AT&T Inc. (T) - Moat Analysis

Track Record

20%

1.9/5

1.85

Track record is broken. Decades of payments mean little when management has shown willingness to cut, and the post-2022 baseline is materially lower than what shareholders had grown to expect.

Sub-dimension

Summary

Score

Years Paying15%

4.00

How many consecutive years the dividend has been paid

4.00

Summary

Decades of paying a dividend, but the streak of raises was broken in 2022.

4.00

Years Growing30%

1.00

How many consecutive years the dividend has been raised

1.00

Summary

Dividend was cut in 2022 as part of the WarnerMedia spin-off — the growth streak is gone.

1.00

Dividend Growth Track30%

1.50

Quality and consistency of historical dividend growth

1.50

Summary

Growth has been negligible to negative across the last 5–10 years on a like-for-like basis.

1.50

Recession Resilience25%

2.00

Behaviour through past recessions and downturns

2.00

Summary

Cut during a strategic restructuring, not during a recession — even less excusable signal for income investors.

2.00

Safety

35%

2.5/5

2.45

Cashflows can cover the current dividend but the balance sheet leaves no margin. Heavy debt, high interest costs, and a capex-intensive business model make another reset plausible.

Sub-dimension

Summary

Score

Payout Sustainability35%

2.50

Capacity to cover the dividend with cash generated

2.50

Summary

2.50

Balance Sheet Strength25%

1.80

Solidity of the balance sheet against the payout commitment

1.80

Summary

1.80

Cashflow Resilience25%

3.00

Stability of free cashflow through the cycle

3.00

Summary

3.00

Profitability Trajectory15%

2.50

Direction of margins and operating efficiency

2.50

Summary

2.50

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