AT&T Inc (NYSE:T, ETR:SOBA) saw its shares fall almost 5% in early trade on Wednesday as it reported a slight revenue miss for the third quarter.
The telecommunications company posted revenues of $30.7 billion, up 1.6% from a year earlier but slightly below Wall Street estimates of $30.85 billion.
Diluted EPS came in at $1.29, boosted by a $5.5 billion gain from the DIRECTV sale, compared with a loss of $0.03 in the same quarter last year.
Adjusted EPS was $0.54, matching analyst expectations.
AT&T’s mobility segment continued to be a key driver for the company, with 405,000 postpaid phone net additions, surpassing consensus forecasts of around 334,000.
Postpaid phone churn was 0.92%, while mobility service revenues grew 2.3% year-over-year to $16.9 billion.
In broadband, AT&T Fiber added 288,000 subscribers, and its new AT&T Internet Air wireless broadband service gained 270,000 customers.
Consumer fiber broadband revenues climbed 16.8% to $2.2 billion.
“We continue to add highly-profitable customers that are choosing AT&T for all their connectivity needs on the country’s fastest and largest wireless and fiber networks,” AT&T CEO John Stankey said in a statement.
“It’s clear our differentiated investment-led strategy is working, and we remain on track to achieve all of our 2025 consolidated financial guidance.”
During the quarter, AT&T repurchased $1.5 billion in common shares, bringing total buybacks under its 2024 authorization to more than $2.4 billion.
The company also closed the sale of its remaining 70% stake in DIRECTV and announced plans to purchase low-band and mid-band spectrum from EchoStar for approximately $23 billion, expanding coverage across virtually all US markets.