Why Leap Wireless Shares Jumped

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Leap Wireless (Nasdaq: LEAP  ) jumped by as much as 13% today after the company posted better-than-expected earnings.

So what: Service revenue in the third quarter was $722 million, with operating income of $81.4 million. After everything was said and done, Leap posted net income of $26.9 million, or $0.32 per share. That was a pleasant surprise for investors, who were expecting a $0.70-per-share loss.

Now what: Full-year outlook calls for capital expenditures of $450 million to $470 million, including spending to deploy its LTE network. At the same time, Leap also said it was considering alternatives to offer LTE service to customers within its reach, aiming to cover approximately 21 million customers by the end of 2012. Some of these cost-effective alternatives could include deploying facilities-based coverage or partnerships and joint ventures.

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