T-Mobile’s profits and subscriber continue to grow rapidly

As potential buyers begin to circle, T-Mobile continued to attack the U.S. mobile market as if nothing has happened. French ISP and mobile carrier Iliad revealed it has made an $15 billion offer for T-Mobile US, while Sprint and SoftBank prepare to make their acquisition overtures official. Meanwhile, T-Mobile just kept adding new customers. It would have been very difficult for T-Mobile US to repeat its blowout 1st quarter, in which it grew by a staggering 2.4 million customers and basically dominated smartphone growth in the United States. But in Q2 T-Mobile managed to bring in a net total of 1.5 million new subscribers, putting it ahead of all of its three larger competitors.

More consumers signed up for T-Mobile CEO John Legere’s Uncarrier mobile revolution as growth once again exceeded Wall Street’s second-quarter expectations. The wireless carrier swung to a second-quarter profit of $391 million, or 48 cents a share, helped by a 90-cent gain from a spectrum licensing deal with Verizon Wireless. Excluding the item, T-Mobile would have posted a loss. Revenue rose 15.3 percent to $7.19 billion. Wall Street forecast a profit of 8 cents a share on revenue of $7.04 billion. T-Mobile shares reacted modestly to the news, but jumped up 5 percent to $32.52 on a report that French telecommunications provider Iliad is attempting to buy T-Mobile. T-Mobile has been solely focused on customer growth — often to the detriment of its bottom line. The company posted $1.45 billion on an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization basis, in line with Wall Street’s forecast. Its aggressive moves, which the company makes assuming that the new customers would eventually pay off with more revenue and profit, have shaken up the wireless industry, forcing its larger rivals to respond. “We have completely reversed T-Mobile’s trajectory and started a revolution that is changing the rules in wireless,” Legere said in a statement.