MetroPCS Subscribers Grow Slower in 2Q, Shares Slide

Shares of MetroPCS (NYSE:PCS) tumbled Tuesday morning after the company revealed weaker-than-expected second-quarter sales on softer subscriber growth.

MetroPCS, which calls itself the nations leading provider of no-annual-contracts, unlimited, flat-rate wireless service, said it reported its highest ever EBITDA during the quarter of $357 million, which was up 11% from the year-earlier period.

However, while momentum for no-annual-contracts led to 19% year-over-year growth in subscribers, the company added only 198,810 new customers, which was less than the 248,400 predicted by analysts.

The Richardson, Texas-based wireless carrier posted net income of $84 million, or 23 cents a share, up 6% compared with $80 million, or 22 cents a share. Excluding one-time items the company earned 24 cents a share, just ahead of average analyst estimates of 23 cents in a Thomson Reuters poll.

Revenue for the three months ended June 30 was $1.21 billion, up 19% from $1.01 billion a year ago, narrowly below the Streets view of $1.23 billion.

The companys chief executive, Roger Linquist, said he was pleased with the solid second quarter results, as strong sales of Android smartphones helped offset a seasonably slow quarter.

We are well-positioned to continue to capture our share as the Android platform provides our subscribers with access to thousands of applications and greater access to multimedia and video, Linquist said.

The company raised its forecast on capital spending to a range of $900 million to $1 billion from its earlier view in May between $700 million and $900 million.