T-Mobile Underscores SpaceX's Starlink's Role In California Wildfire Relief, Closes Record-Breaking Growth Year

After reporting a “greatest growth year ever” as described by its president and CEO, Mike Sievert, T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS highlighted how its Starlink Satellite connectivity aided the victims of California wildfires. The company also boasted about its continuing 5G network dominance in the telecom industry.

What Happened: Despite the devastating effects of California wildfires on public infrastructure, T-Mobile’s network proved remarkably resilient.

CEO Sievert stated during its fourth quarter earnings call that the company activated its innovative Starlink satellite to cellular service on an emergency basis.

This allowed customers in impacted areas to send text messages and receive vital emergency alerts via satellite, even when traditional cell service was disrupted. With the help of TMUS’s advanced self-optimizing technologies, service was restored to 99% of affected customers within days, added Sievert.

Apart from this, T-Mobile had a banner year in 2024, adding more postpaid phone customers than ever before. This marked the third year in a row that the company added over three million, new postpaid phone subscribers.

The company’s focus on premium plans also paid off as 60% of new T-Mobile customers opted for it. This drove the average revenue per account to its highest point in over seven years.

“I promised you that we would not just defend, but we would further extend T-Mobile’s 5G network leadership for the long haul, and that is exactly what we’re doing,” said Sievert.

Why It Matters: “We captured our highest-ever share of industry net once again this year. And in Q4, for the 12th quarter in a row, we led the industry in broadband growth with 428,000 net additions,” added the CEO.

T-Mobile exceeded expectations in its latest quarterly earnings, reporting earnings per share of $2.57 and revenue of $21.87 billion, surpassing analyst estimates on both counts. This strong performance represents a significant increase over last year’s sales from the same quarter of $20.48 billion.

Looking ahead, T-Mobile anticipates continued growth with projected postpaid net customer additions between 5.5 million and 6 million in the next fiscal.

The company also provided strong financial guidance, forecasting core adjusted EBITDA of $33.1 billion to $33.6 billion, net cash from operations of $26.8 billion to $27.5 billion, and adjusted free cash flow of $17.3 billion to $18.0 billion.

Price Action: TMUS shares closed 6.34% higher on Wednesday and advanced by 0.73% in after-hours to $236.86 per share, outpacing the exchange-traded fund tracking the Nasdaq 100 index Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 QQQ, which declined 0.19% to $520.83.

According to the 24 analysts tracked by Benzinga, TMUS has a consensus price target of $228.61 per share with a ‘buy’ rating. The highest target price is $280 and the lowest is $160.

The average price target of $238.33 apiece between Benchmark, RBC Capital, and Wells Fargo implies a 0.62% upside.