[January 31, 2018]

AT&T Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results

AT&T Inc.* (NYSE:T) reported solid wireless, business and international results in the fourth quarter. Highlights include strong postpaid phone gains, record-low fourth-quarter postpaid phone churn and DIRECTV NOW surpassing 1 million subscribers.

"The impact of tax reform and regulatory rationalization will be substantial and positive for the U.S. economy and AT&T," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T Chairman and CEO. "Our FirstNet win and the opt-in by 100 percent of all states and territories will enable us to put the industry's most robust spectrum assets to work in building a best-in-class nationwide network for public safety and first responders. On the Time Warner front, we look forward to presenting our case in court and closing the deal."

Consolidated Financial Results

AT&T's consolidated revenues for the fourth quarter totaled $41.7 billion versus$41.8 billion in the year-ago quarter, primarily due to declines in legacy wireline services, wireless service revenues and domestic video, which were mostly offset by growth in wireless equipment and International. Compared with results for the fourth quarter of 2016, operating expenses were $41.3 billion versus $37.6 billion primarily due to a write-off of certain network assets and higher wireless equipment costs; operating income was $0.4 billion versus $4.2 billion; and operating income margin was 0.9% versus 10.2%. When adjusting for the write-off of certain network assets, non-cash actuarial loss on benefit plans, amortization, merger- and integration-related expenses and other items, operating income was $6.9 billion versus $7.3 billion in the year-ago quarter and operating income margin was 16.5%, versus 17.5% in the year-ago quarter.

Fourth-quarter net income attributable to AT&T was $19.0 billion, or $3.08 per diluted share, and reflects the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, compared to $2.4 billion, or $0.39 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusting for the ($3.16) benefit from the remeasurement of deferred tax liabilities, $0.41 write-off of certain network assets and natural disaster impacts, $0.19 non-cash actuarial loss on benefit plans from the annual remeasurement process and $0.26 of costs for amortization, merger- and integration-related expenses and other items, earnings per diluted share was $0.78 compared to an adjusted $0.66 in the year-ago quarter. (The increase in adjusted diluted earnings per share includes $0.13 impact of the new tax law on the fourth-quarter 2017.)

Cash from operating activities was $9.9 billion in the fourth quarter, and capital expenditures were $5.1 billion. Free cash flow - cash from operating activities minus capital expenditures - was $4.8 billion for the quarter.

Full-Year Results
For full-year 2017, compared with 2016 results, AT&T's consolidated revenues totaled $160.5 billion versus $163.8 billion, primarily due to declines in legacy wireline services and wireless service revenues, which were partially offset by growth in International and strategic business services. Operating expenses were $139.6 billion compared with$139.4 billion. Excluding a $2.9 billion write-off of certain network assets, operating expenses decreased due to cost efficiencies. Operating income was $20.9 billion versus $24.3 billion; and operating income margin was 13.0% versus 14.9%. Net income attributable to AT&T reflects the impact of the new tax law and was $29.5 billion versus $13.0 billion; and earnings per diluted share was $4.76, compared with $2.10. With adjustments for both years, operating income was $31.8 billion versus $31.8 billion; operating income margin was 19.8% versus 19.4%; and earnings per diluted share totaled $3.05, compared with $2.84, an increase of 7.4%. (The increase in adjusted diluted earnings per share includes $0.13 impact of the new tax law on the fourth-quarter 2017.)

AT&T's full-year cash from operating activities was $39.2 billion versus $39.3 billion in 2016. Capital expenditures, including capitalized interest, totaled $21.6 billion versus $22.4 billion in 2016. Full-year free cash flow was $17.6 billion compared to $16.9 billion in 2016. The company's free cash flow dividend payout ratio for the full year was 68%.²

2018 Outlook¹
On a standalone basis, including impacts of tax reform and the new ASC 606 revenue recognition standard, AT&T expects in 2018:

• Adjusted EPS in the $3.50 range
• Free cash flow of about $21 billion
• Capital expenditures approaching $25 billion; $23 billion net of expected FirstNet reimbursements and inclusive of $1 billion incremental tax reform investment

¹Adjustments include a non-cash mark-to-market benefit plan gain/loss, merger-related interest expense, merger integration and amortization costs and other adjustments. We expect the mark-to-market adjustment which is driven by interest rates and investment returns that are not reasonably estimable at this time, to be the largest of these items. Accordingly, we cannot provide a reconciliation between forecasted adjusted diluted EPS and reported diluted EPS without unreasonable effort.

²Free cash flow dividend payout ratio is dividends divided by free cash flow

*About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a holding company. 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 about AT&T Inc. is available at about.att.com.

© 2018 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.

Discussion and Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures

We believe the following measures are relevant and useful information to investors as they are part of AT&T's internal management reporting and planning processes and are important metrics that management uses to evaluate the operating performance of AT&T and its segments. Management also uses these measures as a method of comparing performance with that of many of our competitors.

Free Cash Flow
Free cash flow is defined as cash from operations minus Capital expenditures. Free cash flow after dividends is defined as cash from operations minus Capital expenditures and dividends. Free cash flow dividend payout ratio is defined as the percentage of dividends paid to free cash flow. We believe these metrics provide useful information to our investors because management views free cash flow as an important indicator of how much cash is generated by routine business operations, including Capital expenditures, and makes decisions based on it. Management also views free cash flow as a measure of cash available to pay debt and return cash to shareowners.

