AT&T Q3 2026 Earnings: More Money per Phone Line, More Homes on Home Internet
AT&T’s phone business grew in the third quarter of 2026 mostly because each line brought in 4.0% more a month than a year earlier ($58.90 against $56.64). The number of phone lines rose only 2.0%, and home internet grew the other way, on about 30% more homes and less revenue from each one.
The short answer. AT&T reported on October 21 what it calls its best service revenue growth in more than four years, with phone lines bringing in more money and home internet adding homes. Nationally, the government’s price index shows cellphone service up 3.2% in the year to September and internet service almost flat. We split AT&T’s growth into new customers and money per customer, using the company’s own figures.
AT&T's third quarter 2026 in three numbers
On this page
- Why are AT&T phone bills going up?
- Is AT&T raising home internet prices?
- How much have cellphone and internet prices gone up?
- What drove AT&T’s third quarter 2026 revenue growth?
- AT&T third quarter 2026 earnings and outlook
- When do Verizon and T-Mobile report earnings?
- How we counted
- Frequently asked questions
Why are AT&T phone bills going up?
AT&T is collecting more money from each phone line on average, and by our estimate that added more to its phone revenue than new lines did. The number of postpaid phone lines grew 2.0% in a year, while average revenue per line rose 4.0%.
Show the data
| Item | Q3 2025 | Q3 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per phone line | $56.64 | $58.90 | +$2.26 |
| Per home internet connection | $72.33 | $68.55 | -$3.78 |
Postpaid phone lines are phone subscriptions on a monthly plan billed after the service, as opposed to prepaid service, and they are the core of AT&T’s phone business. The company had 75.3 million of them at September 30, up from 73.8 million a year earlier, according to its third quarter filing. That is the same pace of about 2% a year it has kept since 2025.
What changed is the money per line. AT&T’s average monthly revenue per postpaid phone line was $58.90 in the quarter, against $56.64 a year earlier, in its quarterly trending schedule. That works out to $2.26 more a month, or 4.0%. A year ago the same measure was slipping.
By our estimate, the higher revenue per line added about $509 million to AT&T’s quarterly revenue from postpaid phones. Having more phone lines added about $254 million, half as much. The split cannot separate price increases from people moving to pricier plans or getting smaller discounts.
Customers did not leave faster. The share of postpaid phone lines cancelled each month was 0.92%, the same as a year earlier, according to the filing.
Show the data
| Category | Postpaid phone lines | Revenue per phone line |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2025 | 2.1% | 1.1% |
| Q3 2025 | 2.1% | -0.8% |
| Q4 2025 | 2.0% | -0.3% |
| Q1 2026 | 2.0% | -0.1% |
| Q2 2026 | 2.1% | 1.7% |
| Q3 2026 | 2.0% | 4.0% |
AT&T has named some of the reasons, without putting numbers on them. Its results release lists “pricing actions” among the reasons wireless revenue grew, “partially offset by promotional discounts” on new lines. In a September 8 notice to investors, the company said new plans and pricing actions were expected to support strong wireless revenue growth in the quarter.
The price changes themselves are on AT&T’s customer pages. Its notice on select retired unlimited plans says the monthly price rose by $10 for a single line. Accounts with several lines pay $20 more in total, not per line. Plans active before July 24, 2025 saw it on their April bill, and plans activated from then to November 1, 2025 from August. AT&T added 20GB of monthly hotspot data for those customers.
The bill also carries fees. AT&T’s fee schedule lists its Administrative and Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee at $4.99 per line per month. The schedule says the fee is not a tax the government requires the company to collect.
Revenue per line is an average. It rises with price changes, and also when people move to pricier plans or receive smaller discounts. So it does not tell any one customer what happened to their own bill.
| AT&T wireless, Q3 2026 against Q3 2025 | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postpaid phone lines, end of quarter | 75.28 million | 73.80 million | +2.0% |
| Revenue per postpaid phone line, per month | $58.90 | $56.64 | +4.0% |
| Revenue per consumer postpaid account, per month | $163.07 | $155.51 | +4.9% |
| Wireless service revenue, quarter | $17.76 billion | $16.93 billion | +5.0% |
| Postpaid phone net additions | 379,000 | 405,000 | -6.4% |
| Postpaid phone churn, monthly | 0.92% | 0.92% | unchanged |
Source: AT&T third quarter 2026 Form 8-K financial tables and trending schedule, October 21, 2026. Revenue per line and per account are AT&T’s own measures; changes are our calculation.
