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AT&T

NYSE: T · USD

AT&T (T) Economic Moat Analysis—

Avantages concurrentiels, preuves datées et risques d’érosion.

Analyse à actualiser

Narrow avantage concurrentiel

AT&T has a narrow moat supported by exclusive spectrum rights and a demonstrated history of routine, nominal-cost domestic license renewals. Pricing actions have contributed to revenue growth, but promotional offsets, mixed churn and realized legacy customer losses constrain pricing power. Shared infrastructure and connectivity growth support the franchise without establishing superior costs, network effects or exceptional durability.

Intangible assets

Exclusive rights to specified radio spectrum create a current legal barrier to replicating AT&T's wireless capacity. Routine domestic renewals support continued access; exclusivity applies to licensed spectrum, not to the entire wireless market.

Durabilité
Domestic licenses generally run for 10 years and have historically renewed routinely at nominal cost. This supports a durable but limited advantage; management's indefinite-useful-life assessment does not guarantee economic durability.
Concurrents
Comparaison non établie
Risques d’érosion
Other licensed operators and alternative technologies compete for customers. Promotions and higher churn demonstrate that spectrum rights do not ensure customer captivity or unrestricted pricing. Continued network investment is necessary, and Mexico renewal economics differ from domestic experience.
Ce qui invaliderait la thèse
The thesis would weaken materially if domestic renewals became unavailable or substantially more expensive, spectrum-use restrictions impaired capacity, or sustained wireless customer losses and promotional concessions showed that licensed capacity no longer supported competitive service economics.
Preuves (4) · Contre-preuves (5)

Évolution depuis la dernière analyse

  • Retain the previous narrow verdict and spectrum-rights rationale; no demonstrated cost advantage or network effect is added.
  • Expand pricing assessment with realized 2024–2026 pricing outcomes and promotional offsets, and distinguish lower second-quarter 2026 churn from slightly higher first-half churn.
  • Add assessments of actual compensation payouts, committee independence and capital deployment. These support numerical management grades without treating proposed awards as adopted or vested.

Limites de l’analyse

  • All supplied sources are issuer filings. Operating results and contractual disclosures support assessments, while management claims of leadership, future convergence benefits and lowest marginal costs do not establish comparative superiority.
  • U.S. competitors are disclosed only as categories, so the advantage's competitor array is empty. América Móvil is explicitly identified in Mexico; that does not establish named competitor coverage for the domestic spectrum advantage.
  • Spectrum exclusivity establishes a legal barrier, but comparative spectrum quality, network costs, local broadband economics and sustained excess returns are not established.
  • The latest supplied operating evidence covers June 30, 2026. Source dates are filing dates, retaining dateKind filed; later retrieval or assessment dates do not extend operating coverage.
  • The 2026 segment reorganization and acquired fiber customers limit comparisons with older segment results. Fiber revenue growth is not wholly organic, and expected customer relationship lives are not measured retention.
  • Actual incentive metrics and payouts are supplied, but comprehensive executive ownership, all compensation adjustments and complete shareholder-rights provisions are absent. Proposed 2026 plan terms are not treated as evidence of actual awards or vesting.

Indicateurs financiers à confronter à la thèse

Ratios calculés à partir des publications annuelles. Une valeur manquante reste indisponible. Les graphiques détaillés sont accessibles dans les autres onglets.

Indicateurs financiers à confronter à la thèse
PériodeGross marginOperating marginROICFCF margin
2021—13.8%5.6%15.1%
2022—-3.8%—13.4%
2023—19.2%7.6%16.7%
2024—15.6%5.7%15.1%
2025—19.2%8.7%15.5%

Pouvoir de fixation des prix—

Données vérifiées insuffisantes pour attribuer un score.

Management—

Données vérifiées insuffisantes pour attribuer un score.

Sources et méthode

Analyse à actualiser · Mis à jour 18/10/2026 · Version 6

Interprétation IA fondée sur des extraits vérifiés. Les déclarations de l’entreprise et les limites de couverture restent explicites.

