AT&T Adds 324 Thousand Postpaid Subscribers In Q1, Outpaces Verizon's 289 Thousand Loss

AT&T Inc T reported fiscal first-quarter 2025 results Wednesday.

The telecom giant reported quarterly operating revenues of $30.63 billion, up 2.0% year over year. This beat the analyst consensus estimate of $30.35 billion. Adjusted EPS of $0.51 also beat the analyst consensus estimate of $0.49.

AT&T’s 324 thousand postpaid phone net adds (versus 349 thousand a year ago) with postpaid phone churn of 0.83% (versus 0.72% a year ago). Contrastingly, Verizon Communications Inc’s VZ quarterly postpaid phone net losses were 289,000 versus 114,000 net losses Y/Y driven by price hikes, intense rival promotional offers, and lower government support.

Also Read: Verizon’s Subscriber Losses Raise Concerns, But Strong Business Revenue, Guidance Keeps Analyst Optimistic

AT&T’s Consumer Wireline segment had 261 thousand AT&T Fiber net adds. Verizon had 339,000 total broadband net additions, compared to 389,000 Y/Y.

AT&T reported 181 thousand AT&T Internet Air net adds.

AT&T’s adjusted EBITDA of $11.5 billion was up from $11.0 billion a year ago. It spent $4.3 billion on Capex. Net income of $4.7 billion rose compared to $3.8 billion in the year-ago quarter.

The company generated $9.0 billion in operating cash flow (up from $7.5 billion in the year-ago quarter) and $3.1 billion in free cash flow (up from 2.8 billion last year).

Prepaid churn was 2.64% compared to 2.77% in the year-ago quarter. Postpaid phone-only ARPU was $56.56, up 1.8% compared to the year-ago quarter.

Operating Income: Operating income was $5.75 billion, versus $5.85 billion in the year-ago quarter.

The Mobility segment’s operating income grew 4.2% year over year to $6.74 billion, with a margin of 31.2% compared to 31.4% in the year-ago quarter.

The Business Wireline segment operating margin was (2.2)% compared to 1.3% in the year-ago quarter. The Consumer Wireline segment operating margin was 9.9% compared to 6.4% in the year-ago quarter.

FY25 Outlook: AT&T reiterated consolidated service revenue growth in the low-single-digit range, Mobility service revenue growth in the higher end of 2%-3%, Consumer fiber broadband revenue growth in the mid-teens, and adjusted EPS of $1.97 – $2.07 versus the $2.04 analyst consensus estimate.

It maintained full-year adjusted EBITDA growth of 3% or better and full-year free cash flow, excluding DIRECTV, of $16 billion+.

Chair and CEO John Stankey said AT&T Fiber and 5G wireless were gaining traction. He also reiterated the company’s priorities it laid out at the 2024 Analyst & Investor Day in December.

Price Action: T stock is up 2.63% at $27.67 in the premarket at the last check on Wednesday.

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