AT&T shares fell 8.0% on Friday, closing at $20.93 from a previous close of $22.74.
What the filing shows
The 8-K’s non-GAAP reconciliation reported diluted earnings per share from continuing operations of $0.13 for the third quarter, down from $1.29 a year earlier. The gap traces to $3,372 million in asset impairments, abandonments and restructuring costs booked in the quarter, versus none in the same period of 2025. GAAP operating income margin fell to 12.7% from 19.9%. Strip out the one-off items and the picture changes: adjusted EPS rose 20.4% to $0.65, and adjusted operating income margin improved to 23.5% from 21.3%.
The other reading
Not every voice in the market pinned Friday’s move on the filing alone. One report linked the session’s telecom weakness to SpaceX’s ambitions in cell-site capacity, and another flagged subscriber concerns alongside the SpaceX theme as reasons AT&T shares sank. AT&T has not confirmed either as a driver of its own share price, and both accounts were describing market reaction rather than company disclosure.
How big was the move
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Session move | −8.0% |
| Closing price | $20.93 |
| Previous close | $22.74 |
| Typical daily move, past year | 1.8% |
| Move as multiple of typical day | 4.5 times |
| Volume vs 30-day average | 2.2 times |
| Model value per share (base case) | $40.00 |
Shares fell 8.0%, a move that is 4.5x AT&T’s typical daily move of 1.8%. It is the stock’s biggest move in this direction since 9 October 2026. Trading volume ran 2.2x the 30-day average.
Market and industry context
The decline was not simply AT&T following the tape. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% the same session, a fraction of AT&T’s move, and the median move among the other integrated telecommunications companies Fundamentalytics covers was 0.0%. The drop was specific to AT&T.
Where the price sits against the model
AT&T shares closed at $$20.93. Fundamentalytics’ base-case discounted cash flow model, built from the company’s reported cash flow under stated growth and discount-rate assumptions, puts per-share value at $$40.00. That figure is a model output, not a market quote, and the live version below updates daily independently of the share price.
Fundamentals behind the headline miss
Over the trailing twelve months, AT&T’s net income fell 41.0%, outpacing a −10.7% fall in free cash flow over the same period. TTM net margin stands at 10.2%, free cash flow margin at 13.8%, and operating margin at 18.3%.
What it means for value
The model’s base case assumes stage-one revenue growth of 3.5%, matching AT&T’s own trailing growth rate. Growth is the larger lever in the model: a 5-percentage-point lower assumption would move model value down 41.1%, while 5.0 percentage points higher would lift it up 53.8%. A 1-percentage-point rise in the discount rate used would move value down 23.6%. Margin matters on a smaller scale: each 1-percentage-point reduction in free cash flow margin moves model value down 8.9%, and if the past year’s actual margin decline persisted, model value would move down 16.4%. These are model values under stated assumptions, not a comparison with the share price.
What comes next
AT&T’s most recent quarterly results, the ones behind this filing, were filed with the SEC on 21 October 2026. No date for the company’s next scheduled report has been confirmed as of this writing.