T-Mobile capped a big year with $8.15 billion in fourth-quarter revenue, up 19.4 percent, as the company pulled itself into the black with profit of $101 million, or 12 cents a share.
That beat analysts’ expectations on both the top and bottom lines. By comparison, the Bellevue, Wash.-based carrier had posted revenue of $6.8 billion and a quarterly loss of 3 cents a share in the same period a year ago.
The strong results came as the company added 2.1 million net customers for the quarter, bringing its total net additions for the year to 8.3 million, as previously disclosed by T-Mobile.
John Legere, the company’s CEO, calls it “the best year of growth in the company’s history.” T-Mobile remains the fourth-largest U.S. wireless carrier, but the company has been steadily closing the gap against No. 3 Sprint, and Legere has predicted that T-Mobile will soon overtake its larger rival. T-Mobile has just over 55 million total customers, compared to nearly 56 million for Sprint.
“We’re rooting for Sprint,” said Legere during the company’s conference call, talking about the competitive battle against AT&T and Verizon, the largest U.S. wireless carriers. “We need Sprint to take a few shots at the big guys.”
The company has added customers through a series of “Un-carrier” initiatives, including shifting customers away from the long-term contracts that have defined the wireless industry, offering early upgrades, free international data roaming, data rollover and paying early termination fees for people who switch.
T-Mobile’s 4G LTE network is known for good coverage in urban areas, but has continued to suffer from gaps in other parts of the country. The company said today that its 4G LTE network covered areas with population of 265 million people at the end of 2014, ahead of its original target of 250 million people, and it’s targeting total population coverage of 300 million people by the end of this year.
Here’s a live video stream of T-Mobile’s earnings conference call.
