AT&T adds 2.1 million connections in solid Q2
AT&T said it added 1 million connected cars and about 1.2 million smartphones to its subscriber base in the second quarter.
The additions highlight progress, but competition from the likes of T-Mobile as well. Verizon added 1.1 million new wireless subscribers and that total was fueled by tablets.
Consider:
- Verizon added 321,000 net phones in the quarter.
- AT&T added 741,000 net phones (postpaid and prepaid).
- T-Mobile added 760,000 net postpaid phones and 178,000 prepaid.
As for the financials, AT&T delivered better than expected earnings with revenue that was a smidge light. The company reported second quarter earnings of $3 billion, or 58 cents a share, on revenue of $33 billion, up 1.4 percent from a year ago. Excluding merger charges related to the purchase of Nextel Mexico and integration expenses, AT&T had second quarter earnings of 69 cents a share.
Wall Street was expecting AT&T to report earnings of 63 cents a share on revenue of $33.04 billion.
AT&T is also about to close the acquisition of DirecTV with plans to deliver content over its infrastructure.
Among the key themes from AT&T's report:
- AT&T added about 600,000 tablets.;
- The company said two-thirds of its base is off of its subsidy plans.
- Wireline revenue was $14.21 billion, down 2.9 percent from a year ago.