T-Mobile reported another big quarter this morning, maintaining its momentum against larger wireless carriers Verizon and AT&T and wrapping up a tumultuous year in which the nation’s third-largest wireless company again tried unsuccessfully to merge with Sprint, its smaller rival.
The Bellevue-based company added a net total of 1.9 million customers in the fourth quarter, its 19th consecutive quarter with more than 1 million net customer additions. T-Mobile says it now has 72.6 million total customers, after adding a total of more than 5.6 million customers over the past year.
T-Mobile was able to boost its quarterly revenues by 5 percent to more than $10.8 billion. The company posted $2.7 billion in profits in the fourth quarter, up from $390 million a year ago — a huge jump in its bottom line thanks in part to the impact of U.S. tax reform. The company said changes in tax law resulted in a net tax benefit of $2.18 billion in 2017.
John Legere, T-Mobile CEO, said in a statement that the company “made incredible progress in 2017 building out our network and retail footprint to set ourselves up for future growth.”
Quarterly earnings per share were $3.11, eclipsing Wall Street’s expectations of 37 cents a share, but the result included $2.50/share in benefits from tax reform.
The company’s growth has resulted from an aggressive campaign in which the company has branded itself the “Un-carrier,” with new pricing strategies, subscriber benefits and promotions that have forced its rivals to change their own packages and promotions.