AT&T: It Will Be Different This Time Around

Summary Points:

- AT&T has underperformed the broader market since early 2015, but it will be different this time around.

- This company is more than just an income play, especially if you are willing (and able) to wait for the long-term story to play out.

- AT&T is a long-term buy at today's price.

AT&T ($T) is operating in a challenging (and changing) business environment but I believe that there is a lot to like about how this company is positioned for 2018 and beyond. In "AT&T: I Like Where You Are Heading", I described to the Seeking Alpha community why I was bullish about AT&T's future growth prospects. However, the company's stock performance since that point in time has been nothing to write home about.

The graph above (see linked article below) does not tell the whole story (i.e., the stock performance does not include dividends) so, in my opinion, the past underperformance is not a good reason to jump ship just yet. This telecom company has several catalysts in place that should help propel the stock price higher and allow for AT&T to be a market beater over the next three years so, in my opinion, it will be different this time around.