Analyst Credits T-Mobile's 5G Progress for Gaining Traction in Corporate Markets, Stock Re-Rated

Benchmark analyst reiterated a Buy rating on T-Mobile US, Inc TMUS with a price target of $197.00.
The T-Mobile stock continues to behave as a relative haven of continuing operational momentum and nascent buyback activity, the analyst highlights in a Tuesday note titled "T-Mobile Continues to Play Ball in Difficult Economy."
The mobile network operator continues progressing rapidly with its 5G capabilities, as conveyed at the 2023 Mobile World Congress, and more effective marketing, including last week's announcement of a partnership with Major League Baseball to create more 5G experiences for fans. (This includes testing this season of an Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) system).
T-Mobile's ARPA and ARPU growth strategy relies on self-selection upselling to Magenta Max rather than naked pricing.
T-Mobile is generating momentum in underpenetrated smaller markets and with corporate customers even as urban market customers become more mindful of the company's 5G network leadership.
TMUS's mega-cap status provides some insulation to the softening consumer and macro headwinds further exacerbated by the SVB black swan event.
Working with Ericsson ERIC, Nokia Corp NOK, Qualcomm Inc QCOM, and Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd SSNLF, T-Mobile completed the first four-carrier aggregation 5G data call on a commercial device.
Combining four channels of mid-band spectrum enabled a 5G pipe delivering peak speeds north of 3.3 Gbps. T-Mobile is now working with vendors on six and soon seven-layer carrier aggregation.
The analyst expects 2.3% service revenue growth to $15.5 billion, with the overall top line, including equipment and leasing, off nearly 2% to $19.8 billion for the March quarter.
Core EBITDA will likely increase by 7.0% to $6.9 billion. He anticipates 1.085 million postpaid net customer additions en route to 2023 full-year additions of 5.38 million within 5.0 million-5.5 million guidance.
Price Action: TMUS shares traded higher by 0.01% at $150.01 on the last check Tuesday.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons