AT&T’s pivot away from media and towards telcos starts paying off

Shares soared for AT&T this afternoon as the firm’s enhanced focus towards telecoms appears to be paying off.

The telcos giant posted an adjusted profit of 68 cents per share on revenue of $30bn in its third quarter, topping to the 61 cents and $29.86bn analysts had predicted.

The third largest provider of mobile phone services in the US added 708,000 new net monthly bill-paying wireless phone subscribers during the period ended 30 September.

Wireless revenue, a key area of growth, was also up 5.6 per cent — the best quarterly improvement in a decade.

AT&T announced its departure from the sphere of media and entertainment earlier this year after it completed its sale of WarnerMedia to Discovery.

Chief exec John Stankey confirmed yesterday that the company would now be doubling down on its 5G and fiber offering, stating that it was “investing at record levels”.

Bloomberg reported earlier this week that the Dallas-based firm was in discussions to create a joint venture that would bolster is fiber-optic network expansion.

Sources told the publication that it was working with Morgan Stanley to help bring in an infrastructure partner to the venture, which is expected to be valued at $10bn to $15bn.

Shares were up over ten per cent this afternoon, offsetting its steady tumble in the year-to-date.

AT&T declined to comment. Morgan Stanley weren’t immediately available to comment.