AT&T adds 1.8 million U.S. wireless customers as sales top $40 billion

AT&T on Tuesday reported quarterly revenue that largely matched the $40.5 billion that analysts were expecting, with adjusted earnings slightly above consensus estimates.

The company also added nearly 1.8 million U.S. wireless customers in the quarter, though much of the gains came from its Cricket prepaid brand, as well as from connected cars and other non-smartphone devices. AT&T also added another 500,000 customers in Mexico.

The video and telecom giant posted earnings of $3.8 billion, or 61 cents per share, a slight dip from the $3.3 billion, or 63 cents per share, it earned in the year-ago quarter.

Excluding various items, AT&T said it earned 72 cents per share. The company was expected to post earnings of around 69 cents per share, on revenue of roughly $40.5 billion, according to Thomson Financial

“It was a good start to the year,” CEO Randall Stephenson said in a statement.

Most of the year-over-year gain in revenue can be attributed to the DirecTV acquisition, with AT&T saying that it expects merger-related savings to be on a $1.5 billion annual run rate by the end of the year. However, the company is losing U-Verse TV customers faster than it is adding DirecTV subscribers. AT&T said it lost 54,000 video subscribers despite adding 328,000 satellite customers.

Shares of AT&T were slightly lower in after-hours trading following the earnings report, changing hands recently at $37.55, down 54 cents or, nearly 1.5 percent.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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