AT&T stays strong against threat of Verizon iPhone

Friday, July 15, 2011, Vol. 35, No. 28

NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T saw a rebound in the number of new contract subscribers in the second quarter, showing resilience in the face of competition from Verizon's iPhone.

The country's largest telecommunications company said Thursday that it added a net 331,000 new subscribers on contract-based plans, up from a record low of 62,000 in the first quarter.

Net income was $3.59 billion, or 60 cents per share, for the April to June period. That's down 10.4 percent from last year's $4.0 billion, or 67 cents per share, which was boosted by the sale of stock in an overseas firm.

The latest earnings matched the average forecast of analysts.

Revenue was $31.5 billion, up 2.2 percent from a year ago and slightly above analyst expectations at $31.3 billion.

Its shares edged up 2 cents to $30.25 in premarket trading.