New York, Feb 12, 2026, 11:28 ET — Regular session
- TMUS shares rose in late-morning trade after T-Mobile raised longer-term targets and flagged faster buybacks.
- Investors are weighing softer-than-expected postpaid phone adds against higher cash flow goals.
- A proposed euro-denominated bond offering is also on the radar.
T-Mobile US (TMUS.O) shares rose 4.3% to $218.60 on Thursday, rebounding from an early dip that briefly took the stock down to about $209. Verizon and AT&T were also higher, but lagged the move.
The rally matters because telecom investors tend to pay up for steady cash generation. A bigger long-range cash forecast can quickly change the buyback math, and buybacks have been a central part of the equity story across U.S. wireless.
It also lands at a touchy moment for the sector. Promotions remain heavy, and Wall Street has been quick to punish any sign that subscriber momentum is slowing or that carriers are buying growth the hard way.
On Wednesday, T-Mobile raised parts of its multi-year plan. It forecast 2027 service revenue of $80.5 billion to $81.5 billion and adjusted free cash flow of $19.5 billion to $20.5 billion, and it said it now expects to roughly double first-quarter share repurchases to as much as $5.0 billion. (T-Mobile)
The latest quarter was mixed. T-Mobile reported 962,000 postpaid phone net customer additions in the fourth quarter, with service revenue of $18.7 billion and net income of $2.1 billion, or $1.88 a share, after severance costs tied to a workforce program. Postpaid phone churn — the share of customers who leave — rose to 1.02%, and adjusted free cash flow, a non-GAAP cash measure, was $4.2 billion. (Business Wire)
Management is also changing what it emphasizes. T-Mobile told Reuters it will stop reporting postpaid phone subscriber additions starting this quarter and focus more on account growth and ARPA, or average revenue per account; CEO Srini Gopalan said, “Our ARPA has grown by 13% since 2020.” MoffettNathanson senior analyst Craig Moffett warned that even if accounts are the better metric, investors tend to prefer fuller disclosure — “more is more,” he said — while CFO Peter Osvaldik said new accounts are still taking premium plans at about a 60% rate. (Reuters)
Thursday brought another headline: T-Mobile USA said it plans a registered public offering of euro-denominated senior notes, with proceeds for general corporate purposes that may include share repurchases, dividends and refinancing. (Business Wire)
The competitive picture remains straightforward. T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T are fighting for switchers, and small changes in churn or promotion intensity can swing the numbers fast. That is why investors keep coming back to cash flow and pricing discipline, not just adds.
But the setup can still break the other way. If churn keeps creeping up or rivals lean harder into discounts, ARPA growth can stall and the higher cash targets start to look ambitious; debt-market conditions could also affect how cheaply the company can fund itself as it presses buybacks.
Next up, traders will look for terms and pricing on the euro note sale and for signs T-Mobile is following through on the stepped-up repurchase pace through the March quarter. The first set of results under the new disclosure approach will also draw scrutiny.
