AT&T
reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings below Wall Street expectations, but revenue came in above the consensus and the company added more customers than had been forecast.
AT&T reported adjusted earnings of 54 cents a share, below analysts’ estimates of 56 cents a share and down from last year’s 61 cents a share. Revenue for the quarter of $32 billion was above Wall Street expectations of $31.46 billion and a slight increase from last year’s revenue of $31.34 billion.
Revenue in
AT&T’s
wireless services division increased 3.9% from the prior year, while business wireline sales dropped 10.3%. Communications companies have noted a continuing decline in this segment’s revenue as fewer businesses use landlines. In fact, AT&T recorded goodwill impairments in the fourth quarter of 2022 of $24.8 billion and said secular declines were impacting Business Wireline growth rates.
Postpaid phone net adds—industry jargon for the number of people who added new lines—in the quarter of 526,000 beat expectations of 487,500. Competitor
Verizon Communications
also reported strong net adds of 449,000 on Tuesday, compared with expectations of 231,600.
AT&T said fourth-quarter free cash flow was $6.4 billion, better than estimates of $6.1 billion.
“We accomplished exactly what we said we would in 2023, delivering sustainable growth and consistent business performance, resulting in full-year free cash flow of $16.8 billion, ahead of our raised guidance,” Chief Executive John Stankey said in the earnings release.
For fiscal 2024, AT&T said it expects adjusted earnings of between $2.15 a share to $2.25 a share, below Wall Street estimates of $2.46.
That was weighing on shares of AT&T, which fell 1.8% to $16.88. Competitor
Verizon
was down 0.2% to $42.18 and
T-Mobile
was unchanged.
AT&T stock has dropped 18% over the last 12 months. Verizon shares have gained 4.5% in the same time frame while
T-Mobile U.S.
stock has jumped 11%. T-Mobile is expected to report fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday.
Write to Angela Palumbo at [email protected]
Read the full article here