sprint vs. t-mobile: which carrier ruled the quarter?
TRANSCRIPT
Sprint vs. T-MobileWhich Carrier Ruled the Quarter?
Key metrics to consider• Postpaid net additions• Average revenue per user (ARPU)• Churn rate• Earnings• Network performance
Sprint’s Financials• Total revenue fell by 6% year
over year, to $8 billion.• Net loss of $585 million, or
$0.15 per share, up from a loss of $765 million in the year-ago quarter.
• Negative free cash flow of $100 million.
• Total revenue grew by 7% year over year, to $7.8 billion.
• Net income of $138 million, or $0.15 per share, up from a loss of $94 million in the year-ago quarter.
• Free cash flow grew to $411 million.
T-Mobile’s Financials
Sprint’s average revenue per user (ARPU) declined by nearly 11%, year over year.
Sprint’s Postpaid ARPU declined
Q3 2014 Q3 20150
20
40
60
80
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rs
T-Mobile’s average revenue per user (ARPU) increased by 2%, year over year.
T-Mobile’s Postpaid ARPU increased
Q3 2014 Q3 20150
16
32
48
64
80
Dolla
rs
• Churn is the rate at which customers leave a carrier.• Both companies have a churn rate of about 1.5%.• Sprint’s Q3 2015 churn rate was the lowest it’s ever been.
Postpaid Churn Rate
Sprint T-Mobile0
1
2
3
Perc
ent o
f cus
tom
ers
Sprint added 553,000 postpaid net additions, while T-Mobile brought in 1.1 million.
Sprint T-Mobile0
500
1,000
1,500
Thou
sand
sTotal postpaid net additions
• During the quarter, the company deployed more two-channel (2x20 MHz) carrier aggregation into 80 markets, which improves capacity and brings higher data speeds.
• In August, RootMetrics said Sprint held the No. 3 spot in overall performance, and earned 55% more No. 1 spots in several categories, compared to last year’s rankings.
Sprint’s network improvements
Image source: RootMetrics.
• T-Mobile now has 300 million 4G LTE points of presence (POPs), completing its 2015 goal several months ahead of schedule.
• The carrier expanded its Wideband LTE to 245 markets, and will hit 260 by the end of the year.
• T-Mobile’s “Extended Range LTE” now covers 175 million POPs in 204 markets, and will reach 350 by the end of the year.
T-Mobile’s network improvements
Image source: RootMetrics.
• Sprint had its first quarter of positive postpaid phone net adds in more than two years.
• Following the quarterly results, Sprint’s parent company, SoftBank, said the carrier would have to cut $2 billion in annual costs.
• The cutbacks will result in thousands of job cuts.
What else happened with Sprint?
• Q3 2015 marked the 10th consecutive quarter of over 1 million net adds for T-Mobile.
• Following the quarterly results, T-Mobile launched its Uncarrier 10 event, adding free video streaming from more than 20 content sources and doubling customers’ high-speed data.
• The carrier also increased its unlimited data price from $80 to $95 per month.
What else happened with T-Mobile?
Image source: T-Mobile.
Which carrier came out on top?
• T-Mobile’s net subscriber growth far outpaces Sprint’s, and has for the past couple of years.
• Sprint’s overall network performance is still ranked slightly ahead of T-Mobile’s, but T-Mobile’s network upgrades could bring the carrier on par with Sprint soon.
• Sprint continues to lose money, while T-Mobile increased its net income in the quarter, year over year.
• T-Mobile’s rapid customer growth, positive net income, and momentum from its Uncarrier events easily gives it the win for this quarter.
Image source: T-Mobile.
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