AT&T loses 151,000 post-paid phone subscribers in Q2

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) published its quarterly financial results on Thursday that topped analysts’ estimates for earnings despite disruptions from COVID-19 in recent months. The company also took a hit to revenue in Q1.

Shares of the company were reported about 1% up in premarket trading on Thursday. At £23.77 per share, AT&T is roughly 20% down year to date in the stock market after recovering from an even lower £21 per share in March. At the time of writing, AT&T is valued at £169.49 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 15.30.

AT&T Q2 financial results versus analysts’ estimates

According to FactSet, experts had forecast the company to print £32.42 billion in revenue in the second quarter. Their estimate for earnings per share (EPS) was capped at 62.31 pence. In its report on Thursday, AT&T fell shy of the estimate for revenue posting £32.34 billion in Q2, but its adjusted earnings per share came in stronger than expected at 65.47 pence.

At £1.23 billion, AT&T said that its net income in the second quarter came in significantly lower than £3.13 billion in the same quarter last year. On a year over year basis, the company’s EPS and revenue were reported to have tanked in Q2.

Experts had forecast the company to add about 6,800 new post-paid phone subscribers in the recent quarter versus a loss of 151K subscribers that AT&T announced on Thursday, attributed to the COVID-19 driven store closures. Combined subscribers for HBO and HBO Max, AT&T added, were 36 million at the end of Q2, up from 33 million in the first quarter.

Other prominent figures in AT&T earnings report

Other prominent figures in the American multinational conglomerate holding company’s earnings report on Thursday include £13.49 billion of revenue from its mobility unit, £7.97 billion from its entertainment unit, £950 million from its business in Latin America, £5.36 billion from its WarnerMedia unit, and £5.05 billion from its business wireline unit in the second quarter. The company also said that its wireless business noted a decline in service fees in Q2.

At the end of this year, as per AT&T, its dividend payout ratio is likely to fall in the range of 60% to 70%. The company said that its performance in the third quarter is expected to remain under pressure due to the delay in film releases, closure of cinemas, and a drop in roaming activity.