Is AT&T raising home internet prices?
AT&T’s home internet revenue grew because it connects many more homes, while average revenue per connection fell. Revenue rose 23.4% in a year, and revenue per connection fell 5.2%.
Show the data
| Category | Revenue per connection per month | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 2025 | $72.07 | |
| Q2 2025 | $72.19 | |
| Q3 2025 | $72.33 | |
| Q4 2025 | $71.56 | |
| Q1 2026 | $72.46 | About 1.1 million Lumen fiber customers join on February 2 |
| Q2 2026 | $70.66 | |
| Q3 2026 | $68.55 |
AT&T had 14.8 million consumer home internet connections at September 30, counting its fiber service and Internet Air, its home internet that runs over the cellphone network. That is 3.4 million more than a year earlier, according to its trending schedule.
About 1.1 million of the added connections were bought. They came with Lumen’s consumer fiber business, which AT&T took over on February 2, 2026, and the company added them to its customer count in one step. By our count, that is about a third of the year’s growth in connections. Some of the rest may be AT&T copper internet customers moving to the newer services; the figures do not say how many.
Revenue per connection moved the other way, to $68.55 a month from $72.33 a year earlier. The results release does not explain the decline.
It fell for both services, to $70.35 from $73.48 for fiber and to $57.97 from $62.28 for Internet Air. In its September notice, AT&T had said that gains in fiber customers were expected to affect revenue per fiber customer in the quarter.
An average across a growing and changing customer base cannot show whether any household’s internet price went up or down. What AT&T’s numbers do show is that its home internet revenue, $2.98 billion in the quarter, grew on volume.
| AT&T consumer home internet | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connections, end of quarter | 14.79 million | 11.40 million | +29.8% |
| AT&T Fiber connections | 12.56 million | 10.12 million | +24.1% |
| AT&T Internet Air connections | 2.23 million | 1.28 million | +74.8% |
| Internet Air share of connections | 15.1% | 11.2% | |
| Revenue per connection, per month | $68.55 | $72.33 | -5.2% |
| Revenue per AT&T Fiber connection, per month | $70.35 | $73.48 | -4.3% |
| Revenue per Internet Air connection, per month | $57.97 | $62.28 | -6.9% |
| Home internet revenue, quarter | $2.98 billion | $2.41 billion | +23.4% |
Source: AT&T third quarter 2026 Form 8-K financial tables and trending schedule, October 21, 2026. The 1.1 million acquired connections are from the trending schedule’s footnote on the first quarter of 2026. Shares and changes are our calculation.
How much have cellphone and internet prices gone up?
Across the country, cellphone service cost 3.2% more in September than a year earlier, a little less than prices overall. Internet service barely moved.
Show the data
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| All items | 3.7% |
| Cellphone service | 3.2% |
| Internet service | 0.2% |
These figures come from the consumer price index, the government’s measure of what the same goods and services cost over time, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In its September 2026 report, all items rose 3.7% over 12 months, wireless telephone services 3.2% and internet services 0.2%. That internet category also covers other electronic information providers. Our September 2026 CPI report covers the full release.
The whole cellphone rise, and more, came in a single month. In July the index stood 3.6% below a year earlier. Then the wireless telephone services index jumped 5.9% from July to August 2026, then held flat in September. In our count of every monthly change since the index began in December 1997, August’s was the largest one-month rise.
