AT&T Stung Investors by Spinning Off Warner Bros. Discovery

AT&T


‘s April decision to parcel out its big interest in


Warner Bros. Discovery


to all shareholders, rather than giving them the option of receiving an equivalent amount of the phone company’s stock, has turned out to be a bad move for investors. Warner stock has dropped sharply.

AT&T shares (ticker: T), which ended Tuesday at $18.02, are down just 1% since the spinoff on April 8, topping the returns of those of rival


Verizon Communications


(VZ) and the


S&P 500


index. But that calculation doesn’t factor in the Warner stock (WBD) received by AT&T holders.