AT&T dividend: payout, coverage and yield
AT&T paid $1.11 per share in annual common dividends, down from $2.08, and paid $8,180 million in dividends in 2025. In 2025, free cash flow reached $19.063 billion, covering dividends while buybacks reached $4.5 billion.
How much does AT&T pay per share over the years shown?
The WarnerMedia separation changed the dividend promise. AT&T reset its annual common dividend from $2.08 to $1.11 per share so the remaining communications business could fund fiber and wireless investment. Dividends paid fell from $15,068 million in 2021 to $8,180 million in 2025.
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free cash flow per share | 2.66 | 2.52 | 2.41 | 0.84 | |
| − Dividends paid, per share | 1.14 | 1.14 | 1.12 | 1.38 | 2.01 |
| = FCF not paid out, per share | 0.71 | 1.16 | 1.12 |
What this means. The company's own free cash flow per share is lower because it subtracts vendor-financing payments and DIRECTV cash distributions but leaves out spectrum purchases, while our count treats these items differently.
Does AT&T’s dividend come from cash it makes?
In 2025, free cash flow reached $19.063 billion, while buybacks reached $4.5 billion. A buyback retires shares, giving the remaining shares a larger claim on future earnings, but it does not by itself repay acquisition debt. AT&T’s latest plan puts approximately $18 billion of dividends and buybacks against its 2026 free-cash-flow outlook, leaving less room for acquisitions or debt reduction.
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free cash flow | 19,063 | 18,128 | 17,519 | 5,986 | |
| − Dividends paid | 8,180 | 8,208 | 8,136 | 9,859 | 15,068 |
| − Share buybacks | 4,500 | 215 | 194 | 890 | 202 |
| = Free cash flow not paid out | 5,115 | 8,375 | 8,104 | ||
| Paid out, % of free cash flow | 66.5% | 46.5% | 47.5% | 179.6% |
What this means. Our net debt is higher than the company's own figure in 2022 and 2021 because we include the DIRECTV note payable that the company leaves out.
What could change AT&T’s dividend?
The dividend stays at $1.11 per share in every scenario. That matches management’s annualized target through 2028 and the stable payout since 2022. A cut remains possible after the spectrum purchase, but the materials provide no announced increase or reduction.
What is AT&T’s dividend yield against its share price?
At $22.86 on October 13, 2026, one share buys a small ownership interest in AT&T’s wireless and broadband operations. All its shares together are worth $156,645.54 million. Enterprise value, which includes the debt a buyer would inherit, is $283,029.54 million. At June 30, AT&T had $144.0 billion of debt and $17.6 billion of cash. Its net debt was therefore $126.4 billion, like a mortgage sitting above the owners’ stake.
The 4.9% dividend yield is attractive, but dividends and buybacks together appear to use roughly the planned free cash flow. Debt reduction therefore depends on cash left after every claim.
| Today (Oct 13, 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Share price | 22.86 |
| Market value (calculated) | 156,645.54 |
| Dividend yield (calculated) | 4.9% |
What this means. Enterprise value is higher than market value because it adds the company's debt and subtracts its cash to show what buying the whole business would cost.