Telecommunications conglomerate AT&T (NYSE: T) announced better-than-expected revenue in Q4 CY2025, with sales up 3.6% year on year to $33.47 billion. Its GAAP profit of $0.53 per share was 14.3% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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Company Overview

Founded by Alexander Graham Bell, AT&T (NYSE: T) is a multinational telecomm conglomerate providing a range of communications and internet services.

Revenue Growth

A company’s long-term performance is an indicator of its overall quality. Any business can experience short-term success, but top-performing ones enjoy sustained growth for years. AT&T’s demand was weak over the last five years as its sales fell at a 4.3% annual rate. This was below our standards and suggests it’s a low quality business.

Long-term growth is the most important, but within consumer discretionary, product cycles are short and revenue can be hit-driven due to rapidly changing trends and consumer preferences. AT&T’s annualized revenue growth of 1.3% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, but we were still disappointed by the results.

AT&T also breaks out the revenue for its most important segment, Mobility. Over the last two years, AT&T’s Mobility revenue (wireless plans) averaged 3.2% year-on-year growth. This segment has outperformed its total sales during the same period, lifting the company’s performance.

This quarter, AT&T reported modest year-on-year revenue growth of 3.6% but beat Wall Street’s estimates by 2.1%.

Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to remain flat over the next 12 months. This projection is underwhelming and indicates its newer products and services will not catalyze better top-line performance yet.

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Operating Margin

AT&T’s operating margin has been trending up over the last 12 months and averaged 17.4% over the last two years. The company’s higher efficiency is a breath of fresh air, but its suboptimal cost structure means it still sports inadequate profitability for a consumer discretionary business.

This quarter, AT&T generated an operating margin profit margin of 17.3%, in line with the same quarter last year. This indicates the company’s overall cost structure has been relatively stable.

Earnings Per Share

Revenue trends explain a company’s historical growth, but the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) points to the profitability of that growth – for example, a company could inflate its sales through excessive spending on advertising and promotions.

AT&T’s full-year EPS flipped from negative to positive over the last five years. This is encouraging and shows it’s at a critical moment in its life.

In Q4, AT&T reported EPS of $0.53, down from $0.57 in the same quarter last year. Despite falling year on year, this print easily cleared analysts’ estimates. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects AT&T’s full-year EPS of $3.05 to shrink by 27.8%.

Key Takeaways from AT&T’s Q4 Results

It was good to see AT&T beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. We were also happy its revenue outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this print had some key positives. The stock traded up 3.7% to $23.87 immediately following the results.

AT&T may have had a good quarter, but does that mean you should invest right now? When making that decision, it’s important to consider its valuation, business qualities, as well as what has happened in the latest quarter. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).