Show the data
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Aug 2016 | -0.1% |
| Sep 2016 | -1.4% |
| Oct 2016 | -0.5% |
| Nov 2016 | -0.3% |
| Dec 2016 | -0.1% |
| Jan 2017 | -0.2% |
| Feb 2017 | -1.4% |
| Mar 2017 | -7.0% |
| Apr 2017 | -1.7% |
| May 2017 | -0.1% |
| Jun 2017 | -0.8% |
| Jul 2017 | -0.3% |
| Aug 2017 | -0.1% |
| Sep 2017 | 0.4% |
| Oct 2017 | 0.5% |
| Nov 2017 | 0.3% |
| Dec 2017 | -0.1% |
| Jan 2018 | -0.2% |
| Feb 2018 | -0.5% |
| Mar 2018 | 0.2% |
| Apr 2018 | 0.0% |
| May 2018 | 0.1% |
| Jun 2018 | -0.0% |
| Jul 2018 | 0.0% |
| Aug 2018 | -0.5% |
| Sep 2018 | 0.0% |
| Oct 2018 | 0.1% |
| Nov 2018 | -2.2% |
| Dec 2018 | -0.2% |
| Jan 2019 | -0.2% |
| Feb 2019 | -0.1% |
| Mar 2019 | -0.1% |
| Apr 2019 | 0.2% |
| May 2019 | -0.1% |
| Jun 2019 | 0.1% |
| Jul 2019 | -0.1% |
| Aug 2019 | -0.1% |
| Sep 2019 | -0.1% |
| Oct 2019 | -0.1% |
| Nov 2019 | 0.2% |
| Dec 2019 | 0.1% |
| Jan 2020 | -0.0% |
| Feb 2020 | -0.2% |
| Mar 2020 | -0.0% |
| Apr 2020 | 0.1% |
| May 2020 | 0.1% |
| Jun 2020 | -0.1% |
| Jul 2020 | 3.6% |
| Aug 2020 | 0.8% |
| Sep 2020 | 0.2% |
| Oct 2020 | -0.1% |
| Nov 2020 | -0.2% |
| Dec 2020 | -0.1% |
| Jan 2021 | 0.0% |
| Feb 2021 | 0.0% |
| Mar 2021 | -0.3% |
| Apr 2021 | -0.1% |
| May 2021 | 0.0% |
| Jun 2021 | 0.1% |
| Jul 2021 | -0.2% |
| Aug 2021 | -0.2% |
| Sep 2021 | 0.4% |
| Oct 2021 | 0.0% |
| Nov 2021 | 0.0% |
| Dec 2021 | -0.1% |
| Jan 2022 | -0.1% |
| Feb 2022 | 0.1% |
| Mar 2022 | -0.7% |
| Apr 2022 | 0.0% |
| May 2022 | -0.0% |
| Jun 2022 | -0.1% |
| Jul 2022 | -0.0% |
| Aug 2022 | -0.1% |
| Sep 2022 | -0.1% |
| Oct 2022 | -0.3% |
| Nov 2022 | 2.4% |
| Dec 2022 | 0.2% |
| Jan 2023 | -0.0% |
| Feb 2023 | -0.3% |
| Mar 2023 | -0.5% |
| Apr 2023 | 0.0% |
| May 2023 | -0.6% |
| Jun 2023 | -1.5% |
| Jul 2023 | -0.0% |
| Aug 2023 | -0.1% |
| Sep 2023 | -0.1% |
| Oct 2023 | 0.0% |
| Nov 2023 | 0.0% |
| Dec 2023 | 0.0% |
| Jan 2024 | -0.3% |
| Feb 2024 | -0.2% |
| Mar 2024 | -0.0% |
| Apr 2024 | 0.0% |
| May 2024 | 0.0% |
| Jun 2024 | -0.0% |
| Jul 2024 | -0.1% |
| Aug 2024 | 0.3% |
| Sep 2024 | 0.1% |
| Oct 2024 | -0.1% |
| Nov 2024 | -0.2% |
| Dec 2024 | -0.0% |
| Jan 2025 | -0.0% |
| Feb 2025 | -0.1% |
| Mar 2025 | -0.1% |
| Apr 2025 | 0.1% |
| May 2025 | -0.2% |
| Jun 2025 | -0.4% |
| Jul 2025 | -0.1% |
| Aug 2025 | -1.1% |
| Sep 2025 | -0.0% |
| Oct 2025 | 0.0% |
| Nov 2025 | 1.1% |
| Dec 2025 | -3.3% |
| Jan 2026 | -0.3% |
| Feb 2026 | 0.0% |
| Mar 2026 | 0.6% |
| Apr 2026 | -0.0% |
| May 2026 | 2.2% |
| Jun 2026 | -3.3% |
| Jul 2026 | 0.6% |
| August 2026 | 5.9% |
That is a change of direction. In 16 of the 18 Septembers from 2008 to 2025, the index stood lower than a year before. Cellphone service, as the index measures it, cost less in most of those years.
