Shares in MetroPCS plummeted 11 percent at one point Thursday after an analyst’s downgrade and the unveiling of $40 price plan. Shares were up slightly this morning, trading around $11.77.
Shares in fellow regional no-contract carrier Leap Wireless International were up as well, trading early today at $23.86.
Robert W. Baird & Co yesterday downgraded MetroPCS and Leap to “neutral” from “outperform,” citing intensifying competition and operating risks.
Meanwhile, MetroPCS announced that its $40 plan, which goes on sale tomorrow, will include MetroPCS Unlimited Nationwide service for talk, text and MetroWEB and its flagship $45 plan will now include unlimited e-mail, navigation and social networking applications.
MetroPCS’ $30 and $35 local unlimited plans will include caller ID and call waiting. The company says its $50 plan offers smartphone customers complete HTML Web browsing and enterprise wireless e-mail at “significantly less cost” compared to other carriers’ data packages.
A J.D. Power survey of prepaid service providers showed Metro had dropped from first place year to last place this year. Leap Wireless was second to last while Net10 and TracFone topped the survey, with Boost Mobile in third place. Pali Research analysts said they recognize that surveys are one of many data points to evaluate a company’s service, but they were helpful in identifying the fall of Sprint during the Gary Forsee era and the subsequent rise during the Dan Hesse era. “It is also notable when a company drops from first to worst,” said Pali’s blog.
Metro and Leap are scheduled to release their second-quarter results next Thursday.
