AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) reported an earnings beat for the first quarter, while its revenues remained flat.
The results came amid an exciting earnings season. Here are some key analyst takeaways from the release.
Scotiabank On AT&T
Analyst Maher Yaghi reiterated a Sector Outperform rating while raising the price target from $22 to $22.50.
AT&T's wireless performance is "off to a strong start," with 350K phone net additions during the quarter, "despite continued industry normalization in the U.S. wireless market," Yaghi said in a note.
"While pressures in the Business segment remain, growth in Consumer and Wireless are providing enough torque to produce significant FCFs to reduce leverage," the analyst stated. He added that the company recorded $3.1 billion in free cash flows during the quarter, materially higher than the Street expectation of $2.4 billion.
Check out other analyst stock ratings.
BofA Securities On AT&T
Analyst David Barden maintained a Buy rating and price target of $20.
"AT&T once again meaningfully beat expectations on post-paid phone subscriber net adds, contributing to mounting evidence the wireless market is operating within a healthy competitive dynamic," Barden wrote in a note.
"The team continues to prioritize customer retention while investing in the 'right' customers to achieve a diverse and value-accretive customer base," the analyst stated.
He added that the company is likely to generate ARPU (average revenue per user) growth of around 1.0% sequentially in the second quarter, "as the vast majority of outage-related, one-time billing credits were charged in 1Q."
Oppenheimer On AT&T
Analyst Timothy Horan reaffirmed an Outperform rating and price target of $21.
AT&T's results were broadly in-line with expectations, with subscriber growth and free cash flows coming in better than expectations, Horan said. "Its wireless network is better than ever, underscored by a strong performance in Mobility with 7% EBITDA growth and 9bps Y/Y improvement in churn," he added.
The company is likely to have the capacity to reduce debt by around $16 billion over the next two years, which is when it can begin repurchasing shares, the analyst stated.
T Price Action: Shares of AT&T had declined by 1.40% to $16.58 at the time of publication on Thursday.
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