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T-Mobile Is Giving Customers Stock In the Company (cnn.com)
T-Mobile is going to great lengths to lure customers. On Monday, the United States' third-largest wireless carrier announced that it will give one share of T-Mobile stock to millions of customers. These customers, the company added, will get a chance to earn more stocks if they are able to refer friends and make them switch over. CNN reports: The company isn't issuing new stock, so the program won't dilute existing shareholder value. T-Mobile will buy shares from the open market and give them to customers. T-Mobile estimated about 1 million shares in its SEC filing, but Legere says he wants "millions and millions" of customers to participate. "I'm gonna thank you like you've never been thanked before," Legere said during an event in New York. The new "Stock Up" promotion is part of T-Mobile's Un-carrier marketing strategy, which strives to give customers more flexibility on data usage. In the past, the company has offered promotions for video and music streaming, roll-over data plans and international roaming.
So they are essentially turning into a pseudo-coop. Companies whose customers are shareholders tend to have reduced conflicts of interest. This is good for all involved. The non-customer shareholders will also benefit from a more valuable company. As of right now, the stock is down 1.28% for the day. Normally, a share buy-back causes prices to inch up... I wonder why investors are behaving strangely.