T-Mobile US is a facilities-based wireless telephone carrier. The company is the result of the merger of Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile U.S. wireless division with small regional wireless carrier MetroPCS on April 30, 2013. T-Mobile acquired Sprint on April 1, 2020 and Ka'ena Corp. (Mint Mobile) on May 2024. The company offers national wireless voice and data services to consumers and businesses in the U.S, and simple no-contract service plans.

Throughout 2024, the stock market has remained in a solid uptrend that has lifted most styles and sizes. With three trading days remaining in October, the S&P 500 was up 22.1% year to date on a capital-appreciation basis. The Nasdaq, which lagged the broad market index for most of the year, is now ahead with a 23.7% gain. And the blue-chip DJIA is up 12.5%, with its deep lag attributable mainly to struggling component stocks including Boeing, Intel, and Nike While the S&P 500's rise across 2024 has been punctuated by some selling jags, the index mainly has been in climbing mode. The S&P's trading year 2024 started with a run from the 4,740s level on January 1 to around 5,250 by the end of March. After a down April, the index climbed from the 5,020s on 5/1/24 to the 5,670s by mid-July. The index made a low in the 5,180s early in August and a higher low around 5,400 early in September. The index mainly has risen since then, hitting its all-time closing high in the 5,860s on 10/18/24. The index has remained above its 50-day simple moving average (SMA) for nearly the entire year; and dips below that trendline have been remarkably short. The index first broke its 50-day SMA on 4/12/24 but was back above the intermediate-term trendline about three weeks later on 5/3/24. The next breach in the 50-day SMA occurred in the 5,520s on 7/31/24 and lasted two weeks until 8/14/24. The lower high from mid-August could not hold, and the 50-day again failed at the higher low from early September. In this case, the 50-day breach lasted less than a week, from 9/4/24 to 9/10/24. Even with some mid-October churn, the S&P 500 currently has a 140-point cushion over its 50-day SMA.

Deutsche Telekom merged its T-Mobile USA unit with prepaid specialist MetroPCS in 2013, and that firm merged with Sprint in 2020, creating the second-largest wireless carrier in the US. T-Mobile now serves 77 million postpaid and 21 million prepaid phone customers, equal to around 30% of the US retail wireless market. The firm entered the fixed-wireless broadband market aggressively in 2021 and now serves more than 5 million residential and business customers. In addition, T-Mobile provides wholesale services to resellers.

We see some gems right now in the Communication Services sector, and we also like the sector overall. Argus rates Communication Services as Over-Weight. After Information Technology, Communication Services is expected to deliver the strongest earnings growth in 3Q, with a forecast of 12%, according to Refinitiv. The sector has many well-known names and is considered a 'barbell' group, with high-growth, low-income social media stocks on one end and low-growth, high-income telecom services stocks on the other. The style mix is approximately one-third "value" and two-thirds "growth." The sector is competitive, so companies in it need to be nimble and innovative, constantly assessing their clientele and staying current. Some of the names -- like Netflix, Alphabet, and Meta -- were at the top of the growth charts in the past five years or so. But like other growth sectors, even the leaders have been outshined by the glitz of artificial intelligence (AI). Market breadth has been recovering, though, and the companies listed below are among those starting to get re-recognized. The S&P 500 Communication Services Index is up 28% year-to-date, compared to the 22% gain in the broader S&P 500 Index. We see more runway for the industry. In our list this week, we look at leaders in Communication Services and sort them by those that are furthest from their 52-week high. All are BUY-rated at Argus and some are included in our Focus List and Model Portfolios.