The latest quarter was the 16th in a row that the Bellevue-based wireless carrier gained more than 1 million customers.
T-Mobile US added 1.1 million customers during the first quarter, the 16th quarter in a row that the Bellevue-based wireless carrier gained more than 1 million customers.
The company’s financial results released Monday gave T-Mobile CEO John Legere another opportunity to rip into rival Verizon as he touted T-Mobile’s gains against Verizon’s loss of subscribers.
The outspoken Legere called Verizon’s first-quarter earnings, which were released last week and showed the No. 1 carrier lost 289,000 phone customers, a “disaster.”
“That’s really gotta be embarrassing after all that mic-dropping,” Legere said on T-Mobile’s earnings conference call, referencing a recent Verizon commercial that showed a celebrity dropping a mic on its competition.
Most Read Business Stories
T-Mobile’s first-quarter subscriber gain included 798,000 postpaid phone customers — considered the most valuable because there is less churn in this group compared with prepaid customers — and brought T-Mobile’s total to 72.6 million customers.
The wireless company’s customer growth has been bolstered by its “un-carrier” promotions, which have spurred customers to defect from other carriers. T-Mobile has offered various perks, ranging from unlimited data plans to free pizza to attract subscribers.
The company recently moved to a one-for-all plan, called T-Mobile One, which offers unlimited data.
T-Mobile’s $698 million first-quarter profit, up 46 percent from a year ago, beat expectations. Analysts expected the company to report earnings of 35 cents a share. T-Mobile posted more than double that at 80 cents a share.
The company slightly missed analysts’ revenue expectations. T-Mobile reported a revenue increase of 11 percent to $9.55 billion for the quarter, compared with expectations for $9.62 billion.
T-Mobile’s stock price dropped less than 1 percent to $65.42 in after-hours trading Monday after climbing 1.9 percent to $65.93 in the regular session.
T-Mobile executives touted the company’s recent results in the federal spectrum auction, during which T-Mobile came out on top, bidding $8 billion for increased spectrum.
That will allow the company to expand its network to every corner of the country, Legere said Monday. T-Mobile will begin making use of that capacity this year, he said.
Legere also slammed the company’s competitors for reaching out into new industries — such as AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV — while T-Mobile stays focused on wireless.
“Let’s be clear,” he said. “They’re not diversifying; they’re dying.”
The company also announced it would open 3,000 retail stores this year, including 1,500 T-Mobile stores and 1,500 discount carrier MetroPCS stores.
T-Mobile and Sprint, meanwhile, will be the source of Wall Street speculation for months to come. Some analysts expect the two carriers to merge in a more lenient regulatory climate.
The carriers had considered combining nearly three years ago but called it off after federal regulators signaled consolidation concerns.