AT&T Q2 earnings jump 30%

US giant AT&T's second-quarter financial results indicated that the weak economy is catching up to the carriers, an Associated Press report said.

But investors were largely satisfied with what they saw, the report said.

AT&T stock has been hammered in the last few months by the expectation that economy-conscious consumers would pressure profits.

The latest results affirmed that, as the company slightly missed analysts' revenue expectations and reported an accelerating loss of landline subscribers.

However, investors were apparently expecting worse, and sent AT&T's shares up €1 (US$1.58), or 5%, to €21.2 (US$33.40) in afternoon trading, the report said.

AT&T said sales of Apple's second-generation iPhone, for which it is the exclusive US carrier, were nearly double those of the first iPhone model in the first 12 days the device was available, the Associated Press report further said.

The latest iPhone went on sale July 11, after the end of the second quarter on June 30, so those sales are not part of the financial results reported Wednesday. AT&T said 40% of buyers were new to the company.

AT&T earned €2.4 billion (US$3.77 billion) in the quarter, up 30% from €1.8 billion (US$2.90 billion) in the same period a year ago.

Revenue rose 4.7% to €19.6 billion (US$30.9 billion). Analysts expected €19.8 billion (US$31.1 billion) in revenue.