By George Glover

While AT&T stock has been struggling, one analyst expects the rot to stop this year thanks to the wireless carrier's efforts to integrate 5G, fiber-optic broadband, and Wi-Fi into a single network.

KeyBanc's Brandon Nispel named AT&T as a top communications, information technology infrastructure, and services pick for 2026 on Sunday. He rates the shares at Overweight, with a $30 price target. That implies a gain of 22% from their level as of Friday's close.

The stock rallied in early 2025 but is down 16% since the start of September. It has been dragged down by disappointing third-quarter revenue and fear that a leadership change and rival Verizon Communications could spark a margin-crushing price war.

Nispel thinks the economic setup this year could help AT&T stock end its bad run. He noted that the Federal Reserve is expected to carry on cutting interest rates amid concerns about weak consumer spending, even though some fiscal stimulus is likely to come from President Donald Trump's signature tax and spending bill.

"The setup for some of our space should be favorable," he wrote. "More volatility, lower interest rates, and concerns around consumer health should favor defensive, higher dividend yield and capital return, necessity-based services and companies with healthier balance sheets."

Nispel has also been arguing for months that AT&T is best placed to win the battle of convergence, which refers to wireless companies' efforts to offer historically separate networks like 5G, fiber-optic broadband, and Wi-Fi on one platform. The company one-upped rivals T-Mobile US and Verizon in August when it agreed to buy $23 billion worth of spectrum licenses from EchoStar, in a deal that gives AT&T the exclusive rights to a slice of the radio-frequency spectrum in specific areas.

Nispel expects AT&T's converged offering to "lead the industry" by 2030. As a result, he is forecasting that growth in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization will rise from about 3% last year to about 4% in 2026, and 4% to 5% by 2028 to 2030.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

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January 05, 2026 09:09 ET (14:09 GMT)

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