AT&T Stock Drops 8.1% on Disappointing Q3 2018 Earnings

AT&T (T) stock reacted negatively to the company’s third-quarter earnings report, falling ~8.1% on October 24. The telecom’s total third-quarter revenues beat the consensus Wall Street estimate by ~0.3%. 

AT&T’s total revenues rose ~15.3% YoY (year-over-year) to reach $45.7 billion in the third quarter. This significant revenue growth resulted from its Time Warner acquisition, which was partially offset by the impact of the new revenue recognition accounting standard.

However, AT&T’s third-quarter earnings missed the consensus Wall Street estimate by ~4.3%. The company’s adjusted EPS rose ~21.6% YoY to reach $0.90 in the third quarter.

In the third quarter, AT&T (T) gained 3.4 million net wireless customers in the United States, with gains in prepaid and connected devices. This appears to be significant, as its smaller competitors Sprint (S) and T-Mobile (TMUS) have highlighted their ability to attract customers from other mobile operators. AT&T gained 69,000 postpaid phone net customers in the third quarter.

Verizon’s (VZ) total revenues rose ~2.8% YoY to reach $32.6 billion in the third quarter. T-Mobile and Sprint haven’t reported their financial results for the quarter ended September 30. Wall Street expects Sprint’s total revenues to rise ~0.9% YoY to $8.0 billion, and T-Mobile’s total revenues are expected to rise ~6.8% YoY to $10.7 billion.

On October 24, T-Mobile and Sprint fell ~5.2% and ~7.0%, respectively. Verizon stock rose ~0.4% on the same day.