Is the business good?

How good a business is T?

AT&T earns 8.0% on the capital it employs against a 9.0% cost of capital, so growth costs more than it returns.

8.0%

Return on invested capital · cost of capital 9.0% · 1.0 points below what the capital costs: growth destroys value

Operating margin
20%

Operating margin · Communication Services median 12% · 12 months to Q2 2026

Cash conversion
0.82×

Cash conversion · 1.54× a year ago · some of the reported profit has not turned into cash yet

Share count, year on year
−3.8%

Share count, year on year · bought back, each share owns more of the company

Operating margin by fiscal year
YearOperating margin
FY20205.9%
FY202119%
FY2022−3.8%
FY202319%
FY202416%
FY202519%
Details
Gross margin12 months to Q2 2026
80%
Operating margin12 months to Q2 2026
20%
Net margin12 months to Q2 2026
17%
Free cash flow margin
14%
Revenue, trailing twelve months
$127.2B
Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
$17.6B
Net income, trailing twelve months
$21.6B
Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
8.0%

Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion from the cash flow statement.