AT&T Stock Rises—and It Didn’t Even Beat Earnings Estimates

AT&T’s earnings and revenue for the quarter were in line with the Street’s estimates. (Dreamstime)

AT&T stock was rising on Wednesday after the wireless carrier said more customers than the Street was expecting had switched to its cellphone plans over the third quarter.

Shares climbed 2.2% to $26.63 ahead of the opening bell. Futures tracking the S&P 500 were up 0.1%.

AT&T’s earnings and revenue for the quarter were in line with the Street’s estimates. The company reported a profit of 54 cents a share, as revenue climbed 1.6% from a year ago to $30.7 billion. Analysts were expecting a profit of 54 cents a share on revenue of $30.9 billion, according to a FactSet poll.

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1Source: FactSet

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The telecom giant said it had added 405,000 postpaid net phone subscribers over the quarter, well above the 362,000 additions analysts had forecast. That’s good news for investors—Big Wireless is ultimately a subscriptions business, and AT&T shares have benefited this year because its cheaper plans appear to be luring customers away from its main rival, Verizon Communications .

AT&T also stuck by its year-end financial outlook, which guides for earnings in the higher end of the $1.97 a share to $2.07 a share range.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com