AT&T Q4 earnings preview

AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T) will report fourth quarter earnings this Thursday, and the largest phone company in the U.S. is expected to report $0.71 per share on revenue of about $30.56 billion. In the wireless arena, AT&T is expected to gain about 1.85 million customers for the quarter. At the same time its landline telephone business continued to see a consistent decline. Home landlines are going out of style -- and the iPhone is taking over in much of that market.

The gain on the company's wireless side is going to inevitably be linked to the Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone. Just a week ago, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that four million iPhones have been sold since its debut last June. With the bulk of those having been sold to AT&T customers, both companies are reaping the benefits from the enormous popularity of the all-in-one wireless and data device.

Add holiday wireless sales plus the second full quarter of iPhone sales into the mix, and AT&T will most likely meet Wall Street expectations this Thursday. The decline of the company's consumer landline business -- which accounts for only about 20% of the company's revenue -- will be overshadowed by iPhone sales and the excellent growth it's seen in wireless subscriber numbers. AT&T's world has changed markedly from a decade ago, shifting from wireline to wireless. Alas, the company has taken advantage of this perfectly and will continue to do so for many years to come.