Why did AT&T stock rise today? Free at last (from media)
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AT&T stock (NYSE:T) has spent its first day after spinning off WarnerMedia significantly higher, floating up 7.5% on a post-spin basis to $19.59.
That may represent some relief buying among AT&T investors' long-suffering with what turned out to be a media misadventure - and a now-unwound three-year journey as stewards of the former Time Warner entertainment empire.
AT&T and Discovery closed their long-in-the-works transaction Friday, creating the newly combined Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).
That WBD stock is seeing selling pressure today, down 3.1% - unsurprising, as many AT&T investors who received shares in the spin-off (AT&T stockholders own 71% of the new WBD) might not be interested in a growth investment, with some choosing to sell and put the money back into a now more boring dividend telecom stock.
At current pricing, AT&T's new $1.11 annual dividend implies a forward dividend yield of 5.67%.
Analysts have been largely positive on the deal from AT&T's perspective, saying some complexity has been resolved with a stock that looks a lot like Verizon (but maybe more cheaply valued).