T-Mobile Lifts 2026 Profit and Cash Flow Outlook as Q3 EPS Jumps 34%

T-Mobile US nudged up its full-year profit and cash flow outlook on Wednesday after a third quarter in which diluted earnings per share rose 34% to $3.22 and postpaid service revenue grew 9%.

The wireless carrier now expects 2026 core adjusted EBITDA of $37.35 billion to $37.45 billion, up at the midpoint from its prior range of $37.1 billion to $37.5 billion, according to the earnings release it filed with an 8-K on Wednesday. It also lifted the midpoint of its adjusted free cash flow forecast to $18.7 billion to $18.8 billion, from $18.4 billion to $18.8 billion.

Accounts and ARPA ahead of plan

T-Mobile added 274,000 postpaid accounts in the quarter, bringing its total to 35.0 million, up 3% from a year earlier. Postpaid average revenue per account rose 4% to $155.73. The company said both account growth and ARPA came in "ahead of original expectations."

Net account additions were down from 396,000 a year earlier. T-Mobile attributed the decline mainly to higher deactivations from broadband-only accounts, which churn more, the temporary impact of its rate plan modernization and a larger account base following the UScellular and Metronet acquisitions. Postpaid account churn rose to 1.09% from 0.97%.

"More families and businesses are choosing T-Mobile, fueling our industry-leading financial growth," CEO Srini Gopalan said in the release. "We have a tremendous growth runway ahead across core wireless, broadband, and smart adjacencies, and we're just getting started."

Profit grows faster than revenue

Total revenue increased 7.4% to $23.6 billion, and service revenue rose 6% to $19.4 billion. Postpaid service revenue climbed to $16.3 billion from $14.9 billion.

Net income jumped 27% to $3.5 billion, while core adjusted EBITDA increased 11% to $9.6 billion.

Cash from operations slipped 2% to $7.3 billion, but capital spending fell 14% to $2.3 billion, lifting adjusted free cash flow 5% to $5.1 billion.

Guidance details

Beyond the EBITDA and free cash flow changes, T-Mobile now expects net cash from operating activities of $28.7 billion to $28.8 billion, compared with $28.4 billion to $28.8 billion before, and cut its expected effective tax rate to 24% to 25% from 25% to 26%.

It kept its forecast for postpaid net account additions at about 1.0 million, the midpoint of its previous range, and capital expenditures at about $10.0 billion.

The company said account growth was partially offset by fiber and UScellular accounts that have fewer customers per account.

Shareholder returns

T-Mobile returned $3.5 billion to stockholders in the quarter, including $2.4 billion of share repurchases and $1.1 billion of dividends. That is part of a stockholder return authorization of up to $18.2 billion through Dec. 31, 2026. Since the program began in the third quarter of 2022, cumulative returns total $58.1 billion, the company said.

Sources

1. T-Mobile US Form 8-K with third-quarter 2026 earnings release (Exhibit 99.1), filed Oct. 28, 2026 (accession 0001283699-26-000128)

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