February 1 (Reuters) – T-Mobile US Inc ( TMUS.O ) missed its fourth-quarter earnings forecast on Wednesday, despite adding thousands of wireless subscribers as rivals ramped up holiday season phone deals to lure customers.
Recently, the US wireless carrier has been attracting thousands of wireless subscribers thanks to its smartphone discounts, bundle deals, industry-low plan prices, and 5G advantage as 2020 rolls around. bought out Sprint Corp. for $23 billion
But Verizon ( TN ) and AT&T ( TN ) boosted their phone offerings over the holidays to meet rising demand after the latest iPhone launch, hitting T-Mobile’s horrendous growth.
The operator added 927,000 postpaid phone subscribers in the fourth quarter, the most among its peers.
However, its churn rate, which refers to the percentage of customers who stopped using the company’s services, was also the highest among its competitors at 0.92%. In contrast, Verizon reported a 0.89% decline in monthly phone subscribers, while AT&T reported a 0.84% decline.
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And industry executives hinted at a cooling of growth as demand for phones with video conferencing and premium plans that support telecommuting fades as offices reopen.
T-Mobile is also still growing its enterprise business to catch up with its peers.
It is expected that in 2023 the number of monthly paying subscribers will be between 5 and 5.5 million. of cash compared to 6.4 million additions reported in 2022
Many analysts shrugged off the bleak guidance, noting that the company started the year conservatively before posting beat-and-raises. T-Mobile has tripled its subscriber forecast for 2022.
The company earned $1.18 per share on revenue of $20.27 billion in the fourth quarter, according to Refinitiv data.
Executives did not provide an update on the costs it may incur in January. of a reported data breach that could have exposed $37 million deferred and prepaid accounts.
Adjusted earnings, net of rental income, are expected in 2023. will reach 28.7-29.2 billion
Shares of the Bellevue, Wash.-based company fell 1.6% in premarket trading. This year they have grown by about 7%.
Reporting from Bengaluru by Eva Mathews; Edited by Shinjini Ganguli and Mark Porter
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