[Forwarded from G3 News]
AT&T Crashes as More Americans Can't Afford to Pay Their Phone Bills

Shares of AT&T fell on Thursday (July 21) after CEO John Stankey said that customers are starting to put off paying their phone bills—which resulted in the wireless carrier cutting this year's forecast for free cash flow to $2 billion, Bloomberg reports.

Shares fell as much as 11% in early trading, the company's largest slide since 2022 which erased the stock's YTD gains.

A weakened consumer adds to pressure facing AT&T, which has already taken hits from deeply discounting new phones and capital outlay on network equipment. The company now expects 2022 free cash flow of $14 billion—with around $1 billion of the reduced amount tied to the "timing of customer collections."

"I’m not surprised to hear consumers are paying bills more slowly; they are already struggling with higher food and energy prices," said Wolfe Research analyst Peter Supino. "I’m not worried so much for AT&T as I am for the broader consumer economy. You wonder if this is the canary in the coal mine."

Source: ZeroHedge

(https://www.zerohedge.com/pers....onal-finance/state-u
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