AT&T Earnings Show 'Solid Sequential Momentum'

Comments
Loading...

AT&T Inc. T shares traded higher by 5.5.% after the company reported third-quarter earnings on Thursday morning.

The Numbers: AT&T reported adjusted EPS of 76 cents, in-line with consensus analyst estimates. The company also reported revenue of $42.3 billion, beating analyst expectations of $41.5 billion. Revenue was down 5.1% from a year ago.

AT&T reported 645,000 net new phone subscribers in the quarter, far exceeding analyst expectations for a net loss of 9,000 customers. AT&T said it had 38 million U.S. HBO and HBO Max subscribers last quarter, up from 36.3 million in the second quarter. The services now have 57 million global subscribers.

AT&T is still well behind leading streaming video services, including Netflix, Inc NFLX with nearly 200 million global subscribers and Walt Disney Co DIS with more than 60 million subscribers.

Related Links: Elon Musk, SpaceX Will Be Focus Of HBO Miniseries

Analyst Reacts: Bank of America analyst David Barden said AT&T’s business has "solid sequential momentum" heading into the fourth quarter.

“The question for trading is how the stock will react to results that were generally in-line on financials, ahead on metrics, guidance for higher free cash flow, and maintaining the commitment to the dividend,” Barden wrote in a note.

He said AT&T reinstituting free cash flow guidance of more than $26 billion and guiding for a dividend payout ratio under 60% were also bullish takeaways moving forward.

Bank of America has a Buy rating and $36 price target for AT&T.

Benzinga’s Take: Overall, AT&T had a pretty solid quarter. The biggest potential red flags for investors are AT&T’s falling revenue and its massive $149 billion debt load.

Photo by Tdorante10/Wikimedia.

T Logo
TAT&T Inc
$27.210.93%

Stock Score Locked: Want to See it?

Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock – anytime.

Reveal Full Score
Edge Rankings
Momentum
94.54
Growth
35.23
Quality
39.72
Value
33.27
Price Trend
Short
Medium
Long
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Date
ticker
name
Actual EPS
EPS Surprise
Actual Rev
Rev Surprise

Posted In: