AT&T’s equipment writedown hurts annual profit view, shares decline

U.S. carrier AT&T forecast annual profit below market estimates on Wednesday as it lowers the value of its old equipment and grapples with competition from cable operators, sending its shares down more than 2%.

The writedown of Nokia equipment will reduce annual earnings per share by nearly 17 cents and comes as AT&T shifts to new lower-cost ORAN technology, or open radio access network.

It chose Ericsson in December to build a telecom network using ORAN that would cover 70% of its wireless traffic in the U.S. by late 2026 and could cost as much as $14 billion.

AT&T said it expected adjusted profit to be between $2.15 and $2.25 per share in 2024, falling short of estimates of $2.46, according to LSEG data.