Méthode quality-scores-2 : six catégories de même poids. Le score global exige une couverture complète. Les données manquantes ne valent pas zéro. Les évaluations qualitatives sont des interprétations sourcées, pas des probabilités. 3/6 · 22/10/2026

Moat—

Awaiting a sourced assessment under the current scoring policy and financial basis.

Pouvoir de fixation des prix—

Awaiting a sourced assessment under the current scoring policy and financial basis.

Prévisibilité82

Five consecutive annual periods. Equal weights: nondeclining revenue frequency; revenue-growth volatility (5–40pp); positive FCF frequency; FCF-margin volatility (3–20pp). Stability indicator, not a growth forecast.

Nondeclining revenue years (%)
50.00
Revenue growth volatility (pp)
12.96
Positive FCF years (%)
100.00
FCF margin volatility (pp)
1.06

Solidité financière13

Equal-weight grades: debt/FCF (1–8x), net debt/earnings before interest and tax (0–5x), interest service (1–12x), current ratio (0.75–2x). Earnings use reported operating income, or reported pretax profit plus reported interest expense when operating income is unavailable. Interest service uses earnings/interest expense; if unavailable, it uses reported operating cash flow/cash interest paid, without relabeling cash paid as accrued expense. Nonpositive cash flow/earnings score 0 for their service component; reported zero interest with a positive numerator scores 100. Net cash scores 100 for net leverage. Missing disclosures remain unavailable. General nonfinancial-company rubric, not a credit rating; exceptional and nonoperating gains are not normalized out. IFRS finance-cost and cash-flow classifications retain their reported scope.

debtFcfGrade
14.28
netDebtEbitGrade
2.44
interestCoverageGrade
23.19
currentRatioGrade
12.49
Debt / FCF (x)
7.00
Net debt / operating income (x)
4.88
Interest coverage (x)
3.55
Current ratio (x)
0.91

Allocation du capital84

Three-year equal-weight indicators: pretax return on average invested capital (0–25%; equity + debt − cash, each year and its prior year), share-count growth (0–5%, lower better), share-based cost/revenue (2–20%, lower better), consolidated FCF/net income (0–1x). Return uses reported operating income or, if unavailable, EBIT calculated from reported pretax profit plus reported interest expense; exceptional/nonoperating gains are not normalized out. Share-based cost uses the reported cash-flow add-back or, if absent, separately reported recognized compensation expense; the latter never becomes an FCF adjustment. Nonpositive net income scores 0 for cash conversion; absent income/FCF stays unavailable. Nonpositive invested capital has no defined return and remains unavailable. Does not establish acquisition quality or buyback timing.

3-year pre-tax operating return (%)
9.16
3-year average dilution (%)
0.01
3-year average SBC / revenue (%)
0.41
cashConversionGrade
100.00

Qualité du management—

Awaiting a sourced assessment under the current scoring policy and financial basis.

Preuves

Wireless licenses provide us with the exclusive right to utilize certain radio frequency spectrum to provide wireless communications services.

Financial statement notes: exclusive wireless spectrum rights · Dépôt 09/02/2026

While wireless licenses are issued for a fixed period of time (generally 10 years), renewals of domestic wireless licenses have occurred routinely and at nominal cost.

Financial statement notes: domestic license terms and renewal history · Dépôt 09/02/2026

We have determined that there are currently no legal, regulatory, contractual, competitive, economic or other factors that limit the useful lives of our FCC wireless licenses.

Financial statement notes: management assessment of FCC license useful lives · Dépôt 09/02/2026

service areas. Our competitors include two national wireless providers; a larger number of regional providers and resellers of each of those providers’ services; and certain cable companies.

Business competition: national providers, regional providers, resellers and cable companies · Dépôt 09/02/2026

Broadband The desire for high-speed data on demand, including data-intensive activities, is continuing to lead customers to terminate their traditional wired or copper-based services and use our fiber or fixed wireless services or competitors’ fixed wireless, satellite and internet-based services.

