AT&T Inc., the largest U.S. phone company, posted fourth-quarter results that missed analysts’ estimates as customers bought a record number of discounted smartphones, including 8.6 million of Apple Inc.’s iPhones.
The net loss narrowed to $3.86 billion, or 68 cents a share, from $6.68 billion, or $1.12, a year earlier, Dallas- based AT&T said Thursday in a statement. Leaving out charges such as pension costs, profit was 44 cents a share, missing the 45- cent average of analysts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sales were little changed at $32.6 billion, topping the estimate of $32.2 billion.
AT&T added 780,000 contract customers, compared with 717,000 a year earlier.
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