China's Swap Curve Normalizes as Deflation Fears Begin to Ease
The country's five-year interest-rate swaps, a popular hedging tool, climbed above their one-year counterpart on Friday and have since widened the gap to three basis points, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That helped end a discount that was as steep as 15 basis points in February — when deflation fears were deeply entrenched.
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25 minutes ago
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AT&T Shares Have Sunk Despite a Subscriber Surge. Time to Buy the Dip?
Key Points AT&T continues to see strong subscriber additions. However, investors were disappointed that the company did not raise guidance. 10 stocks we like better than AT&T › AT&T (NYSE: T) has quietly been a great-performing stock over the past couple of years, but it has pulled back after the company failed to raise its guidance when it reported its second quarter results. Investors were expecting a hike after rival Verizon Communications did so a couple of days earlier. Let's look at AT&T's results to see if the pullback is a buying opportunity. Strong subscriber growth When it comes to wireless subscriber growth, AT&T has taken advantage of a Verizon price hike earlier this year to gain customers. In the second quarter, it added 479,000 retail postpaid subscribers, including 401,000 retail postpaid phone additions. It did lose 34,000 prepaid subscribers, but that is generally viewed as a less important segment than subscribers who get a monthly bill. Overall mobility-segment revenue increased 6.7% to $21.8 billion. Mobility service revenue rose 3.5% to $16.9 billion, while equipment sales surged 18.8% to $5 billion. Postpaid phone average revenue per subscriber (ARPU) edged up 1.1% to $57.04. Turning to broadband, AT&T added 243,000 fiber subscribers and 203,000 internet air subscribers. The company lost 93,000 non-fiber subscribers as they continued to switch to faster options. Broadband ARPU climbed by 7.5% to $71.16, while fiber ARPU rose by 6.2% to $73.26. Total consumer broadband revenue was up 5.8% to $3.5 billion. Fiber will be a big focus for the company, with it looking to ramp up its investment to a pace of 4 million new locations per year. It just surpassed 30 million fiber locations and is looking to double that number by 2030, including through assets it has agreed to acquire, its Gigapower joint venture with BlackRock, and agreements it has with other commercial open-access providers. The investment in fiber will be helped by new tax provisions in the "One Big, Beautiful Bill" that allow some assets to immediately be fully depreciated in the year they go into use. On the downside, AT&T's business wireline segment saw a 9.3% decrease in revenue to $4.3 billion. The segment flipped from an operating profit of $102 million in the second quarter of last year to a loss of $201 million this year. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for the segment fell 11.3% to $1.3 billion. Total revenue rose by 3.5% to $30.8 billion, while adjusted earnings per share (EPS) jumped by 5.8% to $0.54. The results surpassed Wall Street expectations for adjusted EPS of $0.52 on revenue of $30.8 billion. AT&T generated $9.8 billion in operating cash flow, and free cash flow of $4.4 billion. It paid out just over $2 billion in dividends, good for a coverage ratio of 2.2 times. The company has held its quarterly dividend of $0.28 steady since May 2022, and the stock currently has about a 4% forward dividend yield. Looking ahead, the company largely kept its guidance intact, which was disappointing after Verizon raised its full-year EPS outlook. AT&T is looking for its mobility service revenue to grow by 3% or better, with adjusted EPS of between $1.97 to $2.07, which would be down from the $2.26 it produced in 2024. It forecast free cash flow to be in the low to mid $16 billion range. Metric Prior Guidance New Guidance Mobility service revenue growth The higher end of 2% to 3% 3% or better Adjusted EPS $1.97 to $2.07 $1.97 to $2.07 Adjusted EBITDA 3% or better 3% or better Free cash flow $16 billion-plus In the low to mid $16 billion range Source: AT&T Further out, AT&T expects to spend between $23 billion to $24 billion a year on capital expenditures (capex) in both 2026 and 2027. It projects that its free cash flow will be more than $18 billion in 2026 and more than $19 billion in 2027. Should investors buy the dip? AT&T has been taking it to Verizon in subscriber additions, offering more-aggressive deals on smartphones and keeping prices lower than its rivals, while committing to strong network reliability. Its overall second-quarter results were solid; however, investors were clearly looking for the company to raise EPS guidance after Verizon increased its forecast and with the tax benefits it will see from the One Big, Beautiful Bill. But these tax benefits will eventually hit the bottom line, and the company is looking to take advantage of the bill to more aggressively grow its fiber network. That's a smart move given that Verizon is set to greatly expand its fiber network when it completes its acquisition of Frontier Communications next year. Also, 2026 could be the year of the bundle for wireless companies, and AT&T is looking to ramp up its fiber network to compete against what should become a stronger Verizon. Even with the stock's pullback, AT&T still trades at a large premium to Verizon. It has a forward price-to-earnings multiple (P/E) of about 13.5 based on 2025 earnings estimates, versus a forward P/E of 9 for Verizon. Until recently, Verizon historically had the higher multiple. Given the valuation gap, its higher yield (about 6%), and Verizon's impending Frontier acquisition, I prefer it over AT&T. Nonetheless, I think both can be strong long-term investments, and both should benefit from the One Big, Beautiful Bill. Should you invest $1,000 in AT&T right now? Before you buy stock in AT&T, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and AT&T wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025 Geoffrey Seiler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. AT&T Shares Have Sunk Despite a Subscriber Surge. Time to Buy the Dip? was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
JD.com, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:JD) Fundamentals Look Pretty Strong: Could The Market Be Wrong About The Stock?
It is hard to get excited after looking at (NASDAQ:JD) recent performance, when its stock has declined 2.2% over the past week. However, a closer look at its sound financials might cause you to think again. Given that fundamentals usually drive long-term market outcomes, the company is worth looking at. In this article, we decided to focus on ROE. Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments. Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit. How Is ROE Calculated? Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity So, based on the above formula, the ROE for is: 16% = CN¥49b ÷ CN¥309b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025). The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.16. Check out our latest analysis for Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth? We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don't share these attributes. Earnings Growth And 16% ROE At first glance, seems to have a decent ROE. Even when compared to the industry average of 16% the company's ROE looks quite decent. Consequently, this likely laid the ground for the decent growth of 8.6% seen over the past five years by Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 12% over the last few years, which is not something we like to see. The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. If you're wondering about valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry. Is Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits? has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 31% (or a retention ratio of 69%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits. While has been growing its earnings, it only recently started to pay dividends which likely means that the company decided to impress new and existing shareholders with a dividend. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company's future payout ratio is expected to drop to 22% over the next three years. However, the company's ROE is not expected to change by much despite the lower expected payout ratio. Summary Overall, we are quite pleased with performance. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see a good amount of growth in its earnings. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page for the company. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
3 stock picks for second half of 2025
We are more than halfway through 2025. Hennion & Walsh chief investment officer Kevin Mahn shares three stocks he likes for the second half of the year. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination Overtime here. Related videos Top Stock Market Highlights of the Week: DFI Retail Group, Trump's Trade Deal with Japan and Singapore Post Kotak Mahindra Bank's Q1 profits drop more than expected on higher provisions Smart Reads of the Week: STI Surge, MAS Capital Boost, and Long-Term Growth Picks Thailand's PTTEP buys full control in offshore gas block from Chevron for $450 million Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
