AT&T reported second-quarter 2026 results Wednesday morning that beat analyst expectations on earnings per share, subscriber growth, and profitability metrics, as accelerating demand for fiber broadband and wireless services drove the company's strongest consumer wireless growth in more than three years. GAAP EPS from continuing operations reached $0.66, clearing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by 11.2%, while revenue totaled $31.56 billion, up 2.3% year-over-year and slightly below the $31.75 billion consensus on a top-line basis.
The standout figure in the report was postpaid phone net subscriber additions of 432,000 for the quarter, which exceeded the analyst forecast of approximately 338,500 by nearly 28%. The performance builds on a first quarter in which AT&T added 294,000 postpaid phone net subscribers, itself a beat against consensus, and represents the kind of sustained execution management has pointed to as evidence that the company's fiber-led convergence strategy is beginning to pay off in customer retention and acquisition economics.
Advanced Connectivity service revenue, the company's primary organic growth engine combining fiber broadband and wireless services, rose 5.1% to $23.5 billion, with operating income jumping 20.3% to $7.3 billion and EBITDA rising 8.0% to $12.0 billion. The company added more than one million Advanced Connectivity customers during the quarter across fiber, fixed wireless, and postpaid phone net adds combined. Adjusted EBITDA for the total company rose 5.2% to $12.3 billion, while free cash flow increased to $4.7 billion from $4.4 billion a year earlier.
On fiber infrastructure, AT&T said it now reaches more than 38.6 million total consumer and business locations and remains on track to exceed 40 million fiber locations by year-end 2026. The company separately reiterated a longer-term target of more than 60 million fiber locations by the end of the decade. More than 42% of households with AT&T's home internet service also subscribe to AT&T wireless, a convergence metric management tracks as evidence that bundled customers show superior churn characteristics.
AT&T reaffirmed all of its full-year 2026 guidance, continuing to expect adjusted EPS of $2.25 to $2.35 and free cash flow of at least $18 billion. The company also maintained its multi-year capital return commitment of distributing $45 billion or more to shareholders through 2028 via dividends and share buybacks, and said it is accelerating the pace of share repurchases within 2026.
Shares rose approximately 2.5% to $22.84 in pre-market trading following the results, a modest recovery for a stock that has declined roughly 14% over the trailing 90 days. The positive reaction reflects relief that subscriber momentum is holding even as competition from cable operators and T-Mobile remains intense. Revenue slightly missing the consensus estimate was overshadowed by the EPS beat and subscriber upside, consistent with the pattern of recent quarters in which the market has rewarded AT&T for improving the quality of its customer base rather than pure top-line growth.