T vs VZ Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
T (AT&T) and VZ (Verizon) are the two largest U.S. wireless carriers and the primary telecom dividend income investments — AT&T is growing AT&T Fiber and rebuilding its simplified telecom portfolio post-WarnerMedia, while Verizon leads in wireless network quality with growing fixed wireless access using its 5G infrastructure. Both offer high dividend yields in a mature oligopolistic wireless market.
T vs VZ is the U.S. telecom income duopoly — AT&T's wireless-plus-fiber growth strategy competing with cable for broadband versus Verizon's network quality premium and fixed wireless access expansion, both generating substantial free cash flow to fund generous dividends.
T holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. VZ leads on both 1-year return (+14.62%) 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 AT&T's high dividend yield from a simplified telecom company (post-WarnerMedia) with growing fiber internet and wireless service revenue
- Value AT&T Fiber's subscriber growth as a potential broadband share gain catalyst competing with cable in markets where fiber passes new homes
- See AT&T's post-WarnerMedia strategic clarity as reducing the conglomerate discount and better positioning the telecom business for long-term value creation
- Want the wireless network quality leader with enterprise and government customer relationships supporting premium ARPU and a high, relatively stable dividend
- Value Verizon's fixed wireless access expansion as capturing a new broadband subscriber category at low incremental cost using existing 5G network investment
- Prefer Verizon's pure wireless and wireline telecom focus versus AT&T's simultaneous wireless and fiber expansion capital requirements
| Metric | T | VZ |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 40.9 | 39.8 |
| AI ranki | #1092 | #999 |
| Latest closei | $21.39 | $45.24 |
| 1M returni | -11.98% | -1.48% |
| 3M returni | -8.51% | -3.50% |
| 6M returni | -17.41% | -4.44% |
| 1Y returni | -12.80% | +14.62% |
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 | $8.75K (-12.5%) started 2025-11-04 | $11.51K (+15.1%) started 2025-11-04 |
| 5Y ago | $18.16K (+81.6%) started 2021-11-04 | $13.96K (+39.6%) started 2021-11-04 |
| 10Y ago | $34.18K (+241.8%) started 2016-11-04 | $26.18K (+161.8%) started 2016-11-04 |
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 | 59.36% | 71.75% |
| 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 0.78), 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 | -12.48% | +15.06% |
| CAGRi | -12.50% | +15.09% | |
| Volatilityi | 29.08% | 27.81% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.47 | 0.49 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.60 | 0.72 | |
| Max drawdowni | 29.62% | 19.05% | |
| Current drawdowni | 26.49% | 12.07% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 11.40% | 6.34% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 14.14% | 8.12% | |
| Max daily dropi | 10.82% | 10.14% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 10.71% | 9.72% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +42.32% | +8.96% |
| CAGRi | +7.31% | +1.73% | |
| Volatilityi | 25.77% | 23.28% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.23 | -0.00 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.32 | -0.00 | |
| Max drawdowni | 32.01% | 38.38% | |
| Current drawdowni | 27.79% | 12.07% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 10.37% | 14.54% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 13.27% | 17.74% | |
| Max daily dropi | 10.82% | 10.14% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 12.69% | 12.88% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +45.03% | +49.89% |
| CAGRi | +3.79% | +4.13% | |
| Volatilityi | 24.59% | 21.15% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.09 | 0.09 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.13 | 0.12 | |
| Max drawdowni | 39.43% | 41.21% | |
| Current drawdowni | 27.79% | 12.07% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 14.47% | 11.96% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 17.08% | 15.44% | |
| Max daily dropi | 10.82% | 10.14% | |
| 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 the second-largest U.S. wireless carrier and a major broadband provider — operating wireless services (AT&T Mobility), fiber internet (AT&T Fiber / ACP), and business wireline services after its strategic spin-off of WarnerMedia in 2022 to form Warner Bros. Discovery. | Verizon is the largest U.S. wireless carrier by postpaid subscribers — operating Verizon Wireless, Fios fiber internet (in select Northeast markets), and business communications, while also offering fixed wireless access (5G home internet) as a cable broadband alternative. |
| Investor focus | Investors track AT&T's wireless subscriber growth, postpaid phone net adds, fiber internet subscriber additions (a key growth driver), ARPU, and free cash flow generation for dividend coverage — after the WarnerMedia spinoff transformed AT&T back into a focused telecom company. | Investors track Verizon's wireless service revenue growth, fixed wireless access subscriber adds (a new growth vector), ARPU and pricing power, free cash flow generation for dividend coverage, and the C-Band 5G spectrum investment returns. |
- AT&T Fiber is growing rapidly — FirstNet partnership and ongoing fiber network buildout is expanding AT&T's high-speed internet footprint to compete with cable broadband
- Wireless network quality improvements and FirstNet (first responder network) provide both premium subscriber value and stable government customer relationships
- Post-WarnerMedia transformation simplified AT&T back to a pure-play telecom — free cash flow more predictable without media and entertainment business volatility
- Network quality leadership — Verizon has historically led U.S. wireless network quality rankings, which supports premium pricing and subscriber retention in the consumer and enterprise segment
- Enterprise and government wireless relationships provide large enterprise and government customer revenue with stronger pricing power than pure consumer wireless
- Fixed wireless access (FWA) using 5G infrastructure is growing rapidly — Verizon is adding home internet customers using excess 5G network capacity
- AT&T cut its dividend in 2022 following the WarnerMedia spinoff — investors seeking maximum yield should note the new lower (but more sustainable) dividend baseline
- Fiber buildout requires significant ongoing capital expenditure — AT&T is investing billions annually in fiber expansion that compresses near-term free cash flow
- Wireless market is a mature three-player oligopoly (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile) — subscriber growth requires winning customers from competitors in a saturated market
- T-Mobile's network improvement and aggressive pricing have taken share from Verizon — sustaining network quality leadership requires ongoing capex in 5G spectrum and equipment
- Verizon's dividend yield is high, but dividend growth has been modest — the dividend has grown but at a slower pace than many dividend growth investors prefer
- Fixed wireless access may cannibalize Verizon's own higher-margin Fios fiber business in markets where both are available — the FWA economics are different from fiber
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