AT&T may have the iPhone to thank for strong wireless revenue numbers in financial results out today, but declines in its landline business resulted in lower profits.
Still, the earnings per share number beat analysts’ expectations so AT&T third quarter results, along with those of other companies, sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the 10,000 mark this morning.
Dallas-based AT&T posted net income of $3.2 billion, or $0.54 a share, on revenue of $30.9 billion, in the three-months ended Sept. 30. That is largely unchanged from the year ago quarter: $3.2 billion net income, or $0.55 a share, on revenue of $31.3 billion. But this quarter’s performance exceeded the forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters who expected only $0.50 earnings per share.
The carrier stated that the strongest part of its business was its wireless business, where it added 2 million new subscribers in the quarter, for a total of 81.6 million. AT&T added 6.7 million subscribers over the last year. The Apple iPhone was singled out in AT&T’s earnings release for its contribution to revenues, as AT&T is the exclusive U.S. carrier for the popular gadget. The company recorded 3.2 million iPhone activations in the quarter.
Owners of all smartphones and feature phones are also using them more often, too. AT&T reported wireless revenue jumped 33 percent in the quarter to $3.6 billion, as subscribers do more talking, texting, e-mailing and Web surfing on their phones.
On the minus side, AT&T’s wireline revenues, what is also called landline service, fell by 7.1 percent from the year ago quarter to $16.3 billion.
The company’s U-Verse IPTV offering – competition for cable TV service – gained ground in the third quarter, too. AT&T reported a net gain of 240,000 U-Verse TV subscribers in the quarter, to a total 1.8 million subscribers, versus a 232,000 net gain in the year ago quarter.
Here in California, AT&T reached the 3 million subscriber mark for all U-Verse services, including Internet access, voice service and TV, according to the company’s San Francisco office.
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