AT&T Senior Executive Vice President and CFO John Stephens Updates Shareholders
John Stephens, CFO of AT&T (NYSE:T), presented at the Citi Global TMT West Virtual Conference, highlighting the company's strategic focus on customer-centric initiatives and its strong financial outlook for 2021. Stephens noted ongoing investments in network performance and competitive device pricing, which are expected to enhance customer migration to unlimited plans. The introduction of a hybrid distribution model for Warner Bros. films is anticipated to boost HBO Max activations. AT&T targets approximately $26 billion in free cash flow and plans to maintain its dividend while reducing debt.
- Investment in network performance and attractive pricing should drive customer migration to unlimited plans.
- Anticipated increase in HBO Max activations due to hybrid distribution model and strong subscriber engagement from Wonder Woman 1984.
- Projected $26 billion in free cash flow for 2021, indicating financial flexibility for growth investments and sustained dividends.
- None.
John Stephens, senior executive vice president and chief financial officer of AT&T Inc.* (NYSE:T), spoke today at the Citi Global TMT West Virtual Conference where he provided an update to shareholders. He addressed the following areas:
Customer-centric approach. Stephens said that AT&T’s significant investment in network performance, combined with attractive wireless device pricing for both new and existing customers, should continue to drive migrations to unlimited plans and momentum in the company’s wireless business.
Additionally, with the introduction of a hybrid distribution model for the Warner Bros. 2021 slate of movies, combined with new distribution deals with Xfinity and Roku, the company anticipates activations of HBO Max will continue to increase. In fact, Stephens said that the release of Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max contributed to high subscriber engagement over the holiday season and that AT&T will provide updated details on HBO Max subscribers when it announces fourth-quarter earnings.
Continued financial flexibility in 2021. AT&T expects to have the financial flexibility in 2021 to continue to invest in growth areas, sustain the dividend at current levels and focus on debt reduction. Stephens reiterated that in 2021, the company expects to generate free cash flow in the
Stephens also said that AT&T continues to take a thoughtful and thorough approach to monetizing non-core strategic assets and investing capital effectively. The company has refinanced more than
AT&T will provide its 2021 financial outlook and capital allocation guidance when it reports fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 results on Wednesday, January 27, 2021.
*About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a diversified, global leader in telecommunications, media and entertainment, and technology. AT&T Communications provides more than 100 million U.S. consumers with entertainment and communications experiences across TV, mobile and broadband. Plus, it serves high-speed, highly secure connectivity and smart solutions to nearly 3 million business customers. WarnerMedia is a leading media and entertainment company that creates and distributes premium and popular content to global audiences through its consumer brands, including: HBO, HBO Max, Warner Bros., TNT, TBS, truTV, CNN, DC Entertainment, New Line, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Turner Classic Movies. Xandr, now part of WarnerMedia, provides marketers with innovative and relevant advertising solutions for consumers around premium video content and digital advertising through its platform. AT&T Latin America provides pay-TV services across 10 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean and wireless services to consumers and businesses in Mexico.
AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc. Additional information is available at about.att.com. © 2021 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the Globe logo and other marks are trademarks and service marks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Information set forth in this news release contains financial estimates and other forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ materially. A discussion of factors that may affect future results is contained in AT&T’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AT&T disclaims any obligation to update and revise statements contained in this news release based on new information or otherwise.
This news release may contain certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations between the non-GAAP financial measures and the GAAP financial measures are available on the company’s website at https://investors.att.com.
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1 Free cash flow dividend payout ratio is total dividends paid divided by free cash flow. Free cash flow is cash from operating activities minus capital expenditures. Due to high variability and difficulty in predicting items that impact cash from operating activities and capital expenditures, the company is not able to provide a reconciliation between projected free cash flow and the most comparable GAAP metric without unreasonable effort.
2 Gross capital investment includes capital expenditures and cash payments for vendor financing and excludes expected FirstNet reimbursements.
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