T-Mobile Shares Rise on Q1 Earnings Beat and Stronger Guidance

T-Mobile reported strong Q1 2026 results on April 28, delivering an earnings beat that drove shares up approximately 5.3% as investors embraced the company's raised full-year guidance. Total service revenue rose 11% year-over-year to $18.8 billion, with postpaid service revenue surging 15% to $15.6 billion — metrics that underscore TMUS's continued market share gains against AT&T and Verizon. Core Adjusted EBITDA grew 12% to $9.2 billion, and the company expanded its stockholder return authorization to $18.2 billion for 2026.

The raised 2026 guidance was the headline: T-Mobile bumped its postpaid net account additions target to 950,000–1.05 million (from 900,000–1.0 million) and raised its Core Adjusted EBITDA outlook to $37.1–$37.5 billion. Adjusted Free Cash Flow guidance was also lifted to $18.1–$18.7 billion, providing a strong capital return foundation. The company added 217,000 postpaid net accounts in Q1, bringing its total postpaid accounts to 34.4 million — up 6% year-over-year — as its 5G network expansion continues to attract post-paid customers from legacy carriers.

GAAP diluted EPS of $2.27 declined 12% year-over-year, but this was largely attributable to $0.43 per share in UScellular merger-related costs and accelerated depreciation from network integration — non-recurring charges that mask the underlying earnings power improvement. With TMUS generating industry-leading subscriber growth and margin expansion simultaneously, the stock has emerged as one of the cleaner growth-plus-value stories in large-cap telecom.

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