AT&T Stock Rises As Earnings Top Views On Strong Wireless, Fiber Broadband Subscriber Growth

AT&T (T) on Thursday reported September-quarter earnings and revenue that topped estimates and said it added more wireless postpaid phone subscribers than expected. AT&T stock climbed on the news.

X

Reporting before the market open. AT&T earnings excluded WarnerMedia, spun off in early April, and DirecTV. The telecom giant said third-quarter adjusted earnings from continuing operations were 68 cents, up 3% from a year earlier. Revenue from continuing operations fell 4.1% to $30 billion.

Analysts had projected AT&T earnings of 61 cents a share on revenue of $29.8 billion, according to FactSet. A year earlier, AT&T earned 66 cents a share on revenue of $39.9 billion, but that included sales from discontinued operations.

AT&T stock rose 3.7% to 16.11 in premarket trading on the stock market today.

AT&T Stock: Wireless Subscriber Adds Beat

Also, the company said it added 708,000 postpaid wireless postpaid phone customers vs. estimates for a 552,000 gain. A year earlier, it added 928,000 wireless postpaid phone subscribers. “Postpaid” subscribers usually have unlimited monthly data plans.

Wireless service revenue rose 5.4% to $15.3 billion, edging by estimates of $15.2 billion.

In addition, AT&T added 338,000 fiber broadband subscribers, topping views from AT&T stock analysts of 330,000.

AT&T stock had retreated 15% thus far this year ahead of the earnings report. Heading into the AT&T earnings report, the telecom stock owned a Relative Strength Rating of 29 out of a best-possible 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup.

WarnerMedia broke away and merged with Discovery in early April. The new media company is called Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).

Follow Reinhardt Krause on Twitter @reinhardtk_tech for updates on 5G wireless, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Learn How To Time The Market With IBD’s ETF Market Strategy

Get Free IBD Newsletters: Market Prep | Tech Report | How To Invest

IBD Live: A New Tool For Daily Stock Market Analysis

Want To Get Quick Profits And Avoid Big Losses? Try SwingTrader