EBITDA
Our calculation of EBITDA, as presented, may differ from similarly titled measures reported by other companies. For AT&T, EBITDA excludes other income (expense) - net, and equity in net income (loss) of affiliates, as these do not reflect the operating results of our subscriber base or operations that are not under our control. Equity in net income (loss) of affiliates represents the proportionate share of the net income (loss) of affiliates in which we exercise significant influence, but do not control. Because we do not control these entities, management excludes these results when evaluating the performance of our primary operations. EBITDA also excludes interest expense and the provision for income taxes. Excluding these items eliminates the expenses associated with our capital and tax structures. Finally, EBITDA excludes depreciation and amortization in order to eliminate the impact of capital investments. EBITDA does not give effect to cash used for debt service requirements and thus does not reflect available funds for distributions, reinvestment or other discretionary uses. EBITDA is not presented as an alternative measure of operating results or cash flows from operations, as determined in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

EBITDA service margin is calculated as EBITDA divided by service revenues.

When discussing our segment results, EBITDA excludes equity in net income (loss) of affiliates, and depreciation and amortization from segment contribution. For our supplemental presentation of our combined domestic wireless operations (AT&T Mobility) and our supplemental presentation of the Mexico Wireless and Latin America operations of our International segment, EBITDA excludes depreciation and amortization from operating income.

These measures are used by management as a gauge of our success in acquiring, retaining and servicing subscribers because we believe these measures reflect AT&T's ability to generate and grow subscriber revenues while providing a high level of customer service in a cost-effective manner. Management also uses these measures as a method of comparing segment performance with that of many of its competitors. The financial and operating metrics which affect EBITDA include the key revenue and expense drivers for which segment managers are responsible and upon which we evaluate their performance. Management uses Mexico Wireless EBITDA in evaluating profitability trends after our two Mexico wireless acquisitions in 2015, and our investments in building a nationwide LTE network by end of 2018. Management uses Latin America EBITDA in evaluating the ability of our Latin America operations to generate cash to finance its own operations.

We believe EBITDA Service Margin (EBITDA as a percentage of service revenues) to be a more relevant measure than EBITDA Margin (EBITDA as a percentage of total revenue) for our Consumer Mobility segment operating margin and our supplemental AT&T Mobility operating margin. We also use wireless service revenues to calculate margin to facilitate comparison, both internally and externally with our wireless competitors, as they calculate their margins using wireless service revenues as well.

There are material limitations to using these non-GAAP financial measures. EBITDA, EBITDA margin and EBITDA service margin, as we have defined them, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Furthermore, these performance measures do not take into account certain significant items, including depreciation and amortization, interest expense, tax expense and equity in net income (loss) of affiliates. Management compensates for these limitations by carefully analyzing how its competitors present performance measures that are similar in nature to EBITDA as we present it, and considering the economic effect of the excluded expense items independently as well as in connection with its analysis of net income as calculated in accordance with GAAP. EBITDA, EBITDA margin and EBITDA service margin should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, other measures of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP.

Adjusting Items
Adjusting items include revenues and costs we consider nonoperational in nature, such as items arising from asset acquisitions or dispositions. We also adjust for net actuarial gains or losses associated with our pension and postemployment benefit plans due to the often significant impact on our fourth-quarter results, unless earlier remeasurement is required (we immediately recognize this gain or loss in the income statement, pursuant to our accounting policy for the recognition of actuarial gains and losses.) Consequently, our adjusted results reflect an expected return on plan assets rather than the actual return on plan assets, as included in the GAAP measure of income.

The tax impact of adjusting items is calculated using the effective tax rate during the quarter except for adjustments that, given their magnitude can drive a change in the effective tax rate, reflect the actual tax expense or combined marginal rate of approximately 38% for transactions prior to tax reform and 25% for transactions after tax reform. Certain foreign operations with losses, where such losses are not realizable for tax purposes, are not tax effected, resulting in no tax impact for Venezuelan devaluation. For years prior to 2017, adjustments related to Mexico operations were taxed at the 30% marginal rate for Mexico.

Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Operating Income Margin, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted EBITDA service margin and Adjusted diluted EPS are non-GAAP financial measures calculated by excluding from operating revenues, operating expenses and income tax expense certain significant items that are non-operational or non-recurring in nature, including dispositions and merger integration and transaction costs. Management believes that these measures provide relevant and useful information to investors and other users of our financial data in evaluating the effectiveness of our operations and underlying business trends.

Adjusted Operating Revenues, Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Operating Income Margin, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted EBITDA service margin and Adjusted diluted EPS should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, other measures of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP. AT&T's calculation of Adjusted items, as presented, may differ from similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDA
Net Debt to EBITDA ratios are non-GAAP financial measures frequently used by investors and credit rating agencies and management believes these measures provide relevant and useful information to investors and other users of our financial data. The Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio is calculated by dividing the Net Debt by Annualized Adjusted EBITDA. Net Debt is calculated by subtracting cash and cash equivalents and certificates of deposit and time deposits that are greater than 90 days, from the sum of debt maturing within one year and long-term debt. Annualized Adjusted EBITDA is calculated by annualizing the year-to-date Adjusted EBITDA.

Supplemental Operational Measures

We provide a supplemental discussion of our domestic wireless operations that is calculated by combining our Consumer Mobility and Business Solutions segments, and then adjusting to remove non-wireless operations. The following table presents a reconciliation of our supplemental AT&T Mobility results.

Supplemental International

We provide a supplemental presentation of the Latin America and Mexico Wireless operations within our International segment. The following table presents a reconciliation of our International segment.

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