Investing.com -- AT&T’s second-quarter results offer a modest positive read-through for Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), particularly in terms of iPhone unit sales, according to analysts at Barclays.

“We estimate AT&T (NYSE: T) sold roughly 3.4M iPhones in the quarter, up high teens year-over-year,” Barclays wrote.

That performance was “in-line to slightly better than expected” for Apple’s iPhone contribution, the analysts said, though they noted that upgrade rates remained subdued.

AT&T reported 5.2 million smartphone sales overall for the June quarter, with iPhone units likely making up around 7% to 8% of Apple’s total units, according to Barclays.

The firm noted that “tariffs may have helped pull in some iPhones for C2Q,” suggesting trade dynamics may have had a short-term impact on demand.

Despite a 40-basis-point rise in the upgrade rate year-over-year, it remained at 3.3%, slightly below the five-year June quarter average of 3.4%.

Barclays said this reflects “continued lengthening of replacement cycle and lower demand.”

Beyond Apple, Barclays also highlighted implications for capex-exposed hardware names.

AT&T’s capital expenditures came in at $4.9 billion, ahead of the Street’s $4.7 billion forecast. The company also raised its full-year capex guidance to about $22.5 billion, and projected annual capital investments of $23–24 billion from 2026 to 2027.

“We view the lifted full-year capex guide positive to mostly neutral to our SP capex-exposed stocks in our coverage,” Barclays said, naming Ciena (NYSE: CIEN), Corning (NYSE: GLW) and Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) as key beneficiaries.

The analysts added that they “expect telcos’ ongoing fiber expansions to be lumpy for GLW, though we expect sustained, accelerated recovery for SPs for the year into 2026.”