over $45 billion to our shareholders over the next three years through our attractive dividend and consistent pace of share repurchases. This represents nearly 30% of our market cap and over 75% of our expected free cash flow.
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The hard guidance numbers behind the story: EBITDA 3–4% to 5%+, EPS $2.25–$2.35 with a double-digit CAGR, FCF over $18B in 2026.
Pascal Desroches (CFO): Putting this all together, we expect to achieve growth in consolidated adjusted EBITDA in the 3% to 4% range in 2026, improving to 5% or better in 2028. We expect adjusted EPS to be in the $2.25 to $2.35 range in 2026, with a double-digit three-year CAGR through 2028. […] For 2026, we expect free cash flows of over $18 billion, reflecting primarily growth in adjusted EBITDA, lower pension contributions, and lower legal settlements, partially offset by higher capital investments and cash interest. We expect free cash flows to grow by over $1 billion in 2027 and approximately $2 billion in 2028, driven primarily by growth in adjusted EBITDA.
p. 5 · Read in context →
The capital-return mechanics: dividend maintained, ~$8B of 2026 buybacks, and a fresh $10B authorization underpinning the $45B plan.
Pascal Desroches (CFO): In 2025, we returned over $12 billion to shareholders, including over $8 billion in dividends and over $4 billion in share repurchases. As we outlined in our earnings release, we expect to return over $45 billion to shareholders during 2026 to 2028. Under this capital return plan, we expect to maintain our current common stock dividend with a consistent pace of share repurchases through 2028, including approximately $8 billion of buybacks in 2026. Our board has authorized an additional $10 billion of share repurchases after we complete buybacks under the current authorization.
p. 6 · Read in context →
Q2 FY2023 Earnings Call — Q2 FY2023
The call after the lead-clad cable shock — how management defended the balance sheet and dividend against a new environmental/legal risk, alongside the fiber build economics. · Open the full transcript →
Fiber unit economics laid bare: 3.4M net adds (+80%), ~38% penetration, doubled fiber revenue to >$1.5B, and +$10 (20%) broadband ARPU.
John Stankey (CEO): Over the past three years, we've had more than 3.4 million AT&T fiber net adds, boosting our subscriber base by roughly 80%. Everywhere we put fiber in the ground, we feel good about our ability to win with consumers. In fact, our average penetration rate is about 38%. […] Since the second quarter of 2020, we've doubled our quarterly fiber broadband revenues, reaching more than $1.5 billion this quarter. And over the past three years, the accretive mix shift to fiber has driven our broadband ARPU up more than $10, an increase of 20%.
p. 5 · Read in context →
The lead-clad cable defense, prepared: independent science shows no public-health risk; cooperating with the EPA and testing selected sites.
John Stankey (CEO): Independent experts and long-standing science have given us no reason to believe these cables pose a public health risk. And our own prior testing, which we shared publicly, confirms the established science. Still, to be responsive to any concerns raised by recent reporting, we're doing additional testing at selected sites. […] We're working cooperatively with the Environmental Protection Agency to provide them the information needed to conduct a thorough assessment of the issue using the most up-to-date reliable science.
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The thesis-testing exchange: with litigation pending Stankey is guarded, but says the lead issue doesn't change his dividend view.
John Stankey (CEO), answering David Barden (Bank of America): So, Dave, thanks for asking the question that I guess needed to be asked. I'm limited in how much I can say. I'll try to be somewhat responsive to share. But if you are unsatisfied with a little bit of the background I give here, I apologize. […] But you also have to understand we're in a unique position that we do have actual litigation pending right now on some of this out in Lake Tahoe, and that maybe puts us in a little bit different place. So, I need to be somewhat sensitive around that. So, let me start at the back end, and then I'll try to tick through. I don't think it changes my point of view of how I think about the dividend.
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The substantive rebuttal: no regulator flagged lead-cable handling and nothing material to disclose — same message to credit agencies.
John Stankey (CEO): has anybody come in and said, "Hey, we've got issues around what you're doing with lead cables, or you're not handling this correctly," the answer is no. […] We haven't disclosed anything out publicly about claims because there hasn't been anything material to disclose is what I would tell you. And I don't know that I would go any further than that. And, you know, the way we're talking to credit agencies around this issue is exactly how we're talking to you about it.
p. 28 · Read in context →
Q1 FY2023 Earnings Call — Q1 FY2023
The free-cash-flow credibility test — a soft Q1 print and analysts demanding proof the $16B full-year target holds, with management walking through the seasonal bridge. · Open the full transcript →
The quarter that spooked the market: $1B of FCF framed as seasonal timing, with the full-year $16B+ target reaffirmed.
