AT&T vs Reliance Jio: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
AT&T reported $125.6B of revenue in FY2025 and $22B of net income. Reliance Jio reported ~$17B of revenue in FY2026 and ~$3.5B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
AT&T
- Latest revenue
- $125.6B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $22B
- Net margin
- 17.5%
- Revenue growth
- -2.9% a year, FY2016–FY2025
Reliance Jio
- Latest revenue
- ~$17B (FY2026)
- Net income
- ~$3.5B
- Net margin
- 20.5%
- Revenue growth
- +15.8% a year, FY2024–FY2026
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.
Reliance Jio
Reliance funded Jio's network for years before launch, and Jio Platforms raised about $17.6 billion (₹1.52 lakh crore) in 2020 from investors including Meta and Google. Revenue has since compounded: Jio Platforms' revenue from operations rose from ~$12.7 billion (₹1,09,558 crore) in FY24 to ~$14.9 billion (₹1,28,218 crore) in FY25 and ~$17 billion (₹1,46,885 crore) in FY26. FY26 EBITDA was ~$8.85 billion (₹76,255 crore) and profit after tax ~$3.49 billion (₹30,053 crore). Q4 FY26 EBITDA margin reached 52.4%, and Q1 FY27 EBITDA rose to a record ~$2.42 billion (₹20,865 crore).
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 |
Reliance Jio
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | ~$17B | ~$3.5B | 20.5% | +14.6% | Source |
| FY2025 | ~$14.9B | ~$3.5B | 23.4% | +17.0% | Source |
| FY2024 | ~$12.7B | — | 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.
Reliance Jio
No segment breakdown is published.
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.
Reliance Jio
How it makes money
Jio makes most of its money from recurring prepaid and postpaid mobile plans, where revenue is driven by subscriber count and average revenue per user (ARPU, ₹215.6 a month in Q1 FY27). The second engine is home broadband: JioFiber and the 5G fixed-wireless JioAirFiber service, which together reached 28.6 million connections by June 2026.
Growth strategy
Jio's growth plan has four parts: add home broadband connections through JioAirFiber (8.6 million broadband additions in the year to June 2026), lift ARPU through a better subscriber mix and tariff changes, sell connectivity, cloud and AI services to enterprises, and use the IPO to reduce debt and fund 5G and broadband expansion.
Competitive advantage
Jio's edge comes from scale and network design. It built an all-IP 4G network without legacy 2G or 3G layers, then rolled out standalone 5G using 700 MHz low-band and 3.5 GHz spectrum won in the 2022 auction. With more than 533 million customers, it spreads network and spectrum costs over the largest base in India, and Reliance's retail reach and media assets (JioHotstar) give it bundling options rivals lack.
Questions about AT&T vs Reliance Jio
Which company has higher revenue — AT&T Inc. or Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited?
AT&T Inc. reported $125.6B (FY2025), while Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited reported ~$17B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, AT&T Inc. is the larger business, with Reliance Jio Infocomm 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 Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited?
AT&T Inc. has a market capitalisation of $174.4B. A public market cap figure for Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited was not available (it may be privately held).
Which is more financially efficient — AT&T Inc. or Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited?
AT&T Inc. generates $945k / employee in revenue per employee, while Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited generates $605k / 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 Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited make money?
AT&T Inc. and Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. AT&T Inc.: AT&T runs a capital-intensive network business. Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited: Jio makes most of its money from recurring prepaid and postpaid mobile plans, where revenue is driven by subscriber count and average revenue per user (ARPU, ₹215.
Is AT&T Inc. bigger than Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited?
By last reported revenue, AT&T Inc. ($125.6B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (~$17B (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 Reliance Jio overview