When AT&T (T) posts quarterly results on Wednesday, the U.S. wireless carrier’s wireless subscribers and margin figure are expected to capture investors’ focus.
Wall Street expects the Texas-based company to post EPS of $0.47, on revenue of $32.88 billion, implying a rise of nearly 2% during the quarter.
AT&T, in October, added more wireless subscribers than expected, as it managed to attract more customers due to its heavy promotional activities around the new iPhone launch. However, the company experienced in-line profit and revenue misses, leading to the stock falling over 8% since its third-quarter results.
“With AT&T’s revenue expected to grow at a rate within 1-2%, a drop in gross margin could have significant implications for earnings per share in 2025, and that is why the ARPU gross margin dynamic will be of crucial importance within the upcoming report,” noted Seeking Alpha analyst Vladimir Dimitrov.
Over the last three months, AT&T’s EPS estimates have seen four upward revisions, compared to three downward revisions. Revenue estimates have been revised upwards four times versus five downward moves.
Verizon’s third quarter saw a wide topline miss, a small bottomline beat, and subscriber losses in its consumer business. Still, new CEO Dan Schulman’s strategy to move towards a “customer-centric growth” with a goal to “have the lowest churn rate in the industry” boosted investor confidence.
Wall Street expects Verizon to post EPS of $1.06 on revenue of $36.2 billion.
A recent Seeking Alpha analysis by Juxtaposed Ideas argued that the “aggressive headcount reduction and pivot to franchised retail operations are expected to drive improved productivity and profitability starting in FY2026.”
“I am of the opinion that the market may be in a wait-and-see mode, with investors likely to closely monitor their upcoming FY2026 guidance in the FQ4’25 earnings call sometime in January 2026,” it added.
Seeking Alpha analysts and Wall Street are bullish and rated both the stocks a Buy. In contrast, Seeking Alpha’s Quant ratings are cautious and consider them a Hold.
Over the last three months, Verizon’s EPS estimates have seen no upward revisions, compared to 12 downward revisions, while revenue estimates have seen one upward revision versus 10 downward moves.
Over the last two years, Verizon has beaten EPS estimates 88% of the time and has beaten revenue estimates 50% of the time. Meanwhile, AT&T has beaten both revenue and EPS estimates 63% of the time.