Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

The dividend is the reason why the company is still around for investors to buy the stocks or else the company could be worth nothing at all. If you have not realized T has been floating 1-level above junk bond for quite a long time now along with being de-listed back in 2015 by Dow Jones...then you should try to under finance a bit or your own company you work for as if affects you (headline: "AT&T is being removed from the Dow Jones"). The company has been sinking and with all these bad press you all put out about your own company, you wrote your own dooms day ticket. The cronyism, the favoritism, the stealing just to name a few, all of you have been part of and there's one else to blame but the people Add that to a bad vision that got played out "badly" with one failed acquisition after another because someone pushed their agenda thru, it is no different than what the individual employees have done at a microscopic level. Can you blame the company if you yourselves have cheated company of time worked, things taken, lies shared, and favoritism passed? Ask yourselves why you are complaining or simply just worried that the free for all candy shop is now going to close its doors. People did work hard and there were honest people here and there...but just not enough to tip the scale.

It'll never happen. One reason. Self preservation. Shareholders would demand the entire c-suite gone.

Suspend the dividend, yeah of course the company stock will tank - in the short-run.

In the long-run, you could wipe 60 billion in debt over 4 years, and keep the assets you're currently trying to sell at bargain prices. Then reinstate the dividend and come out as a much stronger company, with a motivated workforce.

tog-

That's exactly my point. AT&T insists that it must maintain an artificially high dividend or the stock won't do well. The reality is, AT&T stock will do about as well/poorly with or without a dividend due to the numerous horrific, monumental mistakes made by the company.

They are laying off tens of thousands of employees and borrowing money in order to pay the dividend. It is unethical, a conflict of interest (because they think it will help their compensation), and nonsensical.

"Apple's dividend yield is 0.97%. There are no indications that it will go much higher, and in fact it's been going down for the past ten years."

But their stock price has gone up for the past 10 years

10 years ago it was $33.05, yesterday it closed 342.99

how has T stock price performed?

Apple's dividend yield is 0.97%. There are no indications that it will go much higher, and in fact it's been going down for the past ten years.

Apple pays a dividend.

"If it cuts the dividend , it would see a mass exodus of investment."

That is the oft-used threat of senior leadership to NEVER EVER EVER touch the dividend. But how true is it? There are companies that have IPOd that have said they will likely NEVER pay a dividend, and yet their stock price does not go down.

Our senior leadership's logic is circular at best: We will never cut the dividend because T is a dividend stock. Utter logical fallacy.

Secondly, nobody is saying that AT&T should eliminate the dividend. What we're saying is that shareholders should obviously be in line to "take a haircut" when something like a global pandemic ostensibly affects business. Why shouldn't they? It's part of the risk of the market. If you're suggesting that shareholders will jettison the stock because of a temporary reduction in dividends due to a pandemic, then maybe we're better off without those shareholders. (But they won't so it's a moot point).

Third, the real reason they want to buoy the stock price by artificially borrowing to pay dividends is because executive compensation is based on stock price. Period. Hard stop.

Finally, even if the market was completely logical - and it's not - there is an absolute floor on what a stock price "should" be and that's based on the Dividend Discount Model (DDM). AT&T's stock price is well below what it "should" be even in a normal market. To claim that it will fall lower following a temporary suspension or reduction in dividend is lunacy.

There is all the reason in the world to suspend the dividend vs. borrowing to artificially keep it high. But because exec compensation is tied to the stock price, they will issue scare tactics to convince you it's for the best to artificially inflate it.

They should cut your salary too, those folks earn their money just like you do.

Randy has had negative growth while the market has grown over the past 13 years. The dividen is the only thing keeping T afloat.

When Stephenson took over AT&T as CEO in May 2007, the company’s stock price was $39.47
Yesterday it closed at $30.51

What a loser, but he is laughing all the way to the bank.

Couple of things. The dividend is not 7 percent , the yield is. If they cut the dividend , it'll just make the stock price drop and the yield that much higher. Also, if they cut the dividend , and the stock price inevitably plummets, the company will be in crisis mode as that directly affects its market cap. The market cap affects not only the perceived value of the company but its ability to obtain loans and pay those loans back. In short , att is between a rock and a hard place. If it cuts the dividend , it would see a mass exodus of investment.

Although , personally I agree with you. Bite the bullet , eliminate the dividend COMPLETELY. If the stock truly plummets, maybe that will make The company cheap enough to make it attractive to another company such as Apple or Amazon to buy it. That's what the company really needs: new ownership by competent leadership.