AT (NYSE: T) is one of the largest telecom companies in the United States, but it only has a market cap of about $110 billion. That makes it much smaller than the tech titans that have entered the trillion-dollar club over the past few years.

AT's inability to reach a 12-zero valuation can mainly be attributed to three things. First, it's a slow-growth company in a mature market, and it usually only squeezes out low-single-digit revenue and earnings growth during its best years. Second, AT's valuations remain low because most investors simply won't pay a premium for a slow-growth telecom stock. Lastly, AT intentionally shrank its business over the past two years by spinning off DirecTV and WarnerMedia -- as well as many of its other non-core assets -- to free up more cash to upgrade its 5G and fiber networks while reducing its debt.

Image source: AT

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