Unfortunately, AT&T is trailing Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) in quarterly net additions of postpaid customers: 717,000 versus 1.2 million at Verizon. This was still the largest increase for AT&T in over a year and is part of a larger figure of about 2.5 million. About one million of the total additions was from devices such as the Kindle from  Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN).  AT&T also claims to have activated over 7.6 million iPhones, mostly the new iPhone 4S, and it sold some 9.4 million smartphones during the fourth quarter.

A huge headline loss cannot be much of a surprise to anyone who has been watching the news.  The amount still seems a bit shocking on the surface.  AT&T shares are trading down about 2.3% at $29.50 or so in the early pre-market trading session.

JON C. OGG

Rival telecom giant Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) reported a $2 billion loss for its quarter due to a pension adjustment.  That being said, investors are already braced to absorb headlines that come out early in the morning showing a deep loss due to the

What will be interesting to see is just how AT&T is treated with a dividend that is very close to 6% and now the highest of the 30 DJIA components. Shares had recovered throughout December and even in the first half of this January.

Analysts have a consensus price target objective of $31.70 and we only see options traders pricing in a move of up to 2% in either direction based upon the put and call options expiring in February.

As far as the share price of $30.21 and the AT&T chart, there is near-term resistance of $30.50 and the 50-day moving average is all the way down at $29.05 and the 200-day moving average is all the way down at $28.89.

JON C. OGG

For the first quarter 2012, ST-Ericsson expects a very significant sequential decline in net sales, resulting from a combination of higher inventory at some of our customers, further weakening of legacy product sales, the effect of first quarter seasonality as well as the reduction, in the short term, of new product sales with one of our largest customers.

Though unnamed, Nokia is believed to be the customer ST-Ericsson is referring to here.

There is also a belief that Nokia will have to cut its rich 8.6% dividend yield as the company tries to conserve cash for the coming launch of its new smartphones using the Windows Phone 8 operating system from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). Lagging sales of the company’s cheaper feature phones aren’t helping either.

Nokia’s ADRs are down nearly -7.5% today at $5.31 in a 52-week range of $4.46-$11.75.

Paul Ausick

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), Verizon’s chief competitor, is scheduled to report earnings on Thursday. Analysts are expecting EPS of $0.44 on revenue of $31.96 billion. Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) reports quarterly earnings on February 8th, and is expected to post an EPS loss of -$0.37 on revenue of $8.69 billion.

Verizon took a non-cash charge of $1.20/share “ due to the actuarial valuation of Verizon’s benefit plans.” Including that charge and a $0.03/share charge for debt extinguishment, Verizon posted a quarterly EPS loss of -$0.71.

For the full year, Verizon posted GAAP EPS of $0.85, and non-GAAP EPS of $2.15. Analysts were expecting non-GAAP EPS of $2.16. Full-year revenue came in at $110.9 billion, slightly higher than the consensus estimate of $110.84 billion.

Operationally, Verizon Wireless revenue for the quarter totaled $18.3 billion and the company added 1.2 million postpaid customers and 300,000 pre-paid customers during the quarter. Total subscriber connections rose 6.3% year-over-year to 108.7 million. Of that total, 92.2 million are retail customers and the rest are wholesale and other connections. Average revenue per user (ARPU) for retail customers rose just 2.3% in 2011, to $54.34.

Smartphones, including the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone, accounted for 44% of the company’s postpaid business, up sequentially from 39%. Verizon Wireless began selling the iPhone in October, and sold 4.2 million iPhones in the quarter.

Verizon’s wireline business grew, thanks to new subscribers to its fibre-optic network, FiOS. Plain switched-access phone customers declined by -15.3% in 2011, while digital connections grew by nearly 30%. For the full year, ARPU rose 9.2% in wireline operations to $93.07.

Verizon claims that its 4G LTE network now reaches more than 200 million people in 195 US markets. The company is also seeking regulatory approval for an addition to its spectrum licenses that would give Verizon Wireless coverage of 93% of the total US population.

Paul Ausick

We have compiled Thomson Reuters estimates, when the earnings are due, and what the share pricing has been on each, and added in additional color if applicable.  There are a few additional themes we would watch: dividend coverage, how a strong dollar is impacting earnings and competitiveness, making earnings on cost monitoring while revenues may be soft, and exposure to Europe.

