AT&T Posts Strong Earnings Ahead of DirecTV Merger

Revenue was $33 billion.

As the FCC seems poised to approve AT&T's $49 billion acquisition of DirecTV, the telecom giant on Thursday posted adjusted earnings above expectations on revenue in line with the predictions of analysts.

AT&T said it earned 69 cents per share while analysts expected 63 cents. Revenue was $33 billion.

TV, as expected, was weak for AT&T as its U-verse service lost 22,000 customers, ending the quarter with 5.97 million subscribers.

FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said this week he has circulated an order to approve the merger of AT&T and DirecTV if certain conditions are met, including the telecom's promise to vastly build out its high-speed fiber connection. The FCC's other four members still need to vote on the matter before the merger can go through.

Shares of AT&T fell 1 percent Thursday to $33.93 but were up more than 2 percent after the closing bell once the company reported its earnings.

Email: Paul.Bond@THR.com