AT&T has revealed its financial result for Q3 2024 indicating that its fiber strategy and 5G investment started working well during the quarter.
AT&T’s revenue for Q3 2024 was $30.2 billion, a decline of 0.5 percent compared to $30.4 billion in Q3 2023. The drop was due to lower Business Wireline service revenues and declines in Mobility equipment sales, offset by increases in Mobility service and Consumer Wireline revenues. AT&T’s fiber revenues rose 16.7 percent.
AT&T has added 403,000 postpaid phone subscribers in the third quarter and achieved 226,000 AT&T Fiber net adds, marking 19 consecutive quarters of over 200,000 fiber adds.
AT&T continues to focus on converged services, combining 5G and fiber offerings, resulting in improved customer acquisition and retention. Around 40 percent of AT&T Fiber households also choose AT&T for wireless services, demonstrating the strength of bundled services.
AT&T’s Consumer Wireline division saw 8 percent EBITDA growth, driven by nearly 17 percent growth in fiber revenues. The company also added 28,000 broadband subscribers in total for the quarter.
AT&T now covers 28 million locations with fiber and is on track to reach 30 million by the end of 2025. The company is exploring further expansion opportunities, potentially covering an additional 10-15 million locations.
Fiber ARPU increased by 3.2 percent to $70.36, with intake ARPU reaching $75. Broadband revenues grew 6.4 percent, driven by strong fiber revenue growth. AT&T expects broadband revenue growth to exceed 7 percent for the full year.
AT&T continues to reduce net debt and improve operating leverage, supported by strong free cash flow and rising EBITDA.
AT&T announced plans to extend AT&T Fiber to new geographies through joint ventures like GigaPower with BlackRock and agreements with open access fiber providers.
AT&T added 135,000 new AT&T Internet Air subscribers in the third quarter, bringing the total to nearly 500,000 as the company continues to migrate legacy copper-based internet customers to this service.
Operating expenses rose significantly to $28.1 billion, up from $24.6 billion in the previous year. This increase was driven by a $4.4 billion non-cash goodwill impairment related to the Business Wireline unit, accelerated depreciation due to network upgrades, and Open RAN modernization efforts.
Operating income dropped to $2.1 billion, down from $5.8 billion in Q3 2023. Adjusted operating income remained steady at $6.5 billion.
AT&T’s capital expenditures rose to $5.3 billion from $4.6 billion, with capital investment reaching $5.5 billion. AT&T is aiming for capital investment of $21-$22 billion in 2024.
AT&T Fiber installations were temporarily impacted by the Southeast work stoppage and Hurricane Helene.
AT&T achieved postpaid phone churn of 0.78 percent, supported by AT&T’s smartphone plans offering consistent promotions to new and existing customers.
AT&T’s fiber strategy is working well as its premium plans and bundled offerings combining high-speed fiber and wireless phone services have kept it competitive in a saturated U.S. telecom market.
“We delivered another strong and consistent quarter, furthering our leadership in converged 5G and fiber connectivity,” said John Stankey, AT&T CEO. AT&T did not reveal the number of 5G customers on its network.
Baburajan Kizhakedath
