T-Mobile Adds More Subscribers Than Rivals in First Quarter

T-Mobile is beginning to see results from its aggressive pricing strategies, adding more monthly subscribers in its first quarter than rivals AT&T, Verizon and Sprint.

The wireless carrier brought in more than 1.3 million postpaid subscribers in its first quarter, which ended March 31, surpassing analyst expectations for growth.

Investors responded positively to T-Mobile’s growth, which has been fueled by the carrier’s aggressive bids to win customers through cheaper plans and offers to reimburse people for the fees they incurred for switching to T-Mobile. The stock rose to $31.66, up more than 8 percent, in trading before the market opened.

“A year ago, I promised that we would bring change to what I called this arrogant U.S. wireless industry,” T-Mobile President and Chief Executive John Legere said in a statement. “We are delivering on that promise.”

Revenue for the first quarter rose by 47 percent to nearly $6.9 billion, principally due to the inclusion of MetroPCS in the results. Sales of smartphones rose to a record 6.9 million in the quarter.

However, earnings were driven down by a bid to grab new customers. T-Mobile reported a loss of $151 million for the quarter, or 19 cents a share, compared with a net income of $107 million, or 20 cents a share, during the same period a year ago.

T-Mobile said it expects its 2014 pre-tax earnings to fall in the range of $5.6 billion to $5.8 billion.

Correction: This post has been updated to correct net income and loss figures for the quarter compared to a year earlier.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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