Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S), the third-largest US wireless carrier, is scheduled to release its third quarter earnings before the market open on Wednesday, October 27, 2010. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report a net loss of 28 cents a share on revenue of $8.03 billion. In the year ago quarter, the company reported a net loss of 17 cents per share on revenue of $8.04 billion.
The company has been steadily losing money and customers amid stiff competition. In the preceding second-quarter, the company's net loss was $760 million, or 25 cents a share, compared to a loss of $384 million, or 13 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. On an adjusted basis, the company posted a second-quarter loss of 15 cents per share in the second quarter. Revenue dropped 1.4% to $8.03 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report a loss of 20 cents per share on revenue of $8.03 billion. Total wireless subscribers by 111,000 in the quarter, driven by Sprint’s best postpaid churn performance ever.S print Nextel served more than 48.1 million customers at the end of the second quarter.
At its last earnings call in July, the company said that it expects to have positive total net wireless subscriber additions during the second half of 2010 and and fewer net postpaid subscriber losses as compared to the first half. The company expects to see sequential improvement in prepaid net adds in the third quarter.
The company is rapidly expanding its 4G footprint and has continued to introduce newer devices. The company has also been able to attract new customers, thanks to cheaper monthly fees for wireless data services like texting and mobile web. Sprint 4G is now available in 55 cities across the country. Since introducing 4G service in 2008, Sprint has launched 15 4G devices, with 11 devices currently available, including phones, USB modems, mobile hotspots and routers. Last quarter Sprint unveiled HTC Evo, the first mobile phone designed to operate on a 4G network. Late in August, Sprintbegan selling Samsung Epic 4G, the only 4G smartphone to offer full slide-out QWERTY keyboard. In September, Sprint announced the upcoming arrival of Samsung Galaxy Tab to its 3G network this fall. In October, Sprint unveiled Dell Inspiron Mini 10, the first dual-mode 3G/4G-embedded netbook and notebook offered in the country by a national wireless carrier.
In terms of stock performance, Sprint shares are up almost 30% since the beginning of the year.
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