Latest news with #Stankey
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AT&T CEO: Lumen Deal Will Greatly Expand Fiber Access
AT&T CEO John Stankey discusses the company's plans to buy the consumer fiber operations of Lumen Technologies for $5.75 billion. Stankey joins Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow on "Bloomberg Technology." Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AT&T CEO on potential Trump DEI pressure for $5.75B deal: 'We don't have to roll back anything'
AT&T (T) CEO John Stankey isn't showing his hand yet on whether he plans to dial back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives to gain approval for a big new fiber deal from the Trump administration. "We don't have to roll back anything," Stankey told Yahoo Finance (video above). "Our policies and our approach at AT&T have always been that we progress people on merit. That any employee that comes to work here should have an opportunity to grow their career, work on building their skills, have an opportunity to succeed and earn a living." "And our goal is to make sure that every employee that walks through the door of AT&T feels like they belong here and it's a good place for them to work," Stankey added. "And I'm pretty confident that anybody who examines our practices and how we run the business is going to come to that same conclusion." AT&T said late Wednesday it would acquire all of Lumen Technologies' (LUMN) fiber business for $5.75 billion, above the already pricey $5.5 billion that deal watchers estimated a few weeks ago. The transaction is aimed at igniting a fire under AT&T's lucrative fiber business, in part by providing bundled packages to consumers of mobile and broadband services at higher prices. Lumen Technologies stock rose 2%, while AT&T fell slightly as investors digested the transaction. Stankey said the deal is tailor-made for what the Trump administration wants to see: the creation of US jobs. "We're investing in great infrastructure that makes the US economy more competitive. We're going into footprints and markets where the previous owner didn't have the wherewithal and capability to do that," he explained. Lumen has about 1 million fiber customers spanning metro markets such as Denver, Las Vegas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Orlando, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Seattle. The business is on track to generate $750 million in revenue this year. "We think this appears to be a positive strategic move for AT&T it provides incremental footprint to build fiber and drive a converged bundle offering where these assets appear to be under-penetrated," KeyBanc Capital Markets telecom analyst Brandon Nispel said in a note. AT&T sees the deal being immaterial to sales and earnings 12 to 24 months after closing but accretive in the long term. The company said the deal will help it reach 60 million households with fiber by 2030. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026 — with the emphasis on expected. Telecom players have recently been expanding fiber businesses through acquisitions to challenge traditional cable operator Comcast. But to pass the deals by the Trump administration and new FCC Chair Brendan Carr, the companies have had to claw back DEI initiatives per the administration's crackdown. Verizon (VZ) closed its $20 billion acquisition of fiber play Frontier last week. To gain approval, however, the company said it would no longer have any HR roles or teams focused on DEI and will remove references to the term from employee training materials. Similar concessions were made by T-Mobile (TMUS) so that it could move forward with a joint venture with fiber outfit Lumos. It had to scrub its website of DEI language, the Verge reported. On the prospects of following his competitors, Stankey said, "I don't want to prognosticate on the future when I have no idea what's going to occur, but as I said, there's an awful lot of good things for this deal where it makes perfect sense, and I feel like we run the business in a really responsible manner." Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor and the host of the Opening Bid podcast. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AT&T CEO: No plans to roll back DEI to gain Trump administration's approval of new $5.75 billion deal
AT&T (T) CEO John Stankey isn't showing his hand yet on whether he plans to dial back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives to gain approval for a big new fiber deal from the Trump administration. "We don't have to roll back anything. Our policies and our approach at AT&T have always been that we progress people on merit. That any employee that comes to work here should have an opportunity to grow their career, work on building their skills, have an opportunity to succeed and earn a living," Stankey told me on Yahoo Finance (video above). "And our goal is to make sure that every employee that walks through the door of AT&T feels like they belong here and it's a good place for them to work," Stankey added. "And I'm pretty confident that anybody who examines our practices and how we run the business is going to come to that same conclusion." AT&T said late Wednesday it would acquire all of Lumen Technologies' (LUMN) fiber business for $5.75 billion, above the already pricey $5.5 billion that deal watchers estimated a few weeks ago. The transaction is aimed at igniting a fire under AT&T's lucrative fiber business, in part by providing bundled packages to consumers of mobile and broadband services at higher prices. Lumen Technologies stock rose 2%, while AT&T fell slightly as investors digested the transaction. Stankey said the deal is tailor-made for what the Trump administration wants to see: the creation of US jobs. "We're investing in great infrastructure that makes the US economy more competitive. We're going into footprints and markets where the previous owner didn't have the wherewithal and capability to do that," he explained. Lumen has about 1 million fiber customers spanning metro markets such as Denver, Las Vegas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Orlando, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Seattle. The business is on track to generate $750 million in revenue this year. "We think this appears to be a positive strategic move for AT&T it provides incremental footprint to build fiber and drive a converged bundle offering where these assets appear to be under-penetrated," KeyBanc Capital Markets telecom analyst Brandon Nispel said in a note. AT&T sees the deal being immaterial to sales and earnings 12 to 24 months after closing but accretive in the long term. The company said the deal will help it reach 60 million households with fiber by 2030. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026 — with the emphasis on expected. Telecom players have recently been expanding fiber businesses through acquisitions to challenge traditional cable operator Comcast. But to pass the deals by the Trump administration and new FCC Chair Brendan Carr, the companies have had to claw back DEI initiatives per the administration's crackdown. Verizon (VZ) closed its $20 billion acquisition of fiber play Frontier last week. To gain approval, however, the company said it would no longer have any HR roles or teams focused on DEI and will remove references to the term from employee training materials. Similar concessions were made by T-Mobile (TMUS) so that it could move forward with a joint venture with fiber outfit Lumos. It had to scrub its website of DEI language, the Verge reported. On the prospects of following his competitors, Stankey said, "I don't want to prognosticate on the future when I have no idea what's going to occur, but as I said, there's an awful lot of good things for this deal where it makes perfect sense, and I feel like we run the business in a really responsible manner." Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor and the host of the Opening Bid podcast. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AT&T's response to a growing threat spells trouble for customers
