BIG LOSS: AT&T posted a fourth-quarter loss of $3.86 billion. In an annual routine, it reset expectations for its future retiree benefits costs, which leads to large swings in fourth-quarter results. Excluding the pension effect, results fell shy of Wall Street expectations.

WIRELESS GAINS: AT&T added 780,000 devices under contract to its network in the quarter. That was the best result in three years, but trailed Verizon.

THE OUTLOOK: AT&T confirmed Wall Street's earnings expectations for the year but said it expects to grow revenue by 2 percent, slightly better than forecast.