T-Mobile reports another strong quarter as it becomes known as "The 5G Company"

It was another outstanding quarterly earnings report for the nation's second largest wireless carrier, T-Mobile. The company reported industry leading net customer additions that more than doubled from 649,000 during Q1 of 2020 to this year's 1.36 million. An industry leading 773,000 postpaid phone net additions were calculated for the three month period this year from January through March compared to the 452,000 added during the same period last year.

Overall, T-Mobile has 103.4 million subscribers as of the end of the first quarter compared to the 68.5 million it counted a year ago. Of course, the merger with Sprint helped bump those numbers higher as 20% of Sprint customers have been moved to the T-Mobile network and half of the traffic generated by Sprint customers is now carried on the T-Mobile network. CEO Mike Sievert stated that the carrier is providing 5G service to 140 million people and expects to cover 200 million by the end of the year.

In a statement, Sievert said, "T-Mobile puts customers at the center of everything we do by giving them the best network, value and experience all at once – and this quarter’s stellar, industry-leading results prove that they’re noticing. We just keep pushing further ahead of the competition. Our network leadership is fueling customer momentum, delivering merger synergies and expanding our addressable markets for growth. We have so much confidence that we are raising 2021 guidance just one quarter into the year. Our mission is to be the very best at connecting customers to their world and we’re delivering on it."

Prepaid net customer additions amounted to 151,000 compared to last year's first quarter decline of 128,000. Postpaid phone churn rose from .86 to .98 on an annual basis (no doubt impacted by the merger) and pre-paid churn was 2.78% down from 3.52% during the first quarter of 2020.

For the full year, T-Mobile says that total postpaid net additions will be between 4.4 million and 4.9 million which is up from its previous guidance calling for a gain this year between 4 million and 4.7 million postpaid net additions. The company also raised its forecast of synergies created by the merger from $2.8 billion to $3.1 billion. Sievert said, "We have so much confidence that we are raising 2021 guidance just one quarter into the year."

The executive said, "We've always talked about speeds hitting 400 Mbps plus on average, and that's a target clearly in our sights and one we would hope to get to by the end of this year." During the first quarter, T-Mobile garnered $19.8 billion in revenue with net income of $933 million, down from the $951 million reported during the same time period last year. That works out to earnings of 74 cents per share compared with last year's $1.10.

Over the last 18 months, the number of consumers who consider T-Mobile "The 5G company" have risen by 120%. More importantly, based on real world data from millions of customers, Opensignal calculates that T-Mobile's 5G download data speeds have risen 23% since the beginning of the year while competitors' speeds were unchanged. T-Mobile now delivers 50% faster 5G speeds than Verizon and 30% faster 5G speeds than AT&T.

Ookla says that T-Mobile customers are able to connect to one of the carrier's 5G networks more often, and its fastest 5G signal more often than customers on any other network. If you are a T-Mobile subscriber, check out our list of the carrier's best phones this year.

Breaking down its 5G services, low band Ultra Capacity 5G covers 295 million people, 4 times more than Verizon and double the number covered by AT&T. And T-Mobile's super-fast Ultra Capacity 5G, which takes advantage of the carrier's mmWave, mid-band, and low-band signals, already covers 140 million people with plans to cover 200 million people by the end of 2021. According to the wireless provider, "Ultra Capacity 5G can deliver game-changing performance with broad coverage and fast speeds."

Investors loved the report with the stock soaring $4.39 today or 3.28% to $138.52. A new 52 week high was set earlier in the day at $138.98.