AT&T () managed to grasp increased momentum from consumers during the first few months of this year, despite recently scaling back a crucial discount. In its first-quarter earnings report for 2025, AT&T revealed that it generated a net income of $4.7 billion during the quarter, which is 19% higher than what it earned during the same quarter in 2024. 💵💰Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter 💰💵 AT&T also added 324,000 new postpaid phone customers and 261,000 new Fiber internet customers during the first few months of the results come after AT&T quietly warned customers last month that starting on April 24, their autopay discount will decrease from $10 to $5 if they pay their monthly bill with a debit card. This move frustrated customers, with some even threatening to switch phone providers. While AT&T is facing increased profits, the phone carrier is sounding the alarm on the potential impact of a growing threat. On April 2, President Donald Trump raised eyebrows across the nation when he announced a 10% "baseline" tariff on all countries importing goods to the U.S., with roughly 60 countries seeing higher tariff rates. Tariffs are taxes companies pay to import goods from overseas, and the extra cost is often passed down to consumers through price hikes. However, on April 9, he switched gears and enforced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs on all countries (except China), dropping them to a universal rate of 10%. He also unexpectedly hiked tariffs on China to 145%.During an earnings call on April 23, AT&T CEO John Stankey said that tariffs can have a negative impact on a number of devices the company sells. 'The announced tariffs could potentially increase the cost of smartphones and other devices, as well as the cost of network and technical equipment,' said Stankey. 'The magnitude of any increase will depend on a variety of factors, including how much of the tariffs our vendors pass on, and the impact that the tariffs have on consumer and business demand.' He also warned that AT&T may have to hike prices for its devices due to Trump's tariffs. More Retail: AT&T quietly issues stern warning to customers Sam's Club makes a big change to a beloved membership perk GameStop announces risky move amid store closures 'So I think that if ultimately costs are passed to us from those that we buy handsets from, unfortunately for the customer, we're going to have to come up with some new ways for them to figure out how to digest that increase in pricing,' said Stankey. AT&T is already noticing an increased number of customers upgrading their phones amid anxiety about Trump's tariffs inflating prices in the next several months. 'Upgrades have trended higher than expected since the announcement of the reciprocal tariffs in early April, which we believe triggered an acceleration in consumer upgrade behavior,' said AT&T Chief Financial Officer Pascal Duroche during the call. AT&T's warning about potentially raising its prices for devices follows in the footsteps of Verizon () , which issued the same warning about passing down tariff costs to customers during an earnings call on April 22. 'If we're going to see those type of increases on handsets that we've heard, we are not planning to absorb those,' said Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg during the earnings call. 'I mean, that needs to be passed onto the customers. That's the only way to do it because that's so much money.' Unlike AT&T, Verizon has recently been noticing fewer customers opting to upgrade their phones. 'Customers continue by choice to hang on to their phones for longer periods of time,' said Verizon Chief Financial Officer Tony Skiadas during a Morgan Stanley conference last month. 'The average upgrade cycle for us is up over 40 months. It's like 42 months right now. So the phones are made better. And from our standpoint, we'll continue to be disciplined in our approach to retention.' According to a survey from CNET in March, 33% of U.S. adults have felt pressured to make tech purchases due to fear of potential price hikes from tariffs, while one in five adults has already made a in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why AT&T Stock Lagged the Market Today
The stock market was in rally mode on Wednesday, but you wouldn't know it from AT&T's (NYSE: T) performance. Investors reacted to the company's latest set of quarterly earnings but traded the stock up less than 1%, while the fiery S&P 500 index notched a nearly 2% Hump Day gain. AT&T's first quarter saw the incumbent telecom earn $30.6 billion in revenue, up 2% from the same period of 2024. The company attributed this to higher take for its mobility and consumer wireline segments, offset by drops in its business wireline and Mexico business. The latter, it said, was affected by foreign exchange movements. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » On the bottom line, net income according to GAAP standards leaped 25% higher to almost $4.7 billion. On a non-GAAP (adjusted), per-share basis AT&T's profitability was $0.51, again an improvement (first-quarter 2024 result: $0.47). While the net income pop was impressive on the surface, analysts tracking the stock were expecting slightly better. Their consensus estimate was $0.52 per share; however, the company topped the average revenue forecast of less than $30.4 billion. The muted investor reaction to this performance was likely also due to an apparent lack of strategy for current macroeconomic challenges. When asked about the potential impact of the current set of tariffs imposed by the U.S. on foreign trading partners, AT&T's CEO John Stankey admitted that these could result in higher costs for hardware and related equipment. "Unfortunately for the customer, we're going to have to come up with some new ways for them to figure out how to digest that increase in pricing," Stankey said, but did lay out any plan for how the company might cope with this. AT&T also proffered guidance for the entirety of this year, writing that it anticipated consolidated service revenue to rise by a low single-digit percentage over the 2024 result. Adjusted earnings per share should come in at $1.97 to $2.07. The average analyst estimate for the latter, however, is $2.09. Before you buy stock in AT&T, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and AT&T wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $561,046!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $606,106!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 811% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 153% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025 Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why AT&T Stock Lagged the Market Today was originally published by The Motley Fool