TUESDAY

E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD), or just DuPont, reports on Tuesday morning.  The chemicals giant is expected to have earnings of $0.33 EPS and $8.53 billion in revenues. Shares are just under $50.00 and the 52-week range is $37.10 to $57.00.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is due Tuesday morning.  The drug, medical products, and consumer products giant is expected to report earnings of $1.10 EPS and $16.28 billion in sales.  With shares close to $65.00, the 52-week range is $57.50 to $68.05.

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is due to report on Tuesday morning and estimates for the fast food giant are $1.29 EPS and $6.80 billion in sales.  Shares are within yet another hair of another all-time high and it has recently talked up sales and has already raised its dividend.

Travelers Cos. Inc. (NYSE: TRV), the most forgotten financial stock of the DJIA, is expected to report earnings of $1.52 EPS and $5.47 billion in sales.  With shares above $61.00, the 52-week trading range is $45.97 to $64.17.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is due to lead of the telecom sector on Tuesday morning and earnings are expected to be $0.53 EPS on $28.4 billion in revenues.  With shares around $39.00, the 52-week range is $32.28 to $40.48.

WEDNESDAY

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) is due Wednesday morning and the aerospace and defense giant is expected to report $1.00 EPS and $19.4 billion in revenues. With shares around $75.50, the 52-week range is $56.01 to $80.65.

United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) may be the conglomerate with the most upside in 2012 according to analysts.  The earnings are due Wednesday morning and the consensus targets are $1.46 EPS and $15.07 billion in revenues.  With shares under $77.00, the 52-week range is $66.87 to $91.83 and the consensus price target is $89.44.

Read Also: Why The DJIA Could Peak Up 12% at 13,678 in 2012

THURSDAY

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is due on Thursday morning and estimates are $0.45 EPS and $31.94 billion in sales.  Shares are back above $30 around $30.40 and the 52-week range is $27.20 to $31.94.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) is expected to report Thursday morning and estimates are $1.73 EPS and $16.04 billion in sales.  With shares back above $105.00, the 52-week range is $67.54 to $116.55 and the consensus price target is now $115.28.

FRIDAY

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is due with earnings Friday morning and the oil giant’s consensus estimates are $2.93 EPS and $71.08 billion in sales.  With shares around $106.40, the 52-week range is $86.68 to $110.99 and the consensus price target is $124.95.  Keep in mind that Chevron is the second highest weighting in the DJIA due to its high share price.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) is due to post the consumer product giant earnings report Friday morning.  The consensus estimates are $1.08 EPS and $22.2 billion in sales.  Shares are trading around $66.10 and the 52-week range is $57.56 to $67.72 and the consensus target is $72.37.

We will be releasing more detailed previews the day ahead of each DJIA earnings report this coming week.  Additional data will be around forward earnings estimates for guidance, what the implied valuations are, color on what to look for in addition to earnings, as well as opinions from analysts, what the charts are showing, and what the options traders are expecting for a price move.

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The note that stood out is one that one the surface doesn’t look like much.  Stern Agee’s Shaw Wu has maintained a Neutral rating on RIM. Harmless and non-endorsing enough on the surface.  Wu noted, “Yesterday, there was renewed speculation on RIMM getting acquired, this time by Samsung, causing shares to rally 8%.” The mention of Facebook even in the past is one that is just hard to believe even if the analyst here is not predicting that Facebook would be a bidder.

The Intrinsic Value was brought up with 75 million subscribers, its patents, BlackBerry OS, and push network… still Wu noted, “we are unsure if a price of over $10 billion makes sense. Currently, the company has a market capitalization of $9.2 billion, meaning upside could be limited. We believe logical buyers are AMZN, MSFT, Samsung, and possibly Facebook.”

Wu sees $5 to $7 billion as a potential value, which implies $9 to $13 per share.

The research note concludes, “While we believe RIMM’s valuation is depressed, we maintain our NEUTRAL rating as we continue to be concerned with its fundamentals where the company faces major product transitions with its new BlackBerry 10 OS late this year. In addition, we remain concerned with the competitive environment as AAPL gets more aggressive and GOOG Android continues to grow.”

JON C. OGG

The world’s largest software company has now signed agreements with handset makers Samsung, HTC Corp., LG, and eight other makers, which together manufacture about 70% of all smartphones using the Android operating system. So, while Google may give away Android, the operating system is no longer free. But Google doesn’t get any payment — checks are made out to Microsoft.