The index covers every carrier and names none, so it cannot say how much of August came from AT&T. AT&T’s own plan changes reached some accounts that month, but matching timing does not show a cause.
| A monthly service charge a year ago, in dollars | more a month for cellphone service, national index | more a month for internet service, national index |
|---|---|---|
| $50.00 | $1.60 | $0.10 |
| $100.00 | $3.20 | $0.20 |
| $150.00 | $4.80 | $0.30 |
| $200.00 | $6.40 | $0.40 |
Illustration: the bill times the CPI change from September 2025 to September 2026, 3.2% for wireless phone service and 0.2% for internet service.
What drove AT&T’s third quarter 2026 revenue growth?
Wireless service and home internet did most of the work. Together they added $1.4 billion of quarterly service revenue, and the shrinking copper network took back about $0.5 billion.
Show the data
| Category | Change |
|---|---|
| Wireless service | +$838M |
| Home internet | +$564M |
| Business fiber | +$160M |
| Mexico | +$102M |
| Other | -$30M |
| Older business services | -$175M |
| Copper network | -$494M |
Service revenue, which leaves out the phones and devices AT&T sells, was $26.3 billion in the quarter, up 3.8% from $25.3 billion, according to the company’s filing. AT&T says that was its best growth on this measure in more than four years.
Wireless service added $838 million and home internet $564 million. The old copper business lost $494 million. AT&T aims to shut down the large majority of its copper network by the end of 2029, though it says approvals could delay that. Mexico, which AT&T agreed on October 13 to sell, added $102 million.
On AT&T’s own quarterly series, growth in service revenue ran near 1% through 2025, then reached 2.7% in the second quarter of 2026 before this quarter’s 3.8%.
AT&T third quarter 2026 earnings and outlook
AT&T earned more per share on the measure it prefers and raised its earnings forecast for 2026. Its lower network spending plan for 2027 and 2028 now leaves out the Mexico business it is selling.
Adjusted earnings per share were $0.65 against $0.54 a year earlier. That measure leaves out items AT&T treats as non-operational or non-recurring, including merger and transaction costs and the amortization of some acquired intangible assets. On the standard accounting basis they were $0.13, down from $1.29. This quarter carried a non-cash charge on the Mexico business AT&T is selling, and the year-ago quarter included a gain on the sale of its DIRECTV stake. Our guide to the two kinds of earnings figures explains the difference.
The company now expects 2026 adjusted earnings per share in the $2.40 range, up from a range of $2.25 to $2.35 it had given before.
Capital investment, the money AT&T spends building and upgrading its networks, is now planned at $22 billion to $23 billion a year in 2027 and 2028. The earlier plan was $1 billion a year higher. The new figures leave out AT&T Mexico, which it agreed in October to sell, and the release does not say how much of the difference that explains. The range for 2026 did not change.
AT&T said it plans to keep its yearly dividend at $1.11 a share and to buy back about $10 billion of its shares in 2026. A reader can compare that payout with the share price on our dividend yield calculator, and the company’s history is on its overview and financials pages.
| AT&T, third quarter | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $32.32 billion | $30.71 billion |
| Service revenue | $26.30 billion | $25.34 billion |
| Diluted EPS, continuing operations | $0.13 | $1.29 |
| Adjusted EPS | $0.65 | $0.54 |
| Mexico impairment, per share | $0.41 | |
| Free cash flow | $4.95 billion | $4.87 billion |
| Capital investment | $5.57 billion | $5.29 billion |
| Net debt, end of quarter | $149.8 billion |
Source: AT&T third quarter 2026 results release and Form 8-K financial tables, October 21, 2026. The Mexico impairment was $2.6 billion. Outlook from the same release, including capital investment of $23 billion to $24 billion for 2026; the earlier EPS range from AT&T’s second quarter 2026 release.
When do Verizon and T-Mobile report earnings?
Verizon reports on October 26 and T-Mobile on October 28. Their results will let readers compare customer growth and revenue per customer at AT&T’s two largest rivals.
Verizon will report third quarter results on Monday, October 26, with a webcast at 8:30 a.m. ET, according to its announcement. T-Mobile scheduled its call for October 28.
Verizon’s guidance, set in July, points another way. In its second quarter release it forecast mobility and broadband service revenue growth of 2.5% to 3.0%, “with wireless service revenue growth approximately flat in 2026 as the company transitions to sustainable volume-based growth.”
