Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE:S) Tops Analyst Earnings Estimates, Misses on Revenue

Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE:S) reported an earnings loss of 26 cents per share for last quarter. This presented a wider loss than that seen in the same quarter last year, when the company posted an EPS loss of 10 cents per share, but it came in better than analyst estimates of a 43 cents per share loss.  The wireless network carrier’s earnings included a charge of 13 cents, which was related to its Network Vision and the expected shutdown of its impending Nextel network shutdown. Sprint Nextel also posted revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, falling below an analyst consensus of $8.81 billion but coming in over the $8.33 billion the company brought in during the same quarter last year.

Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE:S) recently announced that Softbank Corp (PINK:SFTBF) had taken an interest in the company, to the tune of 70% ownership in a roughly $20 billion deal. The influx of money couldn’t come at a better time, as the company struggles “to slow the rate at which customers leave, and costs from its deal to buy at least $15.5 billion worth of iPhones over the next several years [which has] added pressure to the company’s bottom line,” writes the Wall Street Journal. “The company lost 456,000 net contract subscribers in the third quarter, compared with losses of 246,000 in the prior quarter and 44,000 a year earlier. The Sprint brand added 410,000 contract customers while the Nextel platform lost 866,000 contract subscribers. The company ended the quarter with 56 million total customers, up 4.8% from a year earlier.”

That said, Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE:S) has, to date, represented tremendous value. The company has returned over 140% since the beginning of the year, with over 65% returned since the end of the second quarter. That is a fair payday for funds like David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital, which upped its ante in Sprint Nextel 6% in the second quarter, and Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors, which boosted its stake in teh company by roughly 34% during the second quarter.