AT&T stock (NYSE:T) jumped 4.86% on Thursday after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter sales and profitability. These figures were driven by a higher-than-expected wireless postpaid customer count increase.
AT&T was trading 9.17% higher at $16.95 about 30 minutes into Thursday’s session.
Market Analysis of AT&T Stock
The findings may assuage investor worries that AT&T stock (NYSE:T) and its mobile-services counterparts may suffer as customers cut back on spending due to rising inflation and recessionary fears. AT&T stock (NYSE:T) was already battered in July after its second-quarter report, in which it said that an increase in customer late payments was causing a dent in cash flow.
Adjusted profits per share from continuing operations were $0.68 in the third quarter, with sales from continuing operations totaling $30 billion.
AT&T Stock: Report’s highlights
In the third quarter, there were 708,000 net postpaid phone additions. This figure exceeded expert expectations of 582,000. Postpaid consumers often have unlimited monthly data plans.
AT&T has gained more than 2.2 million postpaid members this year. According to the corporation, this is “anticipated to be industry best.” AT&T added 338,000 fiber Internet net additions in its second-best quarter ever.
AT&T’s wireless service revenue increased by 5.6%, the greatest rate in almost ten years.
AT&T CEO John Stankey said that the company anticipates wireless service revenue growth to be between 4.5% and 5%.
AT&T said that the internet network rollout was on track or ahead of schedule and that their mid-band 5G spectrum already touches 100 million people. The corporation increased its 5G coverage goal by the end of the year to more than 130 million people.
It also said that it was on schedule to meet more than $4 billion of its $6 billion objective for run-rate cost reductions by the end of 2022.
While all of that was undoubtedly good news for investors, the company’s revised profit projection is likely to be much more essential. AT&T anticipates that adjusted profits per share from continuing operations will be $2.50 or higher for the entire year.
What Next
Since early 2020, AT&T stock (NYSE:T) has been on a continuous downward trend, recently falling to its lowest point since 2023. However, a more relevant short-term trend line suggests that the stock might return to a price range of $21 to $22, where it was trading earlier this year.
AT&T is the second-largest firm in the telecom services business by market capitalization, after only Verizon (NYSE: VZ). Both, along with cellphone behemoth T-Mobile US (NASDAQ: TMUS), are constituents of the S&P 500 Communications Services sector, which is tracked by the Communication Services Select Sector ETF (NYSEARCA: XLC).
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Author Okoro Chinedu 
