AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) shares are trading lower by 3.03% to $18.54 during Monday's session in sympathy with Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), which fell after a second-quarter revenue miss.

Verizon reported sales of $32.8 billion, which was below the analyst consensus estimate of $33.1 billion. This miss, although marginal, might raise concerns among investors about the telecom sector's overall ability to meet revenue expectations, potentially impacting AT&T's stock as well.

Verizon meanwhile demonstrated growth in several key areas, such as a 3.5% increase in total wireless service revenue, 148,000 postpaid phone net additions (beating the estimate of 118,000), and significant broadband net additions (391,000). These strong metrics highlight Verizon's competitive strength, which could pressure AT&T's market position and investor sentiment towards AT&T.

Verizon's strategy to retain subscribers through perks like bundled plans including Netflix and Disney+ is proving effective, as seen in their net additions. This competitive edge might suggest to investors that AT&T could face challenges in retaining and attracting subscribers, potentially impacting its revenue and growth outlook.

While Verizon's business segment showed a decline (business revenues down 2.4% Y/Y), the consumer segment showed growth (consumer revenue up 1.5% Y/Y). This mixed performance might signal sector-wide volatility, affecting investor confidence in AT&T's business segment performance.

Read Also: Verizon Q2 Earnings: Wireless Revenue And Broadband Subs Gain Traction, Sales Fall Short Of Expectations

How To Buy AT&T Stock

By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for AT&T – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.

Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy 'fractional shares,' which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share. For example, some stock, like Berkshire Hathaway, or Amazon.com, can cost thousands of dollars to own just one share. However, if you only want to invest a fraction of that, brokerages will allow you to do so.

In the the case of AT&T, which is trading at $18.62 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 5.37 shares of stock.

If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to 'go short' a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.

According to data from Benzinga Pro, T has a 52-week high of $19.33 and a 52-week low of $13.89.