(Reuters) -Wireless carrier T-Mobile US Inc missed Wall Street estimates for first-quarter revenue and wireless subscriber additions on Thursday, weighed down by intense competition and consumers postponing upgrades to their plans.
High inflation and macro economic challenges have forced consumers to cut back spending even as rivals undercut each other with cheaper and bundled offerings, leading to customer churn at top wireless carriers in a subdued market.
T-Mobile’s total revenue in the quarter ended March fell 2.4% to $19.63 billion, missing analysts’ estimate of $19.82 billion, according to Refinitiv, sending its shares down 2.6% in extended trading.
T-Mobile added 538,000 monthly bill-paying phone subscribers in the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectation of 547,800 net additions, according to FactSet. The company added 927,000 in the December quarter.
T-Mobile, however, raised its full-year forecast for wireless subscriber growth.
It now expects wireless subscriber net additions between 5.3 million and 5.7 million in the year through December, compared with its earlier forecast of 5.0 million to 5.5 million.
Analysts and investors generally watch wireless subscriber figures closely as those customers pay a recurring monthly bill, making them valuable to the carriers.
Rival carriers AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc, which earlier reported quarterly earnings, also missed revenue estimates for the March quarter, underpinning the pinch that telecom firms have felt this year from a slowdown in consumer spending.
Verizon lost 127,000 net monthly bill-paying phone subscribers in the quarter.
T-Mobile earned $1.58 per share on an adjusted basis in the first quarter, beating analysts’ estimate of $1.48, according to Refinitiv.
(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
