AT&T Q1 2022 Earnings Report Recap

T matched on earnings and on revenue

By
Matthew Johnston
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Matthew Johnston has more than 5 years writing content for Investopedia. He is an expert on company news, market news, political news, trading news, investing, and the economy. He received his bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies from St. Stephen's University and his master's degree in economics at The New School for Social Research. He teaches macroeconomics at St. Stephen's University.
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Published April 21, 2022

Key Takeaways

  • Wireless postpaid net adds surpassed analyst expectations.
  • When wireless postpaid net adds are positive, it means that AT&T is adding more postpaid mobile subscriptions than are being terminated.
  • AT&T said it had its best first quarter for postpaid phone net adds in over a decade.
AT&T Earnings Results
Metric  Beat/Miss/Match Reported Value Analysts' Prediction
Adjusted EPS Match $0.77 $0.77
Revenue Match $38.1B $38.1B
Wireless Postpaid Net Adds Beat 965,000 524,500

Source: Predictions based on analysts' consensus from Visible Alpha

AT&T (T) Financial Results: Analysis

AT&T Inc. (T) reported Q1 FY 2022 earnings results that matched analyst expectations. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) fell 9.4% year over year (YOY), matching consensus estimates. Revenue was also in line with expectations, falling 13.2% YOY. AT&T said that the decline in revenue reflected the impact of divested businesses and lower Business Wireline revenue. The company beat analysts' predictions for wireless postpaid net adds.

The telecom giant's shares were up more than 1% in pre-market trading following the earnings release. Over the past year, AT&T's stock has provided a total return of -7.5%, below the S&P 500's total return of 7.9%.

T Wireless Postpaid Net Adds

AT&T reported wireless postpaid net adds of 965,000, up about 17.3% compared to the year-ago quarter. Wireless postpaid net additions are a metric used by AT&T to gauge the total number of net new mobile subscribers during a period. Mobile subscriptions include wireless services for phones, tablets, wearables, and other mobile devices. Postpaid subscriptions differ from prepaid subscriptions in that payments are made at the end of a period based on usage. This key metric reflects the net difference between the number of new postpaid wireless subscriptions and the number of subscriptions that were terminated.

Wireless postpaid net adds are significantly more important to AT&T's business since it recently completed the spinoff of its WarnerMedia business. WarnerMedia was combined with Discovery Inc., and the newly formed company of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. started trading on the Nasdaq on April 11 under the ticker "WBD."

AT&T said in its earnings release that it had its best first quarter for postpaid phone net adds—691,000—in over a decade. It also said its fiber broadband net adds remained strong.

AT&T's next earnings report (for Q2 FY 2022) is expected to be released on July 26, 2022.

Article Sources
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  1. AT&T Inc. "AT&T Reports First-Quarter Results."

  2. Visible Alpha. "Financial Data."

  3. TradingView. "Price Chart: T and S&P 500."

  4. AT&T Inc. "Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2021," Page 34.

  5. AT&T Inc. "AT&T and Discovery Close WarnerMedia Transaction."

  6. Investing.com. "AT&T Inc (T): Financials—Earnings."

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