Sprint beats by $0.10, reports revs in-line; raises profit guidance (7.98)
- Reports Q1 (Jun) earnings of $0.05 per share, $0.10 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.05); revenues rose 1.8% year/year to $8.16 bln vs the $8.14 bln Capital IQ Consensus, its fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth, and 88,000 postpaid phone net additions, its eighth consecutive quarter of net additions. Postpaid phone gross additions also grew year-over-year for the sixth consecutive quarter and were the highest first-quarter result in five years. "Sprint reached an important milestone this quarter by returning to profitability for the first time in three years," said Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure. "This represents the progress of a turnaround journey that has delivered improvements in postpaid phone and prepaid customer growth, a return to top-line growth, and a significantly transformed cost structure."
- Sprint continued to make progress on its multiyear plan to transform the way it does business and improve its cost structure. The company delivered nearly $370 million of combined year-over-year reductions in cost of services and SG&A expenses in the quarter, bringing the total reduction during the last nine quarters to nearly $4 billion. The ongoing cost-reduction program contributed to a return to profitability this quarter, as the company reported net income for the first time in three years. Excluding the after-tax benefit of non-recurring items in the quarter, Sprint would have reported net income of more than $150 million, demonstrating the improved underlying trends of the business. Sprint expects an additional $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion of year-over-year net reductions in cost of services and SG&A expenses in fiscal year 2017. Although the gross reductions are expected to be higher, the company plans to reinvest some of the savings into future growth initiatives.
- The company is increasing the low end of its previous Adjusted EBITDA* expectations and now expects $10.8 billion to $11.2 billion for fiscal year 2017. The previous expectation was $10.7 billion to $11.2 billion. The company is increasing the low end of its previous operating income expectations and now expects operating income of $2.1 billion to $2.5 billion. The previous expectation was $2 billion to $2.5 billion. The company continues to expect cash capital expenditures, excluding devices leased through indirect channels, of $3.5 billion to $4 billion.