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Sprint (S) Incurs Wider-than-Expected Q4 Loss, Revenues Top

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Sprint Corp. (S - Free Report) reported mixed financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016. Net loss was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate while total revenue was well above the mark.

Quarterly net loss was $283 million or 7 cents per share compared with a net loss of $554 million or 14 cent per share in the year-ago quarter. However, fourth-quarter net loss per share of 7 cents was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 4 cents.

Quarterly total revenue came in at $8,539 million, up 5.8% year over year and substantially above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7,966 million. Service revenues were $6,116 million, down 7% while Equipment revenues totaled $2,423 million, up a substantial 61.9%.

Operating expenses were $8,069 million, almost flat year over year. Operating income was $470 million compared with a meagre $8 million in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA improved 24.2% year over year to $2,680 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 43.8% compared with 32.8% in the year-ago quarter.  

Cash Flow

In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016, Sprint generated $1,268 million of cash from operations compared with $1,294 million in the prior-year quarter. Quarterly free cash flow was $394 million compared with a mere $3 million in the prior-year quarter.

Liquidity

At the end of fiscal 2016, Sprint had $8,314 million of cash and marketable securities compared with $2,641 million at the end of fiscal 2015. Total debt outstanding, at the end of 2016 was $39,654 million compared with $33,958 million at the end of fiscal 2015. At fiscal 2016 end, the debt-to-capitalization ratio was 0.65 compared with 0.60 at the end of fiscal 2015.

Wireless Segment

Total segment revenue was $8,167 million, up 6.7% year over year. Postpaid revenues totaled $4,493 million, down 6.3%. Prepaid revenues were $1,067 million, down 11.3%. Wholesale revenues were $184 million, up 18.7%. Equipment revenues totaled $2,423 million, up a substantial 61.9%.

Wireline Segment

Segment revenues were $480 million, down 14.6% year over year. Voice revenues totaled $143 million, down 26.3%. Data revenues were $39 million, up 5.4%. Internet revenues were $276 million, down 12.7%. Other revenues were $22 million, up 46.6% year over year.

Subscribers Statistics

In the reported quarter, Sprint lost 118,000 postpaid subscribers but gained 125,000 wholesale and 180,000 prepaid customers. As of Mar 31, 2017, Sprint had 59.702 million wireless customers, up 1.5% year over year. This includes 31.576 million postpaid, 11.992 million prepaid and 16.134 million wholesale customers.

Quarterly total retail postpaid churn rate was 1.75%, up 1.7% year over year. Total retail prepaid churn rate was 4.99%, down 11.7% year over year. Total retail postpaid ARPU (average revenue per user) was $47.34, down 8.4% year over year. Total retail pretpaid ARPU was $30.08, up 8.5% year over year.

Sprint Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

Sprint Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Sprint Corporation Quote

Outlook

Sprint expects fiscal 2017 adjusted EBITDA of $10.7 billion - $11.2 billion and operating income of $2 billion - $2.5 billion. Capital expenditures will be approximately $3.5 billion - $4 billion.

This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock faces fierce competition in the U.S. wireless market from the likes of Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ - Free Report) , AT&T Inc. (T - Free Report) and T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS - Free Report) . You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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