AT&T shares lead the wireless stock market selloff

AT&T Inc. shares are leading a wireless selloff Tuesday after a presentation by the company at an investor conference where one analyst said it reinforced market fears about what customer-acquisition spending could mean for broader industry trends.

AT&T Communications Chief Executive Jeff McElfresh said at a Wells Fargo conference Tuesday that the company is expecting to take more than our fair share, and more than our market share, when it looks at the growth opportunities in the wireless business. AT&T shares are down 4.4% in Tuesday trading, while Verizon Communications Inc. shares VZ are down 2.6% and T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS shares are down 4.0%. These decisions reshape industry returns on capital slowly. Supino thinks wireless stocks might be unfairly punished. In a year in which leverage ratios have passed their 5 G peaks and all majors beat financial and operating expectations and industry churn at all-time lows, we think wireless cash flows will be strong and that wireless stocks are oversold. In the past three months, AT&T's shares have fallen 16.2%, while Verizon shares have dropped 8.1% and T-Mobile shares have lost 21.0%. The S&P 500 SPX is up 1.7% in a three month period.