Sprint reported a weaker-than-anticipated fiscal fourth quarter earnings, owing to a drop in the number of new subscribers.
In the three months ended March, the the telecom company incurred a loss of 4 cents per share which is worse than the 1 cent loss that analysts were expecting (according to IBES data from Refinitiv). It suffered a net decline 189,000 phone subscribers during the quarter, compared to a net loss of 117,000 expected by analysts (based on FactSet data).
Sprint’s total net operating revenue climbed + 4.4% to $8.44 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter. That was higher than analysts’ estimates of $8.21 billion.
Looking ahead, Sprint said that it predicts earnings to range between $400 million to $500 million over the June quarter. It mentioned a tapering of its capex plans to around $2.9 billion, even as it is gearing to launch 5G networks in nine cities around the U.S. and planning to release a new line-up of 5G-compliant phones over the next few months.
Sprint is awaiting regulatory verdict on the proposed $26 billion merger with rival T-Mobile U.S. Inc. The two companies have extended the deadline for completing the proposed deal to July 29.