Shares of AT&T Inc. rose Thursday after the telecom giant’s first-quarter results topped analyst expectations. The company’s wireless division, its largest unit, added 595,000 phone customers who pay a monthly bill, up from 163,000 in the same period in 2020. It also added 207,000 prepaid phone customers. In the WarnerMedia entertainment unit, revenue rose 9.8% to $8.5 billion. There are now 44.2 million subscribers to HBO Max or the traditional HBO channel in the U.S. AT&T also signed up 46,000 home internet customers and lost 620,000 video customers. It is spinning off the DirecTV business as it bleeds customers.
