AT&T reports 'blow-out' Q4, revenues up 3.6 percent, 7.6 million iPhones activated

AT&T is all smiles again, as it announces a quarter in which it managed to sell 9.4 million smartphones. It nearly doubled handset sales from Q3 and managed -- perhaps unsurprisingly -- 7.6 million iPhone activations, with the majority being Apple's latest flavor of phone. It looks like the loss of its exclusivity tag hasn't hurt its sales, with Ma Bell quick to note that it sold far more iPhones than its Big Red rival. Total consolidated revenues were up $1.1 billion from last year, that's a 3.6 percent increase and it's up just over $1 billion from last quarter. However, due to the failed T-Mobile acquisition (and the subsequent pay-off) net income was a loss of $6.7 billion, with $4.2 billion of this going to its previously potential partner. Aside from bumper smartphone sales, AT&T's attributed its revenue increases to a year-on-year increase in wireless subscriptions in all their forms -- including wireless internet. An additional 208,000 AT&T U-verse TV subscribers has tipped the viewer count to 3.8 million. See AT&T's own take on its results below.

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Best-Ever Mobile Broadband Sales and Strong Cash Flows Highlight AT&T's Fourth-Quarter Results; Stock Buyback Begins on Previous 300 Million Share Authorization
2012 Outlook: Solid Revenue, Margins and Earnings Growth with Strong Free Cash Flow

Dallas, Texas, January 26, 2012
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$(1.12) diluted EPS in fourth quarter compared to $0.18 diluted EPS in the year-ago period. Excluding significant items for both quarters, EPS of $0.42 compared to $0.55 in the year-ago quarter, driven by the company's best-ever quarter for smartphone activations - up nearly 60 percent year over year
Consolidated revenues of $32.5 billion, up $1.1 billion, or 3.6 percent, versus the year-earlier period
In 2011, AT&T's growth engines - wireless, wireline data and managed services - represented 76 percent of total revenues and grew 7.5 percent versus 2010, led in the fourth quarter by:
10.0 percent growth in wireless revenues
19.4 percent growth in wireless data revenues, up $956 million versus the year-earlier quarter
16.4 percent growth in strategic business services revenues
43.7 percent growth in consumer U-verse revenues
9.4 million smartphone sales, best-ever quarter and 50 percent more than previous quarterly record and nearly double 3Q11 sales; 82 percent of postpaid sales were smartphones
717,000 wireless postpaid net adds, the largest increase in five quarters; 2.5 million increase in total net wireless subscribers, with gains in every customer category
Best-ever quarter for Android and Apple smartphones, including 7.6 million iPhone activations
571,000 branded computing device (tablets, aircards, etc.) sales, best-ever quarter to reach 5.1 million total subscribers; up almost 70 percent from a year ago
12th consecutive quarter with a year-over-year increase in postpaid wireless subscriber ARPU (average monthly revenues per subscriber), up 1.4 percent to $63.76 - more than $6 higher than nearest competitor's ARPU
Second consecutive quarter of sequential growth in wireline business revenues
Sixth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth in wireline consumer revenues, driven by AT&T U-verse® services
208,000 net gain in AT&T U-verse TV subscribers to reach 3.8 million in service, with continued high broadband and voice attach rates