A $1.5 Billion Buyback Is Just the Start for T-Mobile

T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) announced a $1.5 billion buyback on Wednesday morning. That $1.5 billion is well below what many analysts were expecting after T-Mobile's bid for Sprint fell through. Analysts' estimates for the buyback reached as high as $17 billion over three years. The current $1.5 billion authorization expires at the end of next year.

But CFO Braxton Carter expects that $1.5 billion won't make it to the end of next year. T-Mobile is being very conservative with its authorization as it simply tests the waters. Carter expects T-Mobile to repurchase between 2% and 3% of shares outstanding with the authorization.

In that same regard, COO Mike Sievert says management's focus is now on unlocking the value it accrued over the last five years of growth. That means a larger focus on free cash flow and capital returns, although there's not much interest in a dividend right now.

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Source: Fool.com