Look beyond net neutrality

Article Excerpt

AT&T INC. $34 (New York symbol T; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 5.2 billion; Market cap: $176.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 5.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.att.com) is the largest wireless provider in the U.S., with 120.6 million subscribers. Wireless accounts for 55% of AT&T’s revenue and 75% of its earnings. The remaining 45% of revenue and 25% of earnings comes from its wireline division, which sells phone services, television packages and high-speed Internet access to 34.4 million customers. Shift to wireless fuelled sales Thanks to strong demand for wireless services, AT&T’s revenue rose 6.5%, from $124.4 billion in 2010 to $132.4 billion in 2014. Earnings fell 3.9%, from $2.29 a share (or a total of $13.6 billion) in 2010 to $2.20 a share (or $13.1 billion) in 2011 but recovered to $2.33 a share (or $13.7 billion) in 2012. Earnings dipped to $13.5 billion in 2013, but per-share earnings rose to $2.50 on fewer…