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AT&T’s quarterly revenue ticked up as more customers signed up for its postpaid phone and internet services.
The telecommunications company said Wednesday the quarter marked a record for combined fiber and fixed wireless net additions, as well as its highest consumer postpaid wireless account growth in more than three years.
AT&T’s second-quarter earnings from continuing operations came in at 66 cents a share, compared with 62 cents a share a year earlier.
Adjusted earnings per share were 65 cents, compared with estimates of 59 cents a share according to analysts polled by FactSet.
Revenue rose 2.3% to $31.6 billion and compared with the forecast of analysts surveyed by FactSet of $31.8 billion.
Sales in the company’s advanced connectivity segment, which makes up the bulk of its topline, rose 4.1% to $28.62 billion, driven by growth in fiber and wireless revenue. Legacy sales slid 26% due to lower demand as the company continues to decommission its copper-based network, while Latin America revenue rose 16%.
AT&T added 432,000 net subscribers for its postpaid phone service, compared with analysts’ estimate of about 338,500. Postpaid phone churn was 0.86%.
Additionally, the company added 646,000 total consumer and business customers for its internet service, including 367,000 for its fiber-optic network and 279,000 for fixed wireless.
AT&T is accelerating its planned share repurchases this year to about $10 billion, Chief Executive John Stankey said, due to confidence in its market position, noting the company has structural advantages that give it an edge in the next era of connectivity.
“We believe our network performance and operating scale can’t be matched,” Stankey said.
For the full year, AT&T continues to guide for adjusted earnings per share of $2.25 to $2.35. The company also maintained its plan to return $45 billion or more to shareholders through 2028 through dividends and share repurchases.
In May AT&T unveiled a new plan, starting at $15 a month per line, that could make it more appealing for single adults to leave their parents’ family plan and get their own subscription with the company.
Write to Kelly Cloonan at [email protected]