AT&T revenue beats Wall Street estimates

AT&T
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AT&T reported strong subscriber growth and quarterly revenue that beat market expectations Tuesday, but earnings missed by 1 cent as operating expenses rose in the period.

The No. 2 U.S. mobile service added 551,000 wireless postpaid subscribers in the quarter, its best second-quarter in postpaid net adds in four years, the company said in a statement.

AT&T added 1.2 million smartphone subscribers.

Total postpaid average revenue per user (ARPU) gained 1.8 percent, where phone-only ARPU was up 3 percent, said the company.

Operating expenses rose 4.8 percent, to $26 billion, from $24.8 billion in the year-earlier period.

The mobile service provider posted second-quarter net income of $3.88 billion, or 71 cent a share, down from $3.90 billion, or 67 cents a share.

Excluding items, earnings climbed 1.5 percent, to 67 cents a share, from 66 cents in the year-earlier period. Revenue increased to $32.08 billion from $31.58 billion.

Analysts had expected the telecom company to report earnings excluding items of 68 cents a share on $31.81 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

After the earnings announcement, the company's shares fell 0.2 percent in extended-hours trading. (Click here for the latest after-hours quote.)

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