For T-Mobile It’s a September to Remember
T-Mobile is on pace to best its second-quarter subscriber additions, and it looks like an increasingly attractive acquisition target.
What a difference 12 days can make for T-Mobile US.
Speaking last Friday at an investor conference, Chief Executive John Legere said the wireless carrier had already surpassed the 2.1 million net subscriber additions it posted in the second quarter with 12 days left in the third. Its net additions for postpaid customers and postpaid phone subscribers are also on track to exceed second-quarter figures.
The carrier, whose shares have risen 37% over the past year, has been snatching market share, sending the rest of the industry reeling. Shares of Verizon Communications and AT&T have fallen by 10% and 7% over the period, respectively. Sprint’s are down by 35%.
For T-Mobile, as for the rest of its industry, the last 12 days of the quarter are particularly meaningful. For one, September usually brings a stepped-up pace of subscriber activity as people return from summer vacations and school starts. And the retail launch of Apple’s new iPhone is scheduled for this Friday. That should make for a busy final weekend of the quarter in T-Mobile’s retail stores.
Granted, the carrier’s growing subscriber base makes network investment even more important. But Mr. Legere said his company would bid aggressively in a coming government spectrum auction. He noted that cable providers might seek mobile assets as content moves to the Internet. That encouraged the notion that they could target T-Mobile.
For investors, there are still plenty of reasons to ring up T-Mobile.