We recently published a list of Why These 15 Telecom Stocks Are Surging In 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) stands against other telecom stocks that are surging in 2025.

The telecom sector has seen many ups and downs in the past few years. Post-COVID, these stocks declined even more due to the inflation wave and the subsequent interest rate hikes. Telecommunication companies usually have significant debt on their balance sheets due to infrastructure CapEx, and they were among the hardest hit.

However, rates are now slowly coming down, and these stocks are also starting to bottom out and turn a corner. Many telecom stocks are still profitable and pay dividends. Falling bond yields are making them even more attractive. It’s a good idea to keep tabs on which telecom stocks are spearheading the gains so far this year.

Methodology

For this article, I screened the best-performing telecom stocks year-to-date.

I will also mention the number of hedge fund investors in these stocks. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

A broadband satellite hovering in the sky, highlighting the company's satellite-based broadband communication solutions.

AT&T Inc (NYSE:T)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 80

AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) is a telecom company that provides wireless and broadband services.

The stock is up significantly so far in 2025 as it announced plans to return over $40 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases from 2025 to 2027.

This includes an initial tranche of $10 billion in buybacks authorized by the board, expected to begin once the company achieves its net leverage target in mid-2025.

The company also reaffirmed its annualized dividend of $1.11 per share, which remains attractive amid high Treasury yields.

Moreover, the pending sale of AT&T’s 70 percent stake in DIRECTV to TPG Capital is expected to generate $7.6 billion. Q4 results were also quite strong.

The consensus price target of $26.79 implies 0.61% downside.

T stock is up 19.83% year-to-date.

Overall, T ranks 6th on our list of telecom stocks that are surging in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of T as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than T but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.