AT&T Expands Portfolio for Small Business: Will it Drive Growth?

AT&T, Inc. T has been steadily expanding its portfolio offerings to cater to small businesses. Growing digital transformation across industries has led to a rising demand for robust and consistent connectivity. However, small businesses often lag in incorporating digital tools that could improve efficiency and customer service due to limited resources compared to large corporations.

Network quality, affordable services, digital tools and customer phone support are some of the major parameters small businesses look for when they install network infrastructure. AT&T’s innovative product suite effectively matches these requirements.

AT&T’s 5G standalone network offers faster speed and lower latency that efficiently supports most advanced applications. It also offers AT&T Turbo, a premium wireless service that provides priority data treatment to businesses’ mission-critical applications on an AT&T network. AT&T business fiber, engineered for performance and dependability, allows businesses to run high-bandwidth intensive applications and cloud-based operations. Its Integrated Gateway combines 5G and fiber infrastructure, reducing the potential interruption of services during a network outage. 

Moreover, the company recently introduced AT&T Express Waves, a leading-edge fiber solution that allows businesses to quickly scale operations by supporting cloud, AI, and edge applications. AT&T’s 5G network covers more than 320 million people across 27,000 cities and towns in the United States. It is also steadily expanding its fiber locations nationwide. Despite some near-term headwinds, with such a comprehensive network and innovative product offerings, AT&T is set to gain from healthy demand for its network among small businesses.

How Are Competitors Faring?

AT&T faces stiff competition from Verizon Communications, Inc. VZ and T-Mobile, US, Inc. TMUS in the vertical. Verizon boasts a comprehensive portfolio for small business solutions. The Verizon Business marketplace includes software solutions that streamline workflow and help businesses scale operations. Its 5G business Internet is also gaining traction.

To support small businesses and bridge the digital divide, T-Mobile launched new Magenta for Business plans, with Microsoft 365 included at no extra charge on up to two lines per account. It has upgraded more than 7,000 retail stores to cater to the needs of small enterprises across the country. With its extensive 5G network that covers 98% of America, T-Mobile can pose a major challenge to AT&T’s competitive advantage in the small business market.

T’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

T has gained 16% over the past year against the Wireless National industry’s decline of 6.3%.

Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 11.45 forward earnings, lower than the industry’s 12.2.

Earnings estimates for AT&T for 2025 and 2026 has increased over the past 60 days.

AT&T currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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