T-Mobile US (NASDAQ: TMUS), the third-largest wireless carrier in the United States reported strong financial and customer growth in the first quarter of 2017. The company boasted that its performance is industry leading.
T-Mobile quarterly performance
T-Mobile reported that its net income increased 43% to $698 million or $0.80 in earnings per share from $479 million or $0.56 per share in the year-ago quarter. Its total revenues were $9.6 billion, an increase of 11%.
The wireless carrier added 1.1 million customers during the quarter. Its total branded postpaid net additions were 914,000. The company’s branded postpaid phone net additions were 798,000 and expected to capture more than 250% of industry growth. Its branded prepaid net additions were 386,000 driven by continued strong performance of Metro PCS.
During the quarter, T-Mobile acquired 31 MHz of spectrum covering 100% of the United States for $8 billion to strengthen its existing LTE coverage and increase capacity to meet customers’ needs. The purchase quadruples its low-band holdings. The company expected to start the initial deployment of the spectrum this year with handsets arriving in time for the holiday season in the fourth quarter.
The company ended the quarter with a net cash of $1.7 billion provided by operating activities. Its free cash flow increased to $185 million despite higher year-over year cash capital expenditures.
In a statement, T-Mobile CEO John Legere said, “We’ve been beating up on the competition for over 4 years now while making wireless better for consumers. Q1 was no different with T-Mobile again producing the best customer and financial growth in the industry. Add to that our recent success in the 600 MHz spectrum auction and it’s clear we’re just getting started!”
In an interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer Legere said both “Dumb and Dumber have been big contributors” to the company’s success. He emphasized that its Un-carrier strategy has been very successful and expects to achieve more growth in the future.
T-Mobile CEO criticizes Verizon
Legere also stated that Verizon has “gotten very much in to catching up to donating its customers” to T-Mobile based on its quarterly results.
In a separate interview on CNBC’s Closing Bell, Legere said Verizon failed to gain customers since 2015 and has not grown its service since 2014. “I think Verizon’s got some real problems and one if the biggest ones is, of course T-Mobile.
Last week, Verizon reported financial results that missed the expectations of Wall Street analysts. Its earnings were $0.95 per share and revenue was $29.81 billion. Analysts expected the company to post earnings of $0.96 per share on $30.48 billion in revenue. Its retail postpaid connections dropped 307,000.
Legere said the “rest of the industry would die for” the customer and financial growth achieved by T-Mobile during the first quarter.
