AT&T Stock Gets Upgraded. Why SpaceX Worries are Overblown.

Dow Jones
Jul 23

AT&T stock is winning plaudits on Wall Street after the wireless carrier's second-quarter earnings helped ease some worries about the threat SpaceX poses to its core business.

Wolfe analyst Peter Supino upgraded AT&T to outperform on Thursday, and set a $29 price target that implies shares can jump about 26% from Wednesday's closing level.

Supino said he is becoming more bullish because AT&T has managed to retain subscribers because of its converged offerings that combine 5G, fiber-optic broadband, and Wi-Fi on one platform.

The company on Wednesday reported a second-quarter postpaid churn rate of 0.86%, below the 0.9% figure that analysts were expecting. Churn rates measure the percentage of subscribers that exited their contracts over a given period.

Supino added that he has become less worried about Starlink, SpaceX's space-based broadband product, given how long it would take for Elon Musk's rocket and AI company to build a competitor to AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

"Yes, Starlink may bully its way into mobility, but it would take years to acquire and clear the right spectrum," the analyst wrote in a research note. It's unlikely the Big Three wireless carriers would rent out cell tower capacity, "unless Starlink behaves very aggressively," he added.

Supino expects AT&T's adjusted earnings per share to rise by 11% a year, and noted that growth isn't "priced into today's near-trough valuations." Shares have slipped about 8% this year, meaning AT&T trades at just under 10 times forward earnings.

Wedbush also published a bullish note on AT&T stock following the results, raising its free cash flow target and maintaining a strong Buy rating, according to ratings aggregators.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 23, 2026 11:24 ET (15:24 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

At the request of the copyright holder, you need to log in to view this content

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

Most Discussed

  1. 1
     
     
     
     
  2. 2
     
     
     
     
  3. 3
     
     
     
     
  4. 4
     
     
     
     
  5. 5
     
     
     
     
  6. 6
     
     
     
     
  7. 7
     
     
     
     
  8. 8
     
     
     
     
  9. 9
     
     
     
     
  10. 10