Today AT&T reported its fourth quarter financial performance, stating that in the last period of 2012 it had revenues of $32.6 billion, and earnings per share of $0.44. Analysts had expected revenues of $32.2 billion, and earnings per share of $0.46, according to Business Week’s collation.
Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO says that the company had an “excellent 2012.” In the fourth quarter, AT&T saw revenues up 0.2 percent from a year ago and a 2.8 percent increase when its divested Advertising Solutions business unit and the impact from Hurricane Sandy were removed from the picture.
Record smartphone sales and a strong wireless postpaid net helped lead the company this past quarter. AT&T reported that it activated a record 8.6 million iPhones, with 16 percent new to the service. Additionally, it states that it also had its “best-ever sales quarter” for Android smartphones.
In total, the company recorded sales of more 10.2 million smartphones, the most it says any US carrier has sold. Its “postpaid smartphone customer base” now is 47.1 million, an increase of 2.5 million — smartphones make up 89 percent of all the sales. 55 percent of its postpaid smartphone customers are now using a 4G-capable device.
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Wireless consumer growth also continues to accelerate as AT&T is saw its revenue increase 3 percent this quarter. Its U-verse revenues have also gone up 36.3 percent. To date, there are 8 million U-verse subscribers with access to TV and high speed Internet, of which the company added 192,000 TV and 609,000 Internet subscribers.
As it looks towards 2013, AT&T says it expects its consolidated revenue growth to exceed 2 percent with continued strength in its wireless service and wireline customer revenues. Additionally, it believes its EPS will continue to grow in the upper-single digits or higher. LTE technology will also continue to spread throughout the United States as AT&T plans to cover at least 250 million homes by the end of the year.
Stephenson says that “Looking ahead, our key growth platforms — mobile data, U-verse and strategic business services — all have good momentum with a lot of headroom. We’re off to a strong start executing Project VIP, our plan to expand our high-growth platforms to millions more customers, and our 4G LTE network deployment is ahead of schedule, delivering outstanding performance.”
In normal trading, AT&T was essentially flat. In after-hours trading, the company is up 1 percent.
Apple, a key AT&T partner reported strong, but mildly disappointing earnings yesterday, even as sales of its flagship smartphone rose on a yearly basis. The iPhone has been a key product at AT&T since its inception.
Top Image Credit: zombieite
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