T-Mobile Exceeds Subscriber Expectations

By Juby Babu
(Reuters) – T-Mobile US outperformed expectations for quarterly wireless subscriber additions, thanks to discounted plans that include streaming services like Netflix. Shares rose 2% in after-hours trading.

The growth is primarily driven by T-Mobile's affordable high-speed 5G plans compared to competitors AT&T and Verizon. The adoption of premium plans like Go5G Next and Go5G Plus, which include streaming services, is on the rise, with over 60% of new customers choosing these options, said Mike Katz, president of marketing, strategy and products.

The company added 865,000 postpaid phone customers in Q3, its highest for a decade and surpassing FactSet's estimates of 727,500. T-Mobile expects postpaid net customer additions for the year to be between 5.6 million and 5.8 million, up from the previous forecast of 5.4 million to 5.7 million.

Rivals AT&T and Verizon also saw strong wireless subscriber growth but have different capital spending projections. Notably, T-Mobile excelled in every key metric monitored in earnings reports, with MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett stating that their "best-network-lowest-prices strategy is working."

The company reported record high free cash flow of $5.2 billion in Q3, surpassing the $4.65 billion estimate. Revenue for the quarter was $20.16 billion, exceeding expected figures of $20.01 billion, according to LSEG data.