AT&T's first quarter earnings were in line with expectations as the company added 2.7 million net U.S. wireless customers and solid gain of smartphone additions.
The results come a day after Verizon reported earnings that were better than expected. AT&T is currently digesting its acquisition of Time Warner and paying down a heavy debt load. AT&T said it cut net debt by $2.3 billion in the first quarter to $169 billion with a target of $150 billion by the end of the year.
AT&T reported first quarter earnings of 56 cents a share on revenue of $44.8 billion, up 18 percent from a year ago. Adjusted earnings were 86 cents a share, which matched Wall Street estimates, but revenue was lighter than expected.
For AT&T, the plan is to expand its media plan via Time Warner, branch out into advertising and build its 5G network.
Mobility is growing, but AT&T video losses are hurting the communications unit overall. AT&T said it added 179,000 net postpaid smartphone additions with a phone churn of 0.93 percent. Wireless service revenue was up 2.9 percent in the first quarter.
Consider the following moving wireless parts where AT&T reported:
Like Verizon, AT&T's wireless connections are bolstered by the addition of wearable devices.