Pascal Desroches (Senior EVP & CFO): Cash from operating activities came in at $6.7 billion versus $7.6 billion last year. This was largely due to the timing of working capital, which includes lower securitizations. As a reminder, the first quarter is typically the high watermark for device payments, and we expect payments to progressively get lower as we make our way through the balance of the year. […] Free cash flow for the quarter was $1 billion. This was consistent with our expectations and accounts for several seasonal and anticipated working capital impacts. We remain confident in our full year outlook for free cash flow of $16 billion or better. This expectation is largely due to the timing of capital investments, device payments, incentive compensation, which all peaked in the first quarter.
p. 5 · Read in context →
The credibility test: after last year's 2Q guide-down, Cusick asks why to trust the $16B target. Stankey walks the Q1 'low watermark' logic.
Philip Cusick (JPMorgan); John Stankey (CEO): Let's start with free cash flow. Given the 2Q free cash flow guide down last year, what can you add to your comments already to get investors comfortable that we aren't walking into another one of those? […] Remember, in my commentary on at the year-end when we gave guidance, we said that Q1 was going to be the low watermark for free cash flow for several reasons. One, it's the highest quarter of device payments. Recall, Q4 holiday sales is the heaviest volume for devices we pay for those in Q1. You saw our capital spend is elevated relative to the annual guidance that we gave. And Q1 is the quarter we pay incentive comp. When you factor all those things in, along with our expectations that we will continue to grow EBITDA, we feel really good about delivering $16 billion or better.
p. 7 · Read in context →
Q1 FY2022 Earnings Call — Q1 FY2022
The pivotal reset call — the WarnerMedia spinoff completed, a rebased dividend and simplified capital framework, and management's first defense of the 'new AT&T.' · Open the full transcript →
The strategic reset: post-WarnerMedia, AT&T reframes itself as a pure-play out to become 'America's best broadband provider.'
John Stankey (CEO): We now have the right asset base and financial structure to devote our energy to becoming America's best broadband provider. Over a five-year period, we expect a fivefold data increase on our networks and we plan to capitalize on the growing desire from consumers and businesses for ubiquitous access to best-inclass connectivity solutions. […] We're seeing record levels of net additions in mobility and consistently strong AT&T Fiber growth, thanks to our disciplined and consistent go-to-market strategy.
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The balance-sheet reset: >$50B of assets monetized since 2021 and ~$40B of net debt erased in April, funding the deleveraging path.
John Stankey (CEO): With the completion of the WarnerMedia-Discovery transaction, we've monetized more than $50 billion of assets since the beginning of 2021. And with this transaction, we reduced our net debt by approximately $40 billion in April. […] In fact, we've already addressed some of our near-term maturities and paid off over $10 billion in bank loans.
p. 6 · Read in context →
The new capital-allocation framework: invest first in 5G/fiber (~$24B capex), target 2.5x leverage, and a rebased ~$8B / $1.11 dividend.
Pascal Desroches (CFO): We now have a simplified capital allocation framework. First, we plan to invest in our strategic focus areas: 5G and fiber. […] As previously said, we expect stand-alone AT&T capital investments of $24 billion in 2022 and 2023. Starting in 2024, we expect our capital investment to begin tapering to around the $20 billion range as we surpass peak levels of investments in 5G and transformation. The completion of the WarnerMedia transaction also marks a significant step toward achieving our established goal for net debt to adjusted EBITDA in the 2.5 times range by the end of 2023. […] As previously said, we expect to deliver annual total dividends of around $8 billion, which represents $1.11 per common share.
p. 12 · Read in context →
More calls
Q1 FY2026 Earnings Call — Q1 FY2026 · 12 pages · The quarter before the latest — early read on integrating the acquired Lumen fiber assets and deploying EchoStar spectrum, plus the ongoing buyback. · Open →
Q4 FY2024 Earnings Call — Q4 FY2024 · 11 pages · Where the post-Analyst-Day capital plan turns concrete: commencing share repurchases off the initial ~$10B tranche and the DIRECTV distributions winding down. · Open →
Q3 FY2024 Earnings Call — Q3 FY2024 · 11 pages · The DIRECTV exit — management explains the agreement to sell AT&T's remaining 70% stake to TPG and what a fully connectivity-focused company looks like. · Open →
Q2 FY2024 Earnings Call — Q2 FY2024 · 12 pages · The reader gets management fielding questions on the customer-data breach disclosures and the deconsolidation of the cybersecurity unit into a joint venture. · Open →
Q4 FY2023 Earnings Call — Q4 FY2023 · 36 pages · Full-year 2023 results and the initial 2024 guidance frame for free cash flow, EPS and capital investment as the fiber build moved past its peak. · Open →
Q3 FY2022 Earnings Call — Q3 FY2022 · 38 pages · The first full quarter after the mid-2022 free-cash-flow reset — management showing cost actions and cash generation getting back on track. · Open →
Q2 FY2022 Earnings Call — Q2 FY2022 · 41 pages · The free-cash-flow guide-down that hit the stock — the ~$2B cut from the prior $16B range that every later call had to answer for. · Open →
Q4 FY2021 Earnings Call — Q4 FY2021 · 38 pages · The pre-spin setup — the DIRECTV separation and the terms of the coming WarnerMedia transaction and dividend rebase, before the new AT&T existed. · Open →