Black Friday blitz? AT&T slashes prices to keep T-Mobile from stealing customers

AT&T (T) is rolling out aggressive Black Friday deals on smartphones in an effort to lure customers as the telecom giant pushes back against rivals vying for market share during the busy holiday season.

The company is offering steep discounts on iPhones and Samsung Galaxy devices, along with sizable trade-in incentives. It’s also promoting deals on its fiber internet service, which AT&T bills as the fastest network in the country.

Many of AT&T’s holiday promotions bundle wireless plans, fiber internet, and streaming or TV services, helping drive new customer sign-ups.

Black Friday deals are nothing new for the telecom sector, but competition has intensified this year. T-Mobile, in particular, is making an aggressive push to win customers as it works to keep pace with AT&T and Verizon, according to a report from The Street.

AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are the three largest telecom carriers in the United States, according to Mordor Intelligence.

Black Friday continues to be a major draw

Although telecom companies have seen their share of Black Friday sales shrink in recent years, with shoppers feeling pressure from other parts of their budgets, consumers are still spending heavily during the holiday season. New research from InvestorsObserver found that electronics remain a major draw, with many purchases made on credit cards.

“When Black Friday advertising kicks in, shoppers increasingly target the best deals on electronics, particularly smartphones, tablets, and communication devices,” the research found.

AT&T has echoed this trend, noting that its fourth quarter is typically the strongest of the year as shoppers upgrade devices and sign up for additional services during the holidays.

AT&T stock quietly posts a solid year

For a telecom giant like AT&T, achieving rapid growth is challenging, given its size and established market position. However, the company has been working to shed its reputation for slow growth by investing heavily in 5G and posting occasional upside surprises in subscriber additions.

Those efforts have helped the stock deliver respectable gains this year. Shares are up more than 13% year-to-date, roughly in line with the performance of the S&P 500 over the same period.

AT&T’s longer-term performance is far less impressive. Over the past five years, the stock is up just 18%, compared with an 85% gain for the S&P 500 over the same period.

Still, the stock carries a dividend yield of about 4.4%, which is much higher than the communications sector average of 2.6%.