AT&T's stock rises toward best day in six months. Why investors are cheering the latest earnings.

By Emily Bary

The telecommunications company beat expectations on subscriber growth, free cash flow and profit

AT&T delivered its second-quarter results on Wednesday morning.

AT&T's stock was rising in morning action on Wednesday as the company showed further progress with its strategy of selling customers both internet and mobile service.

The company reported 432,000 postpaid phone net additions for the second quarter, with the figure tracking customers who pay for phone service after each cycle is complete. Analysts tracked by FactSet had been expecting 338,500 postpaid phone net adds.

AT&T (T) is in the midst of a yearslong push to amass customers who pay for both mobile and internet services, and it's made heavy investments in fiber connectivity as it pursues this so-called convergence strategy. AT&T disclosed that in the latest quarter, 42.5% of households with its home-internet offerings also chose AT&T for wireless service. That was up from 42% in the first quarter.

Within the company's advanced connectivity segment, it saw 367,000 fiber net additions and 279,000 fixed-wireless net additions. Fixed-wireless access is a type of internet service that leverages a company's mobile network.

Shares of AT&T were up about 4% in morning action and headed for their best single-day performance since Jan. 28, according to Dow Jones Market Data. They had lost 14% over the past three months through Tuesday, reflecting investor concerns over the competitiveness of the U.S. wireless industry and the potential threat brought upon by Elon Musk's SpaceX (SPCX).

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AT&T had been planning to conduct $8 billion worth of share repurchases this year as part of a multiyear capital-return initiative. Now the company is stepping up the pace of buybacks in the near term, with plans to conduct $10 billion worth of activity during 2026.

For the second quarter, AT&T generated $31.6 billion in revenue, up 2.3% from a year before. While that number came in slightly below the FactSet consensus view of $31.8 billion, the shortfall related to lower-than-expected equipment revenue, which is generally viewed by investors to be a positive outcome as it suggests fewer subsidized device sales.

AT&T posted second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 65 cents, up from 54 cents a year before and ahead of the 59-cent consensus view.

Free-cash flow for the period amounted to $4.7 billion, up from $4.4 billion in the year-earlier quarter and above the $4.5 billion that analysts were modeling.

"The accelerated growth we delivered this quarter shows our structural advantages to lead the next era of connectivity," CEO John Stankey said in a release.

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-Emily Bary

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