COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

AT&T profit beats estimates

AT&T Inc beat analysts' estimates for fourth-quarter profit and revenue as solid growth in its streaming platform HBO Max more than made up for a dip in subscriber additions in its wireless business.

The company's shares rose about 2% in premarket trading as revenue at Warner Media, which houses premium TV channel HBO and streaming service HBO Max, rose 15.4% to US$9.9 billion in the quarter.

HBO and HBO Max together added 4.4 million subscribers during the quarter, drawing viewers with releases such as "Dune", "The Matrix" and the newest season of TV show "Succession".

In its wireless business, however, AT&T added fewer-than-expected subscribers who pay a monthly bill.

The company signed up 884 000 net new phone subscribers who pay a monthly bill during the fourth quarter, falling short of FactSet estimates of 906 500 new subscribers.

Rival carrier Verizon on Tuesday reported a better-than-expected 558 000 subscriber additions in its latest quarter. -Reuters

Intel wins appeal

Intel on Wednesday won its fight against a 1.06-billion-euro (US$1.2 billion) EU antitrust fine that the US chipmaker was handed 12 years ago for stifling a rival, in a major setback for EU antitrust regulators.

The judgment by Europe's second-top court in support of Intel's arguments is likely to cheer Alphabet unit Google in its fight against hefty EU antitrust fines and Apple, Amazon and Facebook, which are in the EU antitrust enforcer's crosshairs.

The European Commission penalised Intel in 2009 for trying to block rival Advanced Micro Devices by giving rebates to computer makers Dell, Hewlett-Packard Co, NEC and Lenovo for buying most of their chips from Intel.

The Luxembourg-based General Court, Europe's second-highest, criticised the EU competition enforcer's analysis and annulled the fine.

"The European Commission's analysis is incomplete and does not make it possible to establish to the requisite legal standard that the rebates at issue were capable of having, or likely to have, anticompetitive effects," judges said.

The court annulled the entire article of the contested decision which imposed a fine of 1.06 billion euros on Intel for the infringement. -Reuters

Anthem quarterly profit beats estimates

Anthem Inc beat quarterly profit expectations on Wednesday as the US health insurer spent less on Covid-19 related healthcare services and recorded solid membership growth for its government health plans.

Rival UnitedHealth Group last week forecast softer impact this year from the pandemic as it expects added costs of testing and treatment related to the recent Omicron surge to be offset by delays in non-urgent healthcare procedures. read more

Anthem said its benefit expense ratio, the percentage of premiums paid for medical services , worsened to 89.5% from 88.9% a year earlier. Analysts on average expected 89.45%, according to Refinitiv data.

Adjusted for the repeal of the industry-wide health insurance fee last year, the ratio decreased nearly 1%, helped by lower spending on Covid-19 related services.

Operating gain in the government business segment came in US$748 million in the fourth quarter, an increase of US$579 million from a year earlier. The increase was partly due to membership growth in the Medicaid and Medicare businesses, the company said. -Reuters

Apple grabs record China market share

Apple Inc achieved its highest-ever market share in China in the fourth quarter, when it was the top-selling vendor there for the first time in six years, research firm Counterpoint Research reported on Wednesday.

The milestone coincided with the release of the iPhone 13, and amid otherwise stagnant demand for handsets as chief rival Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's market share declined.

Apple's smartphone market share reached 23%, a record for the brand. Its unit sales volume grew 32% year-on-year in the quarter, while total smartphone sales in China fell 9%, according to Counterpoint.

Counterpoint analyst Mengmeng Zhangcited a lower starting price in China and the impact of US sanctions against Huawei, Apple's main competitor in the high-end segment, as factors.

Apple last ranked as China's top-selling smartphone brand in late 2015, just after the company launched its iPhone 6, which attracted Chinese consumers with their large screens. -Reuters

Tesla forecasts growth above 50%

Tesla Inc on Wednesday forecast vehicle deliveries would comfortably grow by more than 50% year-over-year in 2022 despite persistent supply chain issues that it expects to be alleviated only next year.

The upbeat outlook from CEO Elon Musk came after the world's most valuable automaker posted record quarterly revenue that beat Wall Street expectations.

But the cautious note about supply chain woes showed that even Tesla cannot avoid the shortages that were pitfalls for many larger automakers last year. Shares fell 0.8% after hours.

Tesla, which produced a few cars at its Berlin and Texas factories last year, said scaling up production there would depend on supply chain headwinds and the successful introduction of new technologies.

Musk said that Tesla would not roll out new models this year but hopefully would launch its Cybertruck, Semi and Roadster next year. Tesla said it is not currently working on a US$25 000 model that Musk promised in 2020 would launch in three years. -Reuters