T-Mobile crushes Q3 EPS, adds 2 million new customers
T-Mobile's continued customer growth lifted third quarter EPS well above estimates, but the company's total revenue fell short.
The nation's No. 3 wireless carrier said it added 2 million new subscribers to its network during Q3, marking the 14th consecutive quarter it delivered more than one million net adds. T-Mobile says it now has more than 69 million total customers.
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Breaking that number down, T-Mobile said it added 851,000 postpaid accounts, which are the most lucrative category of wireless subscribers, and 969,000 total monthly subscribers.
The carrier credited the new additions to the introduction of the T-Mobile ONE plans and the launch of the iPhone 7 in September.
Churn for T-Mobile's branded postpaid accounts was 1.32 percent, up slightly from 1.27 percent in the second quarter. The carrier has said previously it expects branded postpaid customer growth to slow this year.
As for the rest of the numbers, the company reported Q3 net income of $366 million, or 42 cents per share, up from $138 million, or 15 cents per share, a year earlier.
Total revenue was $9.2 billion, up 18 percent year-over-year.
Wall Street was looking for earnings of 22 cents a share on revenue of $9.42 billion.
The carrier's adjusted EBITDA was $2.6 billion, up 38 percent from a year ago.
T-Mobile raised its guidance for postpaid net adds from 3.4 million to 3.8 million, to 3.7 million to 3.9 million.
For the full year, the carrier expects adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $10.2 billion to $10.4 billion, up from $9.8 billion to $10.1 billion.
"The Un-carrier is delivering," said CEO John Legere, in prepared remarks. "We took share and grew our customer base while producing both financial growth and shareholder value. Most importantly, we are delivering results for both customers and shareholders alike."
Overall, T-Mobile's often unconventional, "un-carrier" perks have helped the company bring in new customers and keep the ones it already has. The company has pitched unlimited data plans and free video streaming promotions like Binge On. In June, Legere handed out free Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi and free company stock to customers in Times Square in New York City.