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April 26th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda NEW YORK (AP) — The stock of MetroPCS Communications Inc., the country’s fifth-largest cellphone company, plunged Thursday after it reported a 63 percent profit drop in the latest quarter and weak subscriber figures.
The shares fell 74 cents, or 9.3 percent, to $7.20 in afternoon trading after falling a two-year low of $6.79 earlier in the session.
The Dallas-based company said its net income fell to $21 million, or 6 cents per share, in the January-March period from $59.9 million, or 15 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.
It was the lowest first-quarter net income result for the company since 2006, when it was less than a quarter of today’s size. Analysts polled by FactSet expected, on average, earnings of 17 cents per share for the period.
The profit drop was driven by MetroPCS‘s quest to get customers to upgrade to smartphones. It mailed out $30 promotional coupons for new phones in the quarter. Like other phone companies, MetroPCS sells phones at a loss. It also spent more on advertising.
On a call with analysts, CEO Roger Linquist said the company is worried about competition from other carriers, and wants to get its customers upgraded to smartphones before that becomes a serious threat.
Revenue rose 7 percent to $1.28 billion from $1.19 billion a year ago and just short of the analysts’ forecast of $1.29 billion.
MetroPCS provides prepaid, flat-rate wireless service plans with no required contract or credit checks. It operates mainly in cities.
It gained a net 131,654 subscribers in the quarter, the worst result in years for the first quarter, which is normally the company’s strongest. It ended the quarter with 9.5 million customers.
Analyst Mike McCormack at Nomura Securities called the quarter “a big miss” and said he sees “no relief in sight” for MetroPCS and its peer Leap Wireless International Inc., both of which are struggling with the high cost of keeping customers. He also expects T-Mobile USA to renew its effort to target the low end of the market.
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