AT&T has given back most of its post-earnings recovery, and shorts are quietly adding to positions — but the story here is more about the direction of travel than the absolute level.
Short interest has climbed back to 1.72% of the free float, up roughly 9% on the week and now running at its highest level since the brief April 10 tariff-volatility spike, when SI briefly touched 137 million shares before quickly unwinding. That spike was a panic trade. The current rebuild looks steadier — shares short have risen from around 112 million on May 11 to nearly 122 million by May 19, a five-session accumulation of roughly 10 million shares. The borrow remains essentially free at 0.34%, and availability is extraordinarily loose at nearly 4,864% — meaning there are close to 50 shares available to borrow for every share currently lent out. No squeeze dynamic exists here. This is incremental repositioning, not a conviction trade.
Options confirm the relatively neutral mood. The put/call ratio is 0.74, almost exactly in line with its 20-day average of 0.74. The z-score is a negligible 0.23. Neither bulls nor bears are loading up through derivatives — the options market is as calm as it has been since early April, when the PCR was running closer to 0.82 during the tariff-driven volatility. The contrast with that period is worth noting: the stock fell hard then recovered, and the options market has since settled back into its baseline range.
The Street remains modestly bullish but increasingly selective. The consensus is a hold, with a mean target of around $30.37 — implying about 21% upside from the current $24.98. The most recent move came today from RBC Capital, which reiterated its Outperform rating and $31 target, keeping it among the more optimistic voices on the name. The broader analyst picture has been one of gradual target trimming: BNP Paribas cut to $26 in late April, and several other firms nudged targets down modestly after the Q1 print. At 10.4x trailing earnings and an EV/EBITDA of 6.8x — the latter up slightly over 30 days as the stock drifted lower — valuation remains undemanding. The bull case centres on converged services growth and free cash flow supporting capital returns; the bear case points to ARPU pressure in wireless and the legacy segment becoming a meaningful EBITDA drag beyond 2027, with a payout ratio expected to remain above 100% through at least 2028.
The Q1 print itself was underwhelming for price action — the stock fell 2.9% on May 14, erasing the prior day's gains. That follows an April 22 earnings reaction that saw a 2.8% gain on the day, only to give it all back within five sessions. The pattern — initial relief, then fade — is consistent with a market that acknowledges AT&T's stability but remains unconvinced that the growth narrative has enough momentum to rerate the stock.
Among peers, VZ dropped 0.4% on the week versus AT&T's near-1% loss, while BCE fared worse, down 1.6%. International telecoms were notably stronger — DTE rose 6.4% and TEF gained 6.9%, suggesting the sector softness is more concentrated in North American names. With no next earnings date yet announced, the near-term watch is whether short interest continues its incremental build back toward the April highs, or whether the stock's modest 22% discount to mean analyst targets starts attracting fresh long-side interest.
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