T-Mobile forecasts upbeat annual subscriber growth on higher premium bundle demand
Jan 29 (Reuters) - T-Mobile (TMUS.O), opens new tab forecast annual wireless subscriber growth above Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, after holiday-quarter promotions and deals boosted demand for its affordable premium 5G plans with streaming bundles.
The company expects postpaid net customer additions to be between 5.5 million and 6 million in full-year 2025, compared with Wall Street's expectation of 2.7 million, according to FactSet.
T-Mobile's Go5G Next and Go5G Plus have resonated with customers as they bundle high-speed internet with popular services such as Netflix and Apple TV+.
This led to industry-leading postpaid phone net additions of 903,000 in the fourth quarter, beating a FactSet estimate of 858,500 additions.
Black Friday deals and the launch of the AI-powered iPhone series further boosted demand for American wireless carriers, driving increased customer activity in the last three months of 2024.
The company has expanded its customer base by improving coverage and targeting smaller markets and rural areas. T-Mobile is offering fixed wireless access as an alternative internet solution in regions where fiber optic infrastructure is either sparse or unavailable.
T-Mobile's total revenue for the three months to December stood at $21.87 billion, above analysts' estimate of $21.31 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
an hour ago
- NBC News
JPMorgan Chase unveils new Sapphire Reserve card perks and $795 annual fee
JPMorgan Chase is betting that a long list of new perks will keep affluent Americans hooked on its Sapphire Reserve card, despite a hefty bump in its annual fee. The bank on Tuesday unveiled an update to its premium credit card, which will now carry a $795 annual fee. That is a 45% jump from its previous level and the card issuer's largest price increase for the Sapphire since its 2016 launch. But JPMorgan says users will now get more than $2,700 in annual benefits when the updated card launches on Monday. That includes most of its previous benefits, along with new ones tied to how customers earn and spend points on travel and dining. For instance, the bank is touting a new redemption program that doubles the value of points used for select travel offers and a new $500 annual credit at its collection of hotels and resorts. There is also a new $300 dining credit at restaurants that are part of the Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables network, a $300 credit for purchases at StubHub or Viagogo, and free subscriptions to Apple TV+ and Apple Music, worth $250 per year, JPMorgan said. Customers who spend at least $75,000 annually on their cards unlock other perks, including top-tier status at Southwest Airlines and IHG Hotels and Resorts. JPMorgan also introduced a new Sapphire Reserve business card with a $795 annual fee and similar perks as the consumer card, along with credits for ZipRecruiter and Google Workspace. That positions the bank squarely against American Express, which has had a business version of its comparable Platinum card for decades. Upscale ambitions JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, shook up the card industry with the launch of the Sapphire Reserve almost a decade ago. The bank cribbed from a playbook established by AmEx by bundling perks around travel and dining, and later opened its own network of luxurious airport lounges. But JPMorgan introduced its premium card with signing bonuses and credits that almost made getting one a financial no-brainer, forcing other issuers to boost their card offers in response. Now, with JPMorgan heading upmarket with the Sapphire Reserve, the bank is at risk of alienating customers who may opt to downgrade to a Sapphire Preferred card or offerings from AmEx or Capital One, said senior Bankrate analyst Ted Rossman. 'When the Sapphire Reserve first came out, it was a solid middle-class play that offered champagne travel on a beer budget,' Rossman said. 'These premium cards are going more luxury, and I wonder if the $800 fees are becoming too much for some to stomach.' That could be by design, according to Rossman. AmEx and Capital One have had to rein in access to airport lounges because of overcrowding, and some users have complained that their premium cards no longer feel as special. Whether cards like the Sapphire Reserve still make sense at $795 in annual fees depends on if customers will take advantage of enough of the new perks, Rossman said. Later this year, AmEx will introduce updates to its Platinum cards, which currently have a $695 annual fee. AmEx will likely also raise its annual fee while adding more perks, Rossman said. 'These high-rate cards are not for everyone, that's for sure,' said KBW analyst Sanjay Sakhrani. But AmEx and JPMorgan have pursued a subscription-type business model where an ever-rising level of perks make a compelling value proposition for certain customers, he said. 'They feel that it creates a flywheel around keeping people engaged and spending in the system,' Sakhrani said. 'Even at $800 in annual fees, I don't think just anyone can provide the breadth of perks that you get on those cards.'