Business competition: broadband substitution and alternative technologies · Dépôt 09/02/2026

We are one of three facilities-based providers in Mexico (retail and wholesale), with the most significant market share controlled by América Móvil.

Business competition: Mexico market structure and América Móvil · Dépôt 09/02/2026

Wireless service revenue increased in the second quarter and for the first six months of 2026 driven by growth in retail wireless subscribers in underpenetrated categories and converged accounts, and pricing actions that were partially offset by promotional discounts on wireless subscriber additions.

MD&A: 2026 wireless revenue growth, pricing actions and promotional discounts · Dépôt 22/07/2026

Postpaid churn and postpaid phone churn were higher in 2025, partially driven by an increase in our customer base that reached the end of device financing periods, which normalized in the second half of 2025.

MD&A: 2025 churn and expiration of device financing periods · Dépôt 09/02/2026

Phone churn was lower in the second quarter and slightly higher for the first six months of 2026, reflecting the competitive dynamics of the industry.

MD&A: second-quarter and first-half 2026 phone churn · Dépôt 22/07/2026

Depreciation and amortization expense increased in the second quarter and for the first six months of 2026, driven by unfavorable foreign exchange rates and spectrum renewal fees, with accelerated depreciation impacting the first three months of the year.

MD&A: Mexico depreciation and spectrum renewal fees · Dépôt 22/07/2026

Legacy Voice and Data We continue to lose legacy voice and data customers due to industry-wide secular declines and competitors (e.g., wireless, cable and VoIP providers) who can provide comparable services at lower prices because they are not subject to traditional telephone industry regulation (or the extent of regulation they are subject to is in dispute), utilize different technologies or promote a different business model.

Business competition: realized legacy customer losses and lower-priced comparable services · Dépôt 09/02/2026

Postpaid ARPU increased in 2025 reflecting pricing actions that were largely offset by increased promotional activity, growth in our converged customer relationships, and our success in attracting customers in underpenetrated segments with lower ARPUs but attractive lifetime values, such as age 55-plus in our “value customers.”

MD&A: 2025 postpaid ARPU, pricing and promotional offsets · Dépôt 09/02/2026

ARPU increased in 2024 and reflects pricing actions.

MD&A: 2024 ARPU increase reflecting pricing actions · Dépôt 12/02/2025

Postpaid churn and postpaid phone-only churn were lower in 2024.

MD&A: lower postpaid churn in 2024 · Dépôt 12/02/2025

Fiber revenues increased 21.4% and 21.3% in the second quarter of 2026 and for the first six months, due to growth in fiber customers, including customers of our acquired mass markets fiber business.

MD&A: 2026 fiber revenue growth including acquired customers · Dépôt 22/07/2026

Second Quarter Six-Month Period Percent Percent 2026 2025 Change 2026 2025 Change Advanced Connectivity Segment Operating income $ 7,345 $ 6,106 20.3 % $ 14,198 $ 12,078 17.6 % Add: Depreciation and amortization 4,687 5,035 (6.9) 9,392 10,008 (6.2) EBITDA $ 12,032 $ 11,141 8.0 % $ 23,590 $ 22,086 6.8 % Operating income margin 25.7 % 22.2 % 24.9 % 22.1 % EBITDA margin 42.0 % 40.5 % 41.3 % 40.4 % Legacy Segment Operating income $ 523 $ 959 (45.5) % $ 1,135 $ 1,978 (42.6) % Add: Depreciation and amortization — — — — — — EBITDA $ 523 $ 959 (45.5) % $ 1,135 $ 1,978 (42.6) % Operating income margin 32.0 % 43.6 % 33.4 % 43.3 % EBITDA margin 32.0 % 43.6 % 33.4 % 43.3 % Latin America Segment Operating income $ 38 $ 46 (17.4) % $ 58 $ 89 (34.8) % Add: Depreciation and amortization 189 155 21.9 389 305 27.5 EBITDA $ 227 $ 201 12.9 % $ 447 $ 394 13.5 % Operating income margin 3.1 % 4.4 % 2.4 % 4.4 % EBITDA margin 18.5 % 19.1 % 18.6 % 19.5 % 36 AT&T INC.

