T-Mobile, the No.3 U.S. wireless carrier, reported higher-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit as its promotional offers helped add more subscribers.
T-Mobile (TMUS) had a number of promotional offers in the fourth quarter, including a free iPhone 7 offer with eligible trade-in around Black Friday.
Riding on the success of these offers, the company gained market share from rivals Verizon Communications (VZ), AT&T (T), and Sprint (S) in an oversaturated U.S. wireless market.
T-Mobile said in January that it added 933,000 postpaid phone subscribers, or those who pay monthly bills, on a net basis, in the three months ended Dec. 31.
Chatter around a deal between T-Mobile and Sprint resurfaced in December after Masayoshi Son, whose SoftBank Group Corp is a majority shareholder in Sprint, pledged a $50 billion investment in the United States.
Asked last week about a renewed merger bid with T-Mobile, Son said he was keeping his options open about Sprint.
T-Mobile’s total revenue jumped 23.4% to $10.18 billion.
The company’s net income rose to $390 million, or 45 cents per share, for the quarter from $297 million, or 34 cents per share, a year earlier.
Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 30 cents per share and revenue of $9.84 billion for the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.