AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) stock rose 3.32% (As on January 29, 11:26:13 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company reported fourth quarter and full-year 2025 results that modestly exceeded Wall Street expectations, supported by growth in mobility and fiber customers and higher earnings. AT&T added 421,000 postpaid phone subscribers in the quarter, falling short of analyst expectations that had called for roughly mid-400,000 net additions. Fiber net adds totaled 283,000, above consensus estimates that were closer to the mid-200,000 range. Business wireline revenue continued to decline during the period, although the pressure was partially offset by continued growth in fiber broadband and advanced connectivity services. The company ended 2025 with Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDA of 2.53 times and cash and cash equivalents of $18.2 billion.

T in the fourth quarter of FY25 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of 52 cents, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 46 cents. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 3.6 percent to $33.5 billion in the fourth quarter of FY25, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of 32.7 million. Operating income for the fourth quarter was $5.8 billion, up from $5.3 billion a year earlier. The operating income margin was 17.3% for the quarter.

Additionally, the company expects to maintain the current common stock dividend with a consistent pace of share repurchases through 2028, including approximately $8 billion of buybacks in 2026. The board has authorized an additional $10 billion of share repurchases.

Looking ahead, AT&T guided 2026 adjusted EPS to a range of roughly $2.25 to $2.35, above the analyst consensus of about $2.21. The company also outlined expectations for low-single-digit annual service revenue growth and continued elevated investment in its network and fiber expansion through 2028. The company plans to expand its fiber network by 5 million locations annually through 2030 and expects consolidated Adjusted EBITDA growth of 3-4% in 2026, improving to over 5% by 2028. The company expects that total business service revenues within the Advanced Connectivity segment will grow at a low single-digit CAGR through 2028. The company also intend to maintain the cost transformation initiatives across the business. The company achieved over $1 billion of cost savings in 2025, and expect to achieve an additional $4 billion annual cost savings by the end of 2028. The company expect free cash flows to grow by $1 billion+ in 2027 and approximately $2 billion in 2028. The company expect the net debt to Adjusted EBITDA to increase to approximately 3.2x and then to decline to approximately 3x by year-end.