By Christiana Sciaudone
Investing.com -- AT&T surged the most in six months after revenue topped expectations for the first time in over a year.
The company posted adjusted third-quarter earnings of 76 cents a share on $42.3 billion in sales, topping the 75 cents and $41.7 billion consensus. The last time AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) beat revenue estimates was in the second quarter of last year.
The stock is up about 5% on Thursday.
New wireless customers drove the results, with the company adding 1.08 million regular monthly subscribers, including 645,000 new mobile-phone customers. Both numbers exceeded estimates.
AT&T's pay-TV business shed subscribers, though not as many as predicted. It lost 590,000 TV subscribers. Analysts predicted a loss of 890,480. Chief Executive Officer John Stankey said on the earnings call that he expects the cord-cutting to continue.
HBO Max added about 1.7 million customers, bumping the total numbers of subscribers in the U.S. to 38 million. Worldwide, the total stands at 57 million.