AT&T stock has a big SpaceX problem, and earnings won’t solve it

Telecom stocks have clearly struggled this year—so investors need AT&T to send the market a better signal when it reports second-quarter earnings ahead of Wednesday’s open.

The wireless carrier’s shares have dropped more than 12%. Rivals T-Mobile US and Verizon Communications are both down about 5%.

The big three carriers have had a tough go adding subscribers, and Wall Street is also worrying that their push to expand 5G and fiber coverage will eat into their free cash flow.

But the market’s biggest concern is SpaceX.

Elon Musk’s rocket and AI company record-breaking initial public offering last month has only fueled concerns that its Starlink broadband service could disrupt the wireless market.

AT&T probably won’t be able to ease those fears on Wednesday, but its results could either end or accelerate the stock’s spring-summer selloff.

Analysts are looking for adjusted earnings of 59 cents a share on revenue of $31.8 billion, according to a FactSet poll. The company reported 54 cents on $30.9 billion a year ago.

Wall Street expects that AT&T added 338,500 postpaid phone subscribers in the period.

Write to George Glover at [email protected]