Microsoft has been pressing smartphone makers for months to pay up, and most have been doing so. Google has spoken out against all the patent lawsuits over mobile hardware and software, but the company is hedging its bets with its acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (NYSE: MMI). Apple has been particularly aggressive in pursuing what it believes to be Google’s patent infringements. Another aggressive actor is Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL), which acquired the patents and copyrights on the Java programming language when it acquired Sun Microsystems.

Google may end up having to compensate handset makers for the Microsoft fees, especially if the new Windows Phone operating system starts to encroach on Google’s lead in mobile platform software. Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is not the only smartphone maker that will be using the new Microsoft mobile operating system.

One thing that might happen is that Microsoft could agree to license Windows Phone at a lower price if a handset maker agrees to replace Android with the new Microsoft operating system. Google, which derives virtually all of its revenue and profit from advertising, must be able to grow its mobile advertising base and to do that it needs Android out there on as many smartphones as possible. It’s a jungle out there.

Paul Ausick

The US Federal Communications Commission is reviewing the purchase now, and the regulatory body is reportedly concerned about two major aspects of the deal: first, what happens to Verizon Wireless’s fibre-optic service, FiOS; and second, what effect will the cross-marketing agreements that were part of the deal have on competition?

Analysts at Goldman Sach have a suggestion, according to a report at Bloomberg News. Verizon should dump its wireline business and merge with Vodafone in the wireless business. A Goldman analyst claims, “[The] agreement on a frequency purchase and marketing cooperation that Verizon’s mobile-phone unit reached in December with U.S. cable operators led by Comcast would make separating [Verizon’s] divisions easier.” Vodafone shares jumped more than 2% in the UK on the news.

There are a couple of problems with Goldman’s analysis. First, the “separation” the firm is recommending is very likely the single thing that Verizon could do to assure that the FCC rejects the SpectrumCo deal. The only way the FCC would approve a “separation” is if Verizon found a buyer for its wireline business and the pension liabilities that would tag along.

That’s the second problem. Goldman’s analysts appear to think that there are potential buyers lined up for this. Verizon’s wireline business is likely to post revenues of more than $40 billion in 2011. A buyer would have to have pretty deep pockets. And then there’s this tidbit from Verizon’s third-quarter Form 10-Q:

Net cash provided by operating activities during the nine months ended September 30, 2011 decreased by $3.6 billion compared to the similar period in 2010 primarily due to inventory purchases for wireless devices and higher pension plan contributions.

The lion’s share of that $3.6 billion was certainly in pension plan contributions. What buyer is going to want to take over that part of the wireline business?

A cynic might say that Goldman’s analysis is not much more than beating the drum for some nice advisory, management, and underwriting fees should Verizon choose to follow this advice. A realist might say that Goldman’s proposal is a nominee for this year’s Mr. Dumas Award.

Paul Ausick

While Acme competes against Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), shares of Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) and Juniper Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR) are the stocks suffering after posting gains in the first day of 2012.

Acme cut its targets to $1.03 to $1.05 EPS for the year on sales of $308 million to $310 million.  When it gave guidance in October, those ranges were $1.14 to $1.18 EPS on sales of $315 million to $320 million.

The stock was initially halted after a 2.9% gain to $31.81 today, but shares are down 17.5% in the after-hours session down around $26.25.  Sadly, this is going to make for a 52-week low as the range over the last year was $29.25 to $84.50.

JON C. OGG

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) arguably had the number one brand in wireless service in the U.S. AT&T (NYSE: T) had nearly destroyed its because of trouble with its 3G network that was allegedly caused by data overloads from Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone subscribers. Sprint-Nextel (NYSE: S) never had a particularly good reputation for service, and it suffers from its position as the third horse in a three-horse race.

Verizon had two choices, and it probably made the wrong one. It wanted to launch its 4G LTE network ahead of AT&T’s. Verizon also believed that it could flank the less-popular WiMax 4G technology that Sprint-Nextel deployed. WiMax is not compatible with the more widely adopted LTE standard. This likely made it less attractive to many customers.

Verizon’s 4G network has been down three times in the past month. Many customers will not forgive this. Many of those subscribers who can afford to break two-year contracts will do so. Others will wait until their contracts run out. If Verizon still has the problem as millions of 4G subscription deals reach the renewal stage, a migration to AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile could become a flood of defections.

Verizon, early to market with 4G, may have undermined its chance to be a leader in the industry over the longer term.

Douglas A. McIntyre