AT&T management check
T · Communication Services · Integrated Telecommunication Services · CEO John Stankey
Filings as of
5 good · 1 to watch · 1 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Flag
Have owners done well?
Trailed its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $155, against $213 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.96 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Good
What does the CEO cost owners?
0.1% of net income$29.9m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $23.4bn of net income.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 0.1 years of payThe CEO holds 78,672.116 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 0.1 years of pay. No open-market insider buying or selling in the last six months.
- Good
Are owners being diluted?
Share count shrinkingDiluted shares changed -0.5% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 0.4% of revenue in the latest year.
- Good
Is leadership stable?
7 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: John Stankey. 7 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2022.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Communication Services.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 16 | 27 | |
| Pay for performance | 98 | 76 | |
| CEO cost | 100 | 72 | |
| Skin in the game | 0 | 75 | |
| Dilution | 57 | 65 | |
| Stable leadership | 90 | 93 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Integrated Telecommunication Services, by management score. AT&T is 7th of 18 in its sector.
- 153LYVLive Nation Entertainment72
- 229TAT&T66
- 272TTWOTake-Two Interactive63
- 282TMUST-Mobile US63
- 318NFLXNetflix60
- 394VZVerizon54
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed March 23, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | John Stankey | $29.9m | $43.0m | $12.7m | $155 | $213 | $23.4bn |
| 2024 | John Stankey | $26.4m | $44.5m | $13.7m | $136 | $160 | $12.3bn |
| 2023 | John Stankey | $26.5m | $23.9m | $11.7m | $95 | $114 | $15.6bn |
| 2022 | John Stankey | $22.9m | $22.9m | $11.5m | $97 | $73 | −$7.1bn |
| 2021 | John Stankey | $24.8m | $20.8m | $10.4m | $92 | $122 | $21.5bn |
The board says pay is tied most to Standalone AT&T Adjusted Operating Income. Its other key measures: Compensation Adjusted Earnings Per Share, Return on Invested Capital, Total Shareholder Return, Free Cash Flow, Compensation Adjusted Operating Income.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
John T Stankey (CEO & President) held 78,672.116 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Jul 31, 2026, roughly $1.8m at that filing's price.
No open-market insider buying or selling in the last six months.
Leadership and governance on file
- Oct 16, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 9, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jun 16, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 20, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Aug 19, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 5, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 1, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 2, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Aug 4, 2022Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Jul 1, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: May 20, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $55.5bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 94% of net income, and $2.5bn of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $134.0bn | $120.7bn | $122.4bn | $122.3bn | $125.6bn |
| Net income | $20.1bn | −$8.5bn | $14.4bn | $10.9bn | $22.0bn |
| Stock-based pay | $447.0m | $518.0m | $479.0m | $505.0m | $536.0m |
| Buybacks | $202.0m | $890.0m | $194.0m | $215.0m | $4.5bn |
| Dividends | $15.1bn | $9.9bn | $8.1bn | $8.2bn | $8.2bn |
| Diluted shares | 7503m | 7587m | 7258m | 7204m | 7179m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.