AT&T meets 4Q profit forecasts

AT&T Inc. on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter profit of $2.44 billion.

On a per-share basis, the Dallas-based company said it had net income of 39 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 66 cents per share.

The results met Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 19 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was also for earnings of 66 cents per share.

The telecommunications company posted revenue of $41.84 billion in the period, which fell short of Street forecasts. Seventeen analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $42.11 billion.

For the year, the company reported profit of $12.98 billion, or $2.10 per share. Revenue was reported as $163.79 billion.

AT&T shares have declined roughly 3 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen nearly 3 percent. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $41.39, an increase of 18 percent in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on T at https://www.zacks.com/ap/T

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Keywords: AT&T, Earnings Report, Priority Earnings