AT&T vs HDFC Bank: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
AT&T reported $125.6B of revenue in FY2025 and $22B of net income. HDFC Bank reported ~$32.9B of revenue in FY2026 and ~$8.8B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
AT&T
AT&T's financial story is large revenue, large debt and a slow correction. The company funded the $48.5 billion DirecTV purchase in 2015 and the $85.4 billion Time Warner purchase in 2018 largely with borrowing, and net debt passed $180 billion after Time Warner closed. It then reversed course: WarnerMedia was separated in 2022, the dividend was cut, and the remaining 70% DIRECTV stake went to TPG in July 2025 for a $5.6 billion gain. FY2025 revenue was $125.6 billion, with $23.4 billion of total net income, $46.4 billion of adjusted EBITDA and $16.6 billion of free cash flow against $117.4 billion of net debt. Roughly $22 billion a year of capital investment goes mostly into fiber and 5G.
HDFC Bank
For FY2025-26 HDFC Bank reported net revenues of ~$22.2 billion (INR 1,91,218.60 crore) (+13.6%) and standalone profit after tax of ~$8.66 billion (INR 74,671.30 crore) (+10.9%), with net interest margin of 3.34% and gross NPAs of 1.15%. The board recommended a final dividend of INR 13 per share. Q1 FY2026-27 standalone profit was ~$2.21 billion (INR 19,060 crore), up about 5% (around 9.8% excluding one-off items in the prior-year quarter), with net interest income up 7%, deposits of ~$368 billion (INR 31.71 lakh crore) (+14.7%), gross advances of ~$355 billion (INR 30.61 lakh crore) (+15.4%) and a capital adequacy ratio of 19.6%. Margin pressure was the main reason the shares fell after the results.
Revenue and profit by year
AT&T
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $125.6B | $22B | 17.5% | +2.7% | Source |
| FY2024 | $122.3B | $10.9B | 8.9% | -0.1% | Source |
| FY2023 | $122.4B | $14.4B | 11.8% | +1.4% | Source |
| FY2022 | $120.7B | -$8.5B | -7.1% | -9.9% | Source |
| FY2021 | $134B | $20.1B | 15.0% | -6.3% | Source |
| FY2020 | $143.1B | -$5.2B | -3.6% | -21.1% | Source |
| FY2019 | $181.2B | $13.9B | 7.7% | +6.1% | Source |
| FY2018 | $170.8B | $19.4B | 11.3% | +6.4% | Source |
| FY2017 | $160.5B | $29.4B | 18.3% | -2.0% | Source |
| FY2016 | $163.8B | $13B | 7.9% | — | Source |
HDFC Bank
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | ~$32.9B | ~$8.8B | 26.8% | +3.8% | Source |
| FY2025 | ~$31.7B | ~$8.2B | 25.9% | +19.2% | Source |
| FY2024 | ~$26.5B | ~$7.4B | 28.0% | +102.5% | Source |
| FY2023 | ~$13.1B | ~$5.3B | 40.7% | +24.0% | Source |
| FY2022 | ~$10.6B | ~$4.4B | 41.7% | +16.5% | Source |
| FY2021 | ~$9.1B | — | 0.0% | +16.1% | Source |
| FY2020 | ~$7.8B | — | 0.0% | +13.2% | Source |
| FY2019 | ~$6.9B | — | 0.0% | +17.1% | Source |
| FY2018 | ~$5.9B | — | 0.0% | +19.8% | Source |
| FY2017 | ~$4.9B | — | 0.0% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
AT&T
- Mobility~71%
Wireless service plans and device sales. Segment revenue was $89.5 billion in 2025, of which $67.4 billion was service revenue and $22.1 billion equipment.
- Business Wireline~14%
Connectivity for businesses, from fiber and dedicated internet to legacy voice and data. Revenue fell to $17.2 billion in 2025 from $18.8 billion in 2024.
- Consumer Wireline~11%
Home broadband, led by AT&T Fiber and AT&T Internet Air. Revenue was $14.2 billion in 2025, with fiber revenue up 17.0% to $8.6 billion.
