AT&T shares rose after the company raised its annual profit forecast.
AT&T reported third-quarter profit of $0.68 per share on revenue of $30 billion, topping estimates of $0.61 per share and $29.87 billion in sales. The telecommunications company also added 964,000 wireless postpaid net adds, which beats analysts’ estimates of 913,399. It added 708,000 total postpaid phone subscribers, which is higher than the forecast of 631 066.
CEO John Stankey is confident that the company will be in line with or exceed the full-year forecast by delivering high-quality service to customers. The company's rational approach to launching a new product to market allows it to reach a large number of profitable customers.
The company now expects profit per share for the full year to be $2.50. Earlier expectations were at $2.42 to $2.46.
Goldman Sachs analysts highlighted solid results of AT&T.
They expect the stock to react positively, reflecting strong KPIs across mobile subscribers and fiber internet customers, as well as improved forecast for wireless service revenue and adjusted earnings per share.