NEW YORK (AP) -- AT&T Inc.'s earnings rose 5.5 percent in the third quarter, but missed analyst expectations in part because of strong sales of iPhones, which the carrier subsidizes.
The country's largest telecommunications company said Wednesday it earned $3.23 billion, or 55 cents per share, in the July-September period, up from $3.06 billion, or 50 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
Excluding $1.1 billion in merger-related costs, the Dallas-based company earned 67 cents per share. That number was reduced by $900 million, or 10 cents per share, in subsidies for the 2.4 million iPhones it sold, and 2 cents per share in hurricane damage. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting 71 cents per share.
Revenue rose 4 percent to $31.3 billion from $30.1 billion a year earlier, matching analysts' estimates.
The figure for iPhone subsidies was considerably higher than the company had forecast. When the second model of the handset, the iPhone 3G, went on sale on July 11, the company predicted that the subsidies would cost it 10 cents to 12 cents per share this year, and the same amount next year. It apparently reached the lower bound of that range in one quarter.
The iPhone subsidy works out to about $375 per unit. The final price is stores is $199 or $299 depending on the model. AT&T says the subsidy is an investment, because iPhone owners are voracious consumers of data services and pay 60 percent more month in service fees than owners of other phones. They're also more likely to stay with AT&T, which is the sole carrier for the phone in the U.S.
Strong iPhone results were expected from AT&T after Apple Inc. late Tuesday said it had sold 6.9 million phones worldwide in the quarter.
AT&T shares jumped 3 percent in extended trading Tuesday evening after that announcement, but after its own results were released Wednesday morning, the shares were down 48 cents, or 1.9 percent, at $25.73.
Overall, AT&T added 2 million new wireless subscribers, at the high end of analyst estimates. It ended the quarter with 74.9 million subscribers. Of the iPhone buyers, 40 percent, or nearly 1 million, came from other carriers.
In the traditional phone company business, AT&T lost 10.6 percent of its voice lines compared to a year ago as customers continued to go wireless-only or sign up for phone service from cable companies. Calling revenue declined 8.1 percent to $9.5 billion.
However, AT&T reversed a declining trend in broadband and added 148,000 new subscribers, up from 40,000 additions in the second quarter. It introduced promotions on DSL service in the quarter to win back market share from cable companies.
AT&T also added 179,000 customers to its own cable-like video service, for a total of 781,000.
Sales to large corporate customers enterprise customers were $4.7 billion, down 1.4 percent from a year ago due in part to economic pressures.
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