AT&T Posts Second Quarter Profit of $3.8 Billion on Wireless Gains

AT&T said it raked in $32.2 billion in consolidated revenues for the quarter ended September 30, 2013, up 2 percent versus the same time period a year ago. Ma Bell also posted $26 billion in operating expenses, $6.2 billion in operating income, and net income of $3.8 billion compared to $3.6 billion in the year-earlier quarter.

The wireless outfit added nearly 1 million mobile subscribers in the third quarter, which accounted for $17.5 billion in revenue, up 5.1 percent year-over year. Wireless service revenue increased 3.7 percent, which attributed $15.5 billion to the pot. In addition, wireless data revenues jumped 17.6 percent from the previous year to $5.5 billion.

ATT Building

AT&T said it continued to grow its smartphone user base. Ma Bell added 1.2 million postpaid smartphone subscribers in Q3. At the end of the quarter, AT&T said three out of every four postpaid phone subscribers owned a smartphone, which translates into 50.6 million people. The rise in demand for smartphones helped AT&T sell a record 6.7 million such devices during the quarter, which accounted for 89 percent of postpaid phone sales.

As for its U-verse business, AT&T reached the 10 million subscriber milestone and had its second-highest net adds ever, along with its best net adds in almost five years, adding 265,000 subscribers to reach 5.3 million, the company said. According to AT&T, it now has more pay TV subscribers than any other telecommunications company.