AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T) is scheduled to release its second quarter earnings before the opening bell on Thursday, July 22, 2010. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of 57 cents per share on revenue of $30.90 billion. In the year ago period, the company reported earnings of 54 cents per share on revenue of $30.73 billion.
AT&T Inc. provides telecommunication products and services to consumers, businesses, and other telecommunication service providers under the AT&T brand worldwide.
In the preceding first quarter, the Dallas, Texas-based company's net income fell to $2.5 billion or 42 cents a share, from $3.1 billion or 53 cents a share in the year-ago quarter. On an adjusted basis, the company earned $3.5 billion or 59 cents per share in the first quarter. Revenue increased 0.3% to $30.65 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 54 cents per share on revenue of $30.72 billion. In the first quarter, AT&T added 1.9 million net wireless subscribers - the highest first-quarter wireless subscriber total in the company's history - to total 87 million wireless subscribers.
Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone has worked wonders for AT&T. The device, which runs exclusively on AT&T's wireless network in the United States, continues to be its primary driver of growth. AT&T activated 2.7 million new iPhones in the first quarter, with more than one-third of its iPhone activations for the quarter coming from customers new to the carrier. The US carrier stands to benefit from strong demand for Apple's newly launched tablet device iPad as well as the latest version of its wildly popular smartphone, iPhone 4. Last month, Apple Inc. said that it sold three million iPad in 80 days since its launch in the US. It took Apple 28 days to sell the first million. On June 7, Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs unveiled the new iPhone 4 that is claimed to be thinner and faster than earlier versions of the device, and was available for sale from June 24. The company sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s in its first three days, marking the strongest sales debut for an iPhone yet. However, the latest version of iPhone likely won't have a major impact on second-quarter earnings as it was launched just a week before the end of the quarter.
Shares of AT&T Inc have come under pressure in recent times due to fears that it could lose its iPhone exclusivity early next year. However few industry watchers believe that fears of a mass defection of customers to rival Verizon are overblown as majority of iPhone users are locked into a two-year contract.
Meanwhile, the wireline business of the company is likely to report another significant drop in revenue. Wireline revenues totaled $7.4 billion in the first quarter, down 12% from $8.5 billion in the same quarter of 2009.
Among other developments, AT&T announced in June that it would stop offering unlimited internet data plan for smart phones and iPads, breaking with industry practices.
In May, AT&T agreed to sell its Sterling Commerce business software unit to IBM (NYSE: IBM) for about $1.4 billion in an all-cash deal.
In terms of share performance, AT&T shares have lost nearly 13% since the beginning of the year.
Disclosure: Author doesn't own any of the stocks discussed here.