MD&A: Advanced Connectivity, Legacy and Latin America operating and EBITDA results · Dépôt 22/07/2026

LEGACY SEGMENT Second Quarter Six-Month Period 2026 2025 Percent Change 2026 2025 Percent Change Segment Operating Revenues $ 1,632 $ 2,202 (25.9) % $ 3,400 $ 4,570 (25.6) % Segment Operating Expenses Operations and support 1,109 1,243 (10.8) 2,265 2,592 (12.6) Depreciation and amortization — — — — — — Total Segment Operating Expenses 1,109 1,243 (10.8) 2,265 2,592 (12.6) Operating Income $ 523 $ 959 (45.5) % $ 1,135 $ 1,978 (42.6) % Operating revenues decreased in the second quarter and for the first six months of 2026, driven by lower demand for legacy services, which we expect to continue as we decommission our copper-based legacy network.

MD&A: realized Legacy revenue and operating income declines · Dépôt 22/07/2026

Some contracts have fixed terms and others are cancelable on a short-term basis (i.e., month-to-month arrangements).

Revenue recognition: fixed-term and month-to-month customer contracts · Dépôt 09/02/2026

Promotional equipment sales where we offer handset credits, which are allocated between equipment and service in proportion to their standalone selling prices, when customers commit to a specified service period result in additional contract assets recognized.

Revenue recognition: promotional handset credits tied to service commitments · Dépôt 09/02/2026

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS Dollars in millions (Unaudited) Six months ended June 30, 2026 2025 Operating Activities Income from continuing operations $ 9,257 $ 9,553 Adjustments to reconcile income from continuing operations to net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations: Depreciation and amortization 9,932 10,441 Provision for uncollectible accounts 1,149 1,037 Asset impairments and abandonments and restructuring 286 504 Pension and postretirement benefit expense (credit) (791) (794) Net (gain) loss on investments (170) (31) Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Receivables (418) (247) Equipment installment receivables and related sales (176) 1,115 Contract asset and cost deferral (464) (299) Inventories, prepaid and other current assets 320 (317) Accounts payable and other accrued liabilities (2,565) (4,440) Changes in income taxes 1,829 1,663 Postretirement claims and contributions (264) (103) Other - net 471 730 Total adjustments 9,139 9,259 Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities from Continuing Operations 18,396 18,812 Investing Activities Capital expenditures (10,577) (9,174) Acquisitions, net of cash acquired (2,725) (48) Dispositions 747 40 (Purchases), sales and settlements of securities - net (24) (1,084) Other - net (654) (778) Net Cash Used in Investing Activities from Continuing Operations (13,233) (11,044) Financing Activities Issuance of long-term debt 14,037 6,429 Repayment of long-term debt (5,398) (1,620) Payment of vendor financing (643) (423) Redemption of preferred stock — (2,075) Purchase of treasury stock (4,669) (1,179) Issuance of treasury stock 1 17 Issuance of preferred interests in subsidiary — 2,221 Dividends paid (3,973) (4,135) Other - net (772) 167 Net Cash Used in Financing Activities from Continuing Operations (1,417) (598) Net increase in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash from continuing operations 3,746 7,170 Cash Flows from Discontinued Operations: Cash provided by operating activities 31 — Cash used in investing activities (4,363) — Cash used in financing activities — — Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash from discontinued operations (4,332) — Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash $ (586) $ 7,170 Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash beginning of year 18,527 3,406 Cash and Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash End of Period $ 17,941 $ 10,576 See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

Consolidated cash flows: first-half cash generation, investment, debt issuance and shareholder distributions · Dépôt 22/07/2026

Capital expenditures in 2025 were $20,842, and when including $1,181 cash paid for vendor financing, capital investment was $22,023 ($32 lower than the prior year).