- Latin America~3%
Wireless service in Mexico. Revenue was $4.4 billion in 2025, up from $4.2 billion, with $145 million of operating income.
HDFC Bank
- Net Interest Income
67.3% of net revenues
Spread income from loans, investments, and funding after interest expense.
- Other Income
32.7% of net revenues
Fees, commissions, foreign exchange, derivatives, investment income, and other banking income.
- Digital, Cards, Payments, and Distribution
Embedded in fee income
Transaction, card, payment, wealth, and distribution income tied to customer relationships.
Business model and strategy
AT&T
How it makes money
AT&T runs a capital-intensive network business. It buys licensed wireless spectrum, builds and upgrades cell sites, and trenches fiber, then charges consumers and businesses a monthly fee to use that network. Capital investment was $22.0 billion in 2025 against $125.6 billion of revenue.
Growth strategy
With the US smartphone market saturated, AT&T's growth depends on home internet and on keeping the wireless customers it has. It is building fiber, which passed 32.0 million consumer and business locations at the end of 2025 and carried 10.4 million subscribers, and it sells AT&T Internet Air fixed wireless where fiber is not available.
Competitive advantage
AT&T's advantage is the cost of replicating what it already owns. Its fiber network passed 32.0 million consumer and business locations at the end of 2025, and its mid-band 5G service covers more than 310 million people. Keeping that going took $22.0 billion of capital investment in 2025 alone, which is why the national market has three carriers rather than thirty.
HDFC Bank
How it makes money
HDFC Bank makes money mainly from the spread between what it earns on loans and investments and what it pays depositors. Net interest income was roughly two-thirds of FY2025-26 net revenues; the rest came from fees and commissions on cards, payments, third-party distribution and transaction banking, plus treasury and foreign-exchange income.
Growth strategy
Since the July 2023 merger with HDFC Ltd, the strategy has shifted from maximising loan growth to rebuilding the funding mix. Management deliberately let advances grow more slowly than deposits in FY2025 and FY2026 to bring the credit-to-deposit ratio down, then resumed faster lending: gross advances grew 15.4% and deposits 14.7% year on year in Q1 FY2026-27.
Competitive advantage
HDFC Bank's edge is a low-cost retail deposit base gathered through nearly 9,700 branches and DBUs, a long record of tight underwriting (gross NPA ratio of 1.15% at March 2026), and enough digital scale that 98% of financial transactions run online. Salary accounts, credit cards and home loans tie customers into multiple products, which lowers acquisition cost and raises switching friction.
Questions about AT&T vs HDFC Bank
Which company has higher revenue — AT&T Inc. or HDFC Bank Limited?
AT&T Inc. reported $125.6B (FY2025), while HDFC Bank Limited reported ~$32.9B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, AT&T Inc. is the larger business, with HDFC Bank Limited reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
What is the market cap of AT&T Inc. vs HDFC Bank Limited?
AT&T Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $174.4B, while HDFC Bank Limited's is $118.8B. AT&T Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to HDFC Bank Limited.
Which is more financially efficient — AT&T Inc. or HDFC Bank Limited?
AT&T Inc. generates $945k / employee in revenue per employee, while HDFC Bank Limited generates $156k / employee. AT&T Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do AT&T Inc. and HDFC Bank Limited make money?
AT&T Inc. and HDFC Bank Limited generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. AT&T Inc.: AT&T runs a capital-intensive network business. HDFC Bank Limited: HDFC Bank makes money mainly from the spread between what it earns on loans and investments and what it pays depositors.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — AT&T Inc. or HDFC Bank Limited?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, AT&T Inc. trades at 1.4x P/S and HDFC Bank Limited at 3.6x P/S. HDFC Bank Limited commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to AT&T Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is AT&T Inc. bigger than HDFC Bank Limited?
By last reported revenue, AT&T Inc. ($125.6B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to HDFC Bank Limited (~$32.9B (FY2026)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the AT&T vs HDFC Bank overview