By Harshita Mary Varghese
(Reuters) – T-Mobile Inc raised its full-year forecast for monthly billable phone subscribers after seeing more customers than expected in the second quarter on strong demand for its discounted unlimited plans that include streaming features.
The company’s shares were up 3.6% at midday Wednesday.
U.S. wireless carriers have been bundling streaming services with high-speed Internet plans in recent months to attract customers in a competitive industry.
T-Mobile said its Go5G Next and Go5G Plus plans, which offer access to Netflix (NASDAQ:) and Apple (NASDAQ:) TV+, as well as premium data options, have resonated well with customers.
“We’re seeing great demand but we also have a lot of room to continue to execute on this same plan,” T-Mobile’s chief financial officer, Peter Oswaldick, told Reuters.
About 30% of T-Mobile’s postpaid subscriber base has chosen the Go5G Next and Go5G Plus plans, Oswaldick said.
The company now expects to add between 5.4 million and 5.7 million subscribers in 2024, compared to its previous forecast of between 5.2 million and 5.6 million.
The company raised prices on several of its older phone plans in May, citing rising costs. The move is expected to push customers to more expensive 5G plans and help the company meet its expectations.
“We made changes (to pricing) this year to keep up with the times, the first time the company has done that in a decade,” said CEO Mike Sievert.
T-Mobile added 777,000 new postpaid phone customers in the second quarter, its highest number ever for the period, beating FactSet estimates of 642,600 new customers.
The growth was also higher than the 148,000 monthly billable wireless subscribers that Verizon (NYSE:) added in the quarter, while AT&T (NYSE:) reported 419,000 additions.
T-Mobile now expects annualized adjusted free cash flow to be between $16.6 billion and $17.0 billion, up from its previous forecast of between $16.4 billion and $16.9 billion.
Its quarterly revenue of $19.77 billion and earnings of $2.49 per share topped LSEG estimates.