MD&A: 2025 capital investment including vendor financing · Dépôt 09/02/2026

2025 Short-Term Award Results Metric Metric Weight Attainment Payout % Compensation Adjusted Operating Income (Adj OI) 60% 104% 118% Free Cash Flow (FCF) 20% 100% 101% Strategic Component 20% N/A 105% Weighted Average Payout 112% See additional details in the section How NEOs Were Paid for Performance in 2025.

Compensation discussion: actual 2025 short-term incentive metrics and payouts · Dépôt 23/03/2026

Long-Term Award – Performance Share Component Results for 2023-2025 Performance Period Metric Metric Weight Attainment Payout% 3-Year Compensation Adjusted Earnings Per Share (Adj EPS) Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) 50% 0.6% 128% 3-Year Average Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) 50% 9.7% 120% 3-Year Relative Total Stockholder Return (TSR) Payout Modifier +20%, 0% or -20% Quartile 3 0% Final Long-Term Payout 124% See additional detail in sections 2023-2025 Long-Term Incentive Adj EPS Growth and ROIC – Actual Performance, Attainment and Payout and Long-Term Incentive Awards with Performance or Restriction Periods Ending in 2025 or early 2026 below.

Compensation discussion: actual 2023–2025 performance-share results and payouts · Dépôt 23/03/2026

The target long-term values are comprised of 75% Performance Shares and 25% Restricted Stock Units (RSUs).

Compensation discussion: 2025 long-term award mix · Dépôt 23/03/2026

Mayer Luis A. Ubiñas Michael B. McCallister In addition, each member of the Audit Committee, the Governance and Policy Committee, and the Human Resources Committee is independent.

Corporate governance: actual committee independence determination · Dépôt 23/03/2026

The Audit Committee’s oversight of EY includes regular private sessions with EY, discussions about audit scope and business imperatives, and - as described above - a comprehensive annual evaluation to determine whether to re-engage EY.

Auditor oversight: private sessions and annual evaluation · Dépôt 23/03/2026

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2025, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) and our report dated February 9, 2026 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

Independent auditor report: unqualified internal-control opinion dated February 9, 2026 · Dépôt 09/02/2026

John T. Stankey Pascal Desroches Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer 38 AT&T Inc.

Annual report signatures: combined chairman, CEO and president roles · Dépôt 09/02/2026

Mobility: While we continued to grow our high-quality subscriber base, adding over 1.5 million postpaid phone net additions, we saw elevated churn and increased switching between carriers across the industry.

Compensation discussion: actual 2025 postpaid phone additions and elevated switching · Dépôt 23/03/2026

As a result, growth came at a higher cost than planned, resulting in pressure on margins and ARPU.

Compensation discussion: growth costs exceeded plans and pressured margins and ARPU · Dépôt 23/03/2026

Consumer Wireline: Expanded leadership in fiber broadband adding over 1 million fiber customers for the eighth consecutive year and delivering $8.6 billion in fiber revenue—a 17.0% year-over-year increase.

Compensation discussion: eight consecutive years of more than one million fiber customer additions · Dépôt 23/03/2026

Our concentration is to aggregate the most traffic on the largest, lowest marginal cost, converged network through efficient spectrum deployment and construction of the largest high-capacity broadband solutions in the United States, while also working with regulators and customers to decommission high-cost legacy technologies over the next several years.

Business strategy: intended lowest-marginal-cost converged network · Dépôt 09/02/2026

Our business strategies reflect integrated product offerings that cut across product lines and utilize shared assets.

Segment information: integrated offerings and shared assets · Dépôt 09/02/2026

Depreciation of our shared network, including copper-based assets prior to decommissioning, is managed in our Advanced Connectivity segment, consistent with our composite group depreciation methodology.

MD&A: shared-network depreciation assigned to Advanced Connectivity · Dépôt 22/07/2026

Historique des publications

Historique des publications
VersionMis à jourAvantage concurrentiel
622/10/2026narrow
519/10/2026narrow
418/10/2026narrow
318/10/2026narrow
218/10/2026narrow
118/10/2026Indisponible

Sources

Méthode et limites de l’analyse · Comprendre ce concept