Upcoming AWS Coverage on CenturyLink Post-Earnings Results

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / January 23, 2017 / Active Wall St. blog coverage looks at the headline from AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) as the Company announced on January 20, 2017, in a filing made to the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), that it has incurred a noncash, pre-tax loss of approximately $1.0 billion for the fourth quarter ended on ended December 31, 2016. The loss was incurred on account of the lowering of pension and post-employment benefit plans. Register with us now for your free membership and blog access at:

http://www.activewallst.com/register/

One of AT&T's competitors within the Telecom Services - Domestic space, CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL), announced on January 18, 2017, that it will release its Q4 2016 earnings results after the market closes on Wednesday, February 08, 2017, and host a related conference call at 3:30 p.m. CT that day. AWS will be initiating a research report on CenturyLink in the coming days.

Today, AWS is promoting its blog coverage on T; touching on CTL. Get all of our free blog coverage and more by clicking on the links below:

http://www.activewallst.com/registration-3/?symbol=T

http://www.activewallst.com/registration-3/?symbol=CTL

The impact of reducing the discount rates for pension obligations.

As per details provided to the SEC the company stated that it had reduced the assumed discount rates used to measure its pension obligation from 4.6% to 4.4% and the post-retirement obligation from 4.5% to 4.3% on December 31, 2016. This exercise resulted in a loss of $3 billion.

The major part of the loss was offset by the gains made by the Company in terms of better claims experience, slightly higher returns from assets, demographic changes etc. Since the loss is actuarial in nature, it would be managed on an overall Company basis and will be reflected in the consolidated results. The loss amount will also form part of the adjustments made while calculating Q4 2016 results. The loss will not directly impact the Company's profit margins or operating profits in any way.

AT&T also disclosed the details of the increase in subscriptions and customer base in Q4 2016. As per the disclosed information, AT&T expects to add over 900,000 branded domestic wireless subscribers of which approximately 500,000 will be post-paid subscribers and 400,000 prepaid subscribers. The Company expects to add more than 330,000 branded phone customers. In Mexico, the Company managed to add 1.2 million wireless net subscribers.

Record Subscribers for DIRECTV NOW

The filing also mentioned that AT&T added 200,000 new DIRECTV NOW subscribers. DIRECTV NOW was launched by AT&T on November 2016 and it is a new live TV streaming service. The customers of AT&T's DIRECTV NOW have not been happy with the performance of the service due to freezing, slow buffering etc. Many customers have complained about not getting refunds for services not being utilized. Some of these customers have taken the matter to The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable.

Despite these negative traits, it is impressive to note that AT&T has managed to add 200,000 paying subscribers. However, this being the initial launch period, AT&T had offered promotional pricing for its services as well as offering Amazon Fire TV Stick devices and Apple TVs to customers opting for either the one-month or the three-month plan. AT&T is also offering this service to its mobile service where they do not have to pay any data charges while streaming DIRECTV NOW directly to their mobile phones.

Can AT&T sustain this growth?

The million-dollar question is how long AT&T will be able to sustain this growth in subscribers over a long-term period. AT&T has already hinted at increasing the rates for the subscription over a period of time. It had assured early subscribers that they would be "grandfathered into the promotional pricing" till such time that they continue to use the service.

Rivals like Netflix have reported an addition of 7.05 million new customers in the last quarter of 2016. Out of these approximately 2 million customers were US based and the remainder were international customers. It is being speculated that another rival Hulu, an established brand is planning to enter this segment. Given the increasing competition and possible price war, it would be interesting to watch how this space evolves.

Stock Performance

AT&T's share price finished last Friday's trading session at $41.45, advancing 1.10%. A total volume of 25.15 million shares exchanged hands. The stock has advanced 6.48% and 25.80% in the last three months and past twelve months, respectively. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 17.64 and has a dividend yield of 4.73%. The market capital for the stock is $254.86 billion.

Active Wall Street:

Active Wall Street (AWS) produces regular sponsored and non-sponsored reports, articles, stock market blogs, and popular investment newsletters covering equities listed on NYSE and NASDAQ and micro-cap stocks. AWS has two distinct and independent departments. One department produces non-sponsored analyst certified content generally in the form of press releases, articles and reports covering equities listed on NYSE and NASDAQ and the other produces sponsored content (in most cases not reviewed by a registered analyst), which typically consists of compensated investment newsletters, articles and reports covering listed stocks and micro-caps. Such sponsored content is outside the scope of procedures detailed below.
AWS has not been compensated; directly or indirectly; for producing or publishing this document.

PRESS RELEASE PROCEDURES:

The non-sponsored content contained herein has been prepared by a writer (the "Author") and is fact checked and reviewed by a third party research service company (the "Reviewer") represented by a credentialed financial analyst, for further information on analyst credentials, please email info@activewallst.com. Rohit Tuli, a CFA® charterholder (the "Sponsor"), provides necessary guidance in preparing the document templates. The Reviewer has reviewed and revised the content, as necessary, based on publicly available information which is believed to be reliable. Content is researched, written and reviewed on a reasonable-effort basis. The Reviewer has not performed any independent investigations or forensic audits to validate the information herein. The Reviewer has only independently reviewed the information provided by the Author according to the procedures outlined by AWS. AWS is not entitled to veto or interfere in the application of such procedures by the third-party research service company to the articles, documents or reports, as the case may be. Unless otherwise noted, any content outside of this document has no association with the Author or the Reviewer in any way.

NO WARRANTY

AWS, the Author, and the Reviewer are not responsible for any error which may be occasioned at the time of printing of this document or any error, mistake or shortcoming. No liability is accepted whatsoever for any direct, indirect or consequential loss arising from the use of this document. AWS, the Author, and the Reviewer expressly disclaim any fiduciary responsibility or liability for any consequences, financial or otherwise arising from any reliance placed on the information in this document. Additionally, AWS, the Author, and the Reviewer do not (1) guarantee the accuracy, timeliness, completeness or correct sequencing of the information, or (2) warrant any results from use of the information. The included information is subject to change without notice.

NOT AN OFFERING

This document is not intended as an offering, recommendation, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell the securities mentioned or discussed, and is to be used for informational purposes only. Please read all associated disclosures and disclaimers in full before investing. Neither AWS nor any party affiliated with us is a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer with any agency or in any jurisdiction whatsoever. To download our report(s), read our disclosures, or for more information, visit http://www.activewallst.com/disclaimer/.

CONTACT

For any questions, inquiries, or comments reach out to us directly. If you're a company we are covering and wish to no longer feature on our coverage list contact us via email and/or phone between 09:30 EDT to 16:00 EDT from Monday to Friday at:

Email: info@activewallst.com

Phone number: 1-858-257-3144

Office Address: 3rd floor, 207 Regent Street, London, W1B 3HH, United Kingdom

CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.

SOURCE: Active Wall Street