T-Mobile posts highest Q2 subscriber adds in eight years, beating estimates

(Reuters) – T-Mobile US (NASDAQ:) topped Wall Street expectations for quarterly wireless subscriber additions on Thursday, as cost-conscious customers flocked to its cheaper plans and superior 5G services in a highly competitive market.

The carrier has been taking the lion’s share of subscribers in the last three quarters, thanks to its discounted bundles and edge over rivals in 5G after its $23 billion buyout of Sprint in 2020.

The U.S. wireless carrier said it added 760,000 postpaid phone subscribers – its highest second-quarter additions in eight years. The figure was also higher than additions posted by rivals AT&T (NYSE:) and Verizon (NYSE:) and beat expectations of 708,800, according to Visible Alpha.

Analysts are upbeat on the stock and believe it is one of the better performing companies, which should be able to benefit from outsized growth through share gains in a heavily saturated sector.

Total revenue for the quarter fell 2.6% to $19.20 billion, missing analysts’ estimate of $19.31 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

T-Mobile’s churn rate, which refers to the percentage of customers who stopped using the company’s services, was better than its rivals at 0.77%. By contrast, Verizon reported a churn of 0.83% for monthly phone subscribers, while AT&T’s came in at 0.79%.