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
The return of stolen crypto can be a taxing event
June 17, 2025 - Digital assets have been subject to some of the largest thefts in history. In fact, the largest crypto theft — in connection with the February 2025 $1.5 billion Bybit hack — dwarfs the Guinness Book of World Records' entry for the largest bank robbery of $282 million. See "Crypto's biggest hacks and heists after $1.5 billion theft from Bybit," Reuters, Feb. 24, 2025. Sometimes, however, all is not lost and at least some portion may be recovered and available for restitution or return to victims. While any recovery may be cause for celebration, unforeseen or unintended tax consequences can put a damper on the festivities. The tax due on the recovery of stolen crypto can depend upon several factors, including any deductions taken in connection with the initial theft, the type of property returned and intervening changes to its value, and other taxpayer circumstances. Yesterday's hacks; tomorrow's recoveries (and taxes) In the past five years, an estimated $189 billion in total cryptocurrency value was reportedly transferred to illicit addresses, and there are undoubtedly more thefts to come. See "2025 Crypto Crime Trends: Illicit Volumes Portend Record Year as On-Chain Crime Becomes Increasingly Diverse and Professionalized," Jan. 15, 2025. Over 300 hacking incidents were reported in 2024 alone. See id., "$2.2 Billion Stolen from Crypto Platforms in 2024, but Hacked Volumes Stagnate Toward Year-End as DPRK Slows Activity Post-July," Dec. 19, 2024. And during the first quarter of 2025, over $1.63 billion in crypto was lost to hacks. See "Crypto crooks targeted $244M in May, hack losses down 40% — PeckShield," CoinTelegraph, June 1, 2025. When cryptocurrency is stolen, recovery rates vary significantly on a case-by-case basis, but the silver lining is an industry average recovery rate of approximately 70%. See "Most Legitimate Crypto Recovery Service in 2025," TheChain, June 6, 2025. Crypto investors may have several paths to recover their stolen crypto. For example, where the government has recovered stolen crypto, investors have been provided the opportunity to seek restitution as a victim under the Crime Victims' Rights Act or recover their stolen assets through proceedings ancillary to the criminal forfeiture proceedings. Whether an investor receives the actual assets that were taken, substitute property, or their cash liquidation value (or anything at all), may depend upon such factors as whether the assets were laundered, ownership of the assets, and the crimes for which the hackers are charged. Although such factors are mostly outside the control of the investor, the form of distribution has a significant impact on the taxes owed. As discussed below, understanding the potential form of recovery should inform an investor's tax position at the time of the loss (and whether they should take a deduction at all in the year that the assets are stolen). You may or may not want to claim a crypto theft tax loss In most cases, when investment property such as cryptocurrency is stolen, the owner of that cryptocurrency can claim an ordinary (as opposed to capital) deduction for the loss. This deduction is equal to the taxpayer's adjusted basis in the property. For cryptocurrency, the adjusted basis is generally the amount paid for it, or if the cryptocurrency was directly mined or won by the taxpayer, the value included in the taxpayer's income tax return when the taxpayer received the cryptocurrency. For example, say an individual bought five Bitcoin in 2020 for $10,000 each, the taxpayer would have a total basis in those five Bitcoin of $50,000. If the Bitcoin were stolen in 2022, when the value of a single Bitcoin equaled $40,000, the taxpayer would only be entitled to deduct the basis in the stolen Bitcoin, or $50,000 (even though the total value is $200,000). This $50,000 deduction would be available to offset income taxes the taxpayer would otherwise owe. However, the value of the theft deduction can potentially be very small in comparison to the potential value the investor may eventually recover, which is especially the case for early-stage crypto investors. Take the previous example: assume the taxpayer claimed a $50,000 taxable deduction in 2022. If the Bitcoin were returned to the taxpayer in 2025 (when Bitcoin is valued at around $100,000), the taxpayer would owe taxes on $500,000 of ordinary income (regardless of whether the taxpayer sells the Bitcoin in 2025). This is because once a loss for theft is claimed on property for tax purposes, any subsequent recovery of that property is treated as a taxable gain. And, the amount of such gain is added to the basis of that property to offset future gains upon disposition. On the other hand, if the taxpayer did not claim a loss in 2022, he or she could have potentially avoided any tax in 2025 when the cryptocurrency was returned. The form of recovery matters (even if a deduction was not taken at the time of theft) If cryptocurrency is returned to its rightful owner in its original form, and the owner didn't previously take a theft deduction for that cryptocurrency, then the return is a non-taxable event. If, however, the cryptocurrency is returned to the owner in the form of its cash value (and the owner did not take a previous theft deduction), this recovery still may result in taxable income to the owner. Using our previous example, assume the investor bought five Bitcoin in 2020 at a price of $10,000 each, the Bitcoin were stolen in 2022, and the government sends the taxpayer $500,000 in 2025 as recovery for the five stolen Bitcoin. Here, the investor would have taxable income on the cash received ($500,000) minus the taxpayer's basis in the cryptocurrency ($50,000), meaning the investor would have to pay taxes on $450,000 of capital gains in 2025. This sudden tax bill from recovered cash can be disadvantageous for multiple reasons. First, most obviously, the tax could easily eat away a substantial portion of the cash recovery received. Second, even if the investor wanted to realize cash from their cryptocurrency, doing so all at once may result in a higher tax bill than if the investor sold the cryptocurrency over a matter of years. In other words, the investor could have potentially reduced his or her total tax bill by spreading out their taxable income from recovered cryptocurrency by selling it in different years. Third, individuals generally pay state income taxes on realized gains from cryptocurrency based on their state of residence when the gain is realized. If an individual lives in a high-tax state at the time they recover previously stolen cryptocurrency, the taxpayer may have an opportunity to move to a lower-tax state before ultimately selling the cryptocurrency and realizing gain from it. If the recovery is in the form of cash, however, the owner will recognize all the gain in their current state of residence. Conclusion Crypto thefts are bound to increase in the future with the expansion of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and the increasing sophistication and technology of hackers, especially if Bitcoin and other digital assets continue their growth trajectory. Before taking any tax position at the time of loss, investors should consider their potential right to participate in distributions if assets are recovered in the future and the tax implications under possible scenarios. Though much of the process for recovery and participation in recovered assets is beyond investors' control, tax liability resulting from the recovery of assets may be anticipated and possibly deferred or reduced with advanced planning and analysis. Joseph Cioffi is a regular contributing columnist on consumer and commercial financing for Reuters Legal News and Westlaw Today.
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Denmark willing to invest more in Greenland, Danish PM says
COPENHAGEN, June 17 (Reuters) - Denmark is willing to invest more in Greenland and grant the Arctic island greater authority over its foreign policy affairs, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Tuesday. "We are willing to invest more in the development of the Greenlandic society," Frederiksen said in a joint press conference with her Greenlandic and Faroese counterpart on the Faroe Islands, pointing to critical infrastructure and business development. "This could be ports, and it could be another type of critical infrastructure that both has a defence and military perspective, but which can also be used, for example, in relation to tourism or raw materials extraction," she said.
