On Thursday, AT&T released its first-quarter earnings for 2022. This is its first earnings report since the Texas-based company’s unit Warner Media merged with Discovery Inc to form a new media company going under the name Warner Bros Discovery. “With the close of this transaction, we expect to invest at record levels in our growth areas of 5G and fiber, where we have strong momentum,” AT&T Chief Executive Officer John Stankey said in a statement earlier this month.
In the first quarter, AT&T added 691,000 monthly phone subscribers and posted a 2.5 percent growth in its core wireless revenue for the first quarter of 2022. The company’s gains came from the expansion of its fiber internet and 5G services which it benefited hugely from.
Shares of AT&T were up 1.5 percent in premarket trading on Thursday.
The company’s revenue for its core wireless business came in at $29.7 billion. From the same period a year ago, it came in at $29 billion. The company’s total revenue was, however, down 13 percent. This decline was caused by its divested satellite TV business and its business wireline unit being weak.
Net income attributable to common stock fell to $4.8 billion, or 65 cents per share, from $7.5 billion, or $1.02 per share a year ago.
The company reported consolidated revenues of $38.1 billion. Earnings per share, adjusted, was $0.77 compared to $0.85 from the same period a year ago. In the quarter, it reported a free cash flow of $0.77 billion.
“Our momentum in growing customer relationships is reaching historical levels. We had our best first quarter for postpaid phone net adds in more than a decade and our fiber broadband net adds remain consistently strong. Our results, including free cash flow, are in line with our expectations toward delivering on the full-year guidance provided at our recent Analyst Day,” John Stankey, AT&T’s CEO said in a company statement.
Total global subscribers for its premium TV channel HBO and streaming platform HBO Max, categorized under WarnerMedia, added 3 million subscribers from the previous quarter.
AT&T says it will be placing more focus on its business of providing internet and phone services after taking time out to become a media and entertainment company too.
The company remains a diversified global leader in telecommunications, media and entertainment, and technology. It currently serves more than 100 million people in the US with communication and entertainment services.
“AT&T has entered a new era, meeting this opportunistic moment from a position of flexibility and strength thanks to our evolving networks, enhanced customer experience, growing 5G and fiber customer base, and a much stronger balance sheet. And we continue to make good consistent progress on our journey to becoming America’s best broadband provider,” the company’s CEO added.
Ibhadojemu Lucky Emmanuel is a graduate of Education and Economics from the University of Benin. He has a passion for tech and business and has been writing professionally for over a period of five years. He's written across various topics and segments and knew tech-business was it when he first stumbled on it. He has a great passion for music and arts, and wants to visit as many countries as he can someday.
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