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AT&T shares fell 6.4% on October 21, 2026, after the company reported third-quarter results and raised its full-year profit outlook. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% that day, while Verizon fell 2.2% and T-Mobile 2.5%. The higher outlook came mainly from lower depreciation under held-for-sale accounting for AT&T Mexico, which the company has agreed to sell. AT&T now expects full-year adjusted EPS of about $2.40, up from $2.25 to $2.35. Adjusted EPS was $0.65, against a consensus of $0.61. Revenue matched expectations at $32.3 billion. AT&T kept its free cash flow forecast at $18 billion and its adjusted EBITDA growth forecast at 3% to 4%. It warned that fourth-quarter growth will suffer from higher marketing and customer acquisition costs. Average revenue per fiber customer fell 4%, and a similar decline is expected next quarter.

AT&T raised its full-year adjusted earnings per share outlook to about $2.40, up from $2.25-$2.35, after a third quarter of record subscriber growth. Adjusted EPS was $0.65, up 20% from $0.54 a year earlier. Total revenue rose 5.3% year over year, and service revenue grew 3.8%, its best performance in more than four years. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 5.4%, with a margin of 38.7%. The company added a record 696,000 advanced home internet customers, including 416,000 on fibre. Postpaid phone net adds were 379,000. Net debt to adjusted EBITDA rose to 3.13x from 2.68x, reflecting the $23 billion EchoStar spectrum purchase. AT&T returned $4.8 billion to shareholders in the quarter, and expects free cash flow of more than $18 billion for the year.

US pre-open: Futures higher as SpaceX jumps, Netflix slips. Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the open on Wednesday, buoyed by upbeat corporate earnings and a rebound in risk appetite despite lingering pressure in the tech space. As of 1240 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.11%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.27% and 0.62% higher, respectively. The Dow closed 529.85 points higher on Tuesday following some well-received earnings, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq's gains were more subdued due to fragile sentiment in the AI sector. Shares in SpaceX jumped 8% in pre-market trade after the company said third-quarter revenues had surged 161%, while Elon Musk added that SpaceX and Tesla have set up special committees to explore a potential merger. Netflix, on the other hand, slid over 6% after the streaming giant posted its slowest sales growth in three years. As for Wednesday morning's earnings, Philip Morris posted a solid rise in third-quarter revenues, with net sales up 5.5% year-on-year to $11.4bn, although reported diluted earnings per share slipped 4.9% to $2.12 due to a non-cash adjustment to the fair value of security investments. Operating income climbed 14.1% to $4.9bn, reflecting stronger underlying performance. The tobacco giant reiterated its full-year guidance, expecting reported diluted EPS of $7.11 to $7.26, and projecting 5% to 7% organic revenue growth for 2026. Elsewhere, AT&T delivered better-than-expected third-quarter earnings, reporting net income of $891m, or $0.12 per share, with adjusted EPS coming in at $0.65, ahead of the $0.61 consensus estimate. Revenues also beat forecasts at $32.32bn, compared with expectations of $31.68bn. The telecommunications giant continues to expect full-year earnings of $2.40 per share. Still to come, Meta Platforms, Tesla and IBM were all slated to report earnings after the close. On the macro front, US mortgage applications fell 5.3% in the week ended 16 October, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, extending their decline to a seventh straight week and taking activity to its lowest level since January 2025. Applications to purchase a home slid 7.3% on the week, while refinancing activity, which is typically more sensitive to week-to-week rate changes, fell 2%. The drop came as borrowing costs remained near a three-year high, with only a marginal easing in the average 30-year fixed rate. Rising Treasury yields and expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep policy tighter for longer, alongside renewed inflation pressure from surging energy prices linked to the Iran war, continued to weigh on housing demand. Energy prices also continued to draw an amount of investor attention, with West Texas Intermediate futures up 1.42% at $99.21 per barrel and Brent crude 1.09% higher at $109.98 a barrel amid renewed concerns over global supply risks. Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com