How we counted
Customer counts and revenue per line, per account and per home connection are AT&T’s own figures, from its third quarter 2026 Form 8-K financial tables and its trending schedule. AT&T defines revenue per line or connection as subscriber revenue in the period divided by average subscribers. The year-over-year changes, the $2.26 difference per line and the Internet Air share are our arithmetic on those figures.
For the split of postpaid phone revenue, we multiplied revenue per line by the average number of postpaid phone lines in each quarter and by three months. The average is our approximation, the mean of the opening and closing counts: 75.10 million lines in the third quarter of 2026 and 73.60 million a year earlier. The extra lines at last year’s $56.64 give about $254 million. The extra $2.26 per line across this year’s lines gives about $509 million. Both are estimates built on AT&T’s averages; assigning the small overlap the other way gives about $265 million and $499 million.
The acquired share of home internet growth compares the 1.1 million connections that came with Lumen with the 3.39 million consumer connections added over the year. The chart of changes by business uses each line of AT&T’s segment reconciliation for the third quarters of 2026 and 2025. Its “Other” bar combines other service revenue (down $14 million) and corporate and other (down $16 million), and the bars add up to the reported $965 million rise.
The price figures are the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index for all urban consumers, U.S. city average, and the 12-month changes come from the September 2026 report. For the August 2026 rank we used the not seasonally adjusted wireless telephone services index, series CUUR0000SEED03, which equals 100 in December 1997. We computed all 345 month-to-month changes from its first reading to September 2026. August 2026, at 5.9%, is the largest, and the next is July 2020 at 3.6%. The chart shows the 120 monthly changes before August 2026. The calculator multiplies a bill by the published 12-month changes and is an illustration only.
Frequently asked questions
Is AT&T raising prices in 2026?
On some plans, yes. AT&T’s customer notice says select retired unlimited plans went up $10 a month for one line and $20 a month in total for several lines. Plans active before July 24, 2025 saw it from April, and plans activated from then to November 1, 2025 from August.
Why did my AT&T bill go up?
AT&T’s notice documents one increase in 2026, on select retired unlimited plans. Its fee schedule also lists an Administrative and Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee of $4.99 per line per month as a current part of the bill. The bill itself shows which charges apply to an account.
Is AT&T raising internet rates?
AT&T’s results cannot say whether any household’s internet rate changed. On average, revenue per home internet connection fell to $68.55 a month from $72.33 a year earlier, as AT&T added more homes, including about 1.1 million bought from Lumen.
How much have cellphone bills gone up?
In the government’s consumer price index, wireless telephone services cost 3.2% more in September 2026 than a year earlier. The rise was concentrated in a 5.9% jump from July to August, the largest one-month rise since the index began in December 1997.
How much did AT&T earn in the third quarter of 2026?
Adjusted earnings were $0.65 a share, up from $0.54, and earnings on the standard accounting basis were $0.13 a share after a charge on its Mexico business. Revenue was $32.3 billion, up 5.3%.
Where can I read AT&T’s earnings release on StockTitan?
The full third quarter 2026 release is on StockTitan’s AT&T news page, and the company’s figures over time are on the AT&T financials page.
Sources
- AT&T third quarter 2026 results release, October 21, 2026
- AT&T second quarter 2026 results release, July 22, 2026
- AT&T notice to shareholders, September 8, 2026
- AT&T to sell AT&T Mexico, October 13, 2026
- Verizon third quarter 2026 earnings date, September 28, 2026
- Verizon second quarter 2026 results, July 24, 2026
- T-Mobile third quarter 2026 earnings call date, September 17, 2026
- StockTitan: AT&T overview
- StockTitan: AT&T financials
- StockTitan: dividend yield calculator
- StockTitan: September 2026 CPI inflation report
- StockTitan: GAAP vs non-GAAP earnings
- Verizon: third-quarter earnings date, October 26, 2026
- T-Mobile: Q3 2026 earnings call on October 28, 2026
- Verizon second quarter 2026 release, Form 8-K Exhibit 99
- AT&T Form 8-K Exhibit 99.2, October 21, 2026
- AT&T third quarter 2026 trending schedule
- AT&T: Learn about changes to your AT&T unlimited plan
- AT&T Mobility fee schedule
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI Table 2, September 2026
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, wireless telephone services index, CUUR0000SEED03
The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial advice, investment recommendation, or an endorsement of any particular investment strategy. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions.