T-Mobile released its latest earnings report Tuesday, but some investors were more interested in getting further details about its proposed merger with Sprint.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere, currently in Washington D.C. meeting with the regulators who hold the deal’s fate in their hands, said he is “extremely confident” that the merger with Sprint will be approved.
“My assessment so far is that there is a very good, open mind to review all of the aspects of what we feel is an amazing opportunity for the country,” Legere said on a call with investors.
Legere later said on the call that he can’t pre-judge how decision-makers will look at the deal as the approval process begins. He said regulators have been willing to listen to his pitch, which focuses on the deal improving the wireless industry for customers.
In the first quarter of the year, which ended prior to the announcement of the Sprint merger, T-Mobile added a net of 1.4 million customers. T-Mobile now sits at 74 million customers and has added at least 1 million customers in 20 straight quarters, or approximately five years.
T-Mobile reported earnings per share of 78 cents per share on a record of $10.5 billion in revenue, up close to 9 percent over last year and ahead of analyst expectations of 70 cents per share on $10.36 billion in revenue. T-Mobile stock is up slightly in after-hours trading.
The theme of T-Mobile’s latest earnings release was the five-year anniversary of the company going public in 2013.
“Five years ago, we came together with MetroPCS and wireless has never been the same,” Legere said in a press release. “Becoming a public company was monumental and accelerated our mission to change a stupid, broken, arrogant industry! 2018 started off with a bang, and T-Mobile just delivered industry-leading postpaid phone nets, record high service revenues, and record low postpaid phone churn, and our momentum continues!”
One investor questioned whether the deal would slow down T-Mobile’s aggressive plans to disrupt the wireless industry, aka the Un-carrier moves. Will the combined company keep up with the Un-carrier moves, like shedding wireless contracts, free international roaming and exempting streaming and music services from data usage?
“Hell yes,” Legere answered, though he wouldn’t give a date or details of the next one.
