T vs VZ Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
AT&T and Verizon are the two largest traditional US telecom companies and offer very similar high-yield value propositions. Both have elevated debt, large wireless businesses, and expanding fiber broadband strategies. AT&T Fiber is more advanced in its organic fiber build; Verizon's Frontier acquisition will eventually close the gap. T has been more competitive on wireless subscriber adds recently; VZ has the stronger network quality reputation.
T and VZ are both high-yield income investments where the fiber broadband expansion is the key growth catalyst — investors should assess which company's fiber strategy and balance sheet trajectory creates more confidence in dividend sustainability and earnings growth.
T holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. VZ leads on both 1-year return (+10.12%) and forward P/E quality (9.49x vs 10.15x for T), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. T leads on both revenue growth (2.30%) and operating margin (24.79%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for T (+10.37%) than for VZ (+2.91%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- want high dividend yield from a simplified, focused connectivity company post-WarnerMedia spin-off
- value AT&T Fiber's competitive momentum gaining broadband market share from cable incumbents
- believe the debt reduction trajectory will unlock additional capital return capacity over time
- are comfortable with ongoing fiber capex spend in exchange for higher long-term broadband revenue
- prefer Verizon's network quality reputation as a premium wireless provider
- see value in the Frontier acquisition as a broadband footprint expansion catalyst
- want fixed wireless access as a capital-efficient broadband supplement to fiber
- value the brand recognition and enterprise wireless relationships built over decades
| Metric | T | VZ |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 40.9 | 39.5 |
| AI ranki | #1098 | #1237 |
| Latest closei | $25.40 | $48.09 |
| 1M returni | +1.11% | -2.57% |
| 6M returni | -8.44% | -2.81% |
| 1Y returni | -13.01% | +10.12% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | T | VZ |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $8.7K (-13.0%) started 2025-09-18 | $11.01K (+10.1%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $20.8K (+108.0%) started 2021-09-20 | $14.56K (+45.6%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $38.72K (+287.2%) started 2016-09-19 | $26.34K (+163.4%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | T | VZ |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $178.23B | $208.15B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 8.58 | 13.05 |
| Forward P/Ei | 10.15 | 9.49 |
| Price/Salesi | 1.64 | 1.36 |
| EV/Revenuei | 2.71 | 2.89 |
| Analyst targeti | $28.71 | $51.56 |
| Target upsidei | +10.37% | +2.91% |
| Metric | T | VZ |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 2.30% | -0.70% |
| Earnings growthi | 6.20% | -22.00% |
| EPS growthi | +6.20% | -22.00% |
| FCF margini | +7.97% | +12.58% |
| Operating margini | 24.79% | 23.00% |
| Profit margini | 16.94% | 11.64% |
| ROIC proxyi | 18.34% | 15.84% |
| Return on equityi | 18.34% | 15.84% |
| Dividend yieldi | 4.27% | 5.73% |
| Payout ratioi | 36.63% | 72.79% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 0.42 | 0.23 |
| Debt/equityi | 129.05 | 184.08 |
| Current ratioi | 0.97 | 0.60 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.60 | 0.46 |
Over the past year, T and VZ have moved strongly in the same direction (correlation of 0.76), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | T | VZ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -13.01% | +10.12% |
| CAGRi | -13.02% | +10.13% | |
| Volatilityi | 25.36% | 25.61% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.60 | 0.33 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.83 | 0.51 | |
| Max drawdowni | 29.86% | 18.28% | |
| Current drawdowni | 13.01% | 6.53% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 13.17% | 6.87% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 14.82% | 8.17% | |
| Max daily dropi | 5.13% | 5.24% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 9.57% | 9.60% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +58.01% | +11.99% |
| CAGRi | +9.59% | +2.29% | |
| Volatilityi | 24.84% | 22.54% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.31 | 0.01 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.45 | 0.02 | |
| Max drawdowni | 32.01% | 38.38% | |
| Current drawdowni | 14.25% | 6.53% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 10.18% | 14.32% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 12.97% | 17.62% | |
| Max daily dropi | 10.41% | 7.50% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 12.69% | 12.88% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +59.45% | +48.18% |
| CAGRi | +4.78% | +4.01% | |
| Volatilityi | 24.08% | 20.74% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.13 | 0.08 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.18 | 0.11 | |
| Max drawdowni | 39.43% | 41.21% | |
| Current drawdowni | 14.25% | 6.53% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 14.31% | 11.89% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 16.93% | 15.39% | |
| Max daily dropi | 10.41% | 7.50% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 17.46% | 12.88% |
| Category | T | VZ |
|---|---|---|
| Company | AT&T Inc. | Verizon Communications Inc. |
| Sector | Communication Services | Communication Services |
| Industry | Telecom Services | Telecom Services |
| Core business | AT&T is a telecommunications giant providing wireless services (postpaid and prepaid), fiber broadband (AT&T Fiber / ATTF), and business telecom services. Following the spin-off of WarnerMedia (now Warner Bros. Discovery), AT&T is a focused connectivity company. AT&T Fiber is a key growth pillar — the company is expanding its fiber footprint to pass 30+ million locations and has been gaining broadband market share from cable incumbents. Consumer postpaid wireless is the largest revenue segment. | Verizon is the US's largest wireless carrier by total connections, with a network reputation for reliability that has historically supported premium pricing. Its Fios fiber broadband service covers parts of the Northeast but has more limited geographic scope than AT&T Fiber. Verizon has been pursuing fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband via its 5G network as a broadband expansion strategy in markets without Fios infrastructure. The Frontier Communications acquisition will meaningfully expand its fiber footprint. |
| Investor focus | Investors track postpaid net adds and churn, AT&T Fiber location passings and penetration rates, free cash flow generation (critical for dividend sustainability and debt repayment), and the pace of debt reduction from the WarnerMedia/DirecTV era. | Investors track postpaid phone net adds (Verizon has been losing share to T-Mobile), ARPU trends, the Frontier acquisition integration timeline and fiber passings expansion, and free cash flow relative to the dividend (payout ratio is high). |
- AT&T Fiber is gaining broadband market share from cable with superior speed and reliability
- Postpaid wireless subscriber growth has been consistently competitive with T-Mobile in recent years
- WarnerMedia separation simplified the capital allocation story and reduced conglomerate risk
- Network reliability reputation supports premium pricing in the postpaid wireless segment
- Frontier acquisition will accelerate fiber footprint expansion to 25M+ locations
- Fixed wireless access (FWA) providing broadband to 4M+ homes without requiring fiber infrastructure
- Elevated legacy debt from the DirecTV and WarnerMedia acquisitions constrains shareholder returns
- DirecTV satellite video subscriber decline is a persistent drag requiring ultimate resolution
- Fiber build requires significant ongoing capex investment limiting near-term free cash flow
- Postpaid phone market share losses to T-Mobile have been a multi-year trend requiring reversal
- Frontier acquisition adds debt and integration complexity
- Dividend payout ratio is high relative to free cash flow, limiting reduction runway if FCF misses
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