T-Mobile tops 100M customers, posts $1.3B in quarterly profit six months after Sprint merger

T-Mobile added a net total of more than 2 million customers in the third quarter, giving it more than 100 million customers for the first time.
The Bellevue, Wash.-based wireless company posted of revenue of $19.3 billion and profit of $1.3 billion, or $1 per share, topping Wall Street’s expectations by both measures. Analysts surveyed in advance of T-Mobile’s earnings release expected the company to post earnings of 43 cents/share on revenue of $18.34 billion.
The results represent “the strongest financials in our history,” said Mike Sievert, the T-Mobile CEO, on an earnings call with analysts and investors. The company raised its financial guidance for the second half of the year by a variety of measures, including free cash flow between $700 million and $900 million, up from guidance of $300 million to $500 million previously.
Sievert said the growth took place despite COVID-19 creating a “slower switching environment” for customers who might otherwise look to jump ship from other wireless companies.
T-Mobile’s continued growth follows the company’s $26.5 billion merger with Sprint, which was completed in April after a lengthy legal battle and extended regulatory review . The company is looking to the ongoing rollout of its 5G wireless network and the launch of the iPhone 12 to fuel further growth in its business.

Following the completion of the Sprint merger, the newly combined T-Mobile claimed the position of the number two wireless company in the country , with 98.3 million customers at the time, ahead of AT&T and behind Verizon.
AT&T reported a total of more than 94 million postpaid and prepaid wireless subscribers as of the end of the third quarter, which T-Mobile has described as a comparable number, but this is a subject of debate between the companies, and it’s tricky to make an apples-to-apples comparison based on the numbers they release.
The company launched its revamped TVision service on Nov. 1, following the conclusion of the third quarter, so results from the new offering aren’t included in this earnings report. Sievert told GeekWire last week that he doesn’t expect the new service to be a major source of profits for the company.