https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/05/sprint-announces-highest-profit-ever-after-saying-it-needs-t-mobile-merger/

Sprint yesterday announced "the best profitability in company history" thanks to growth in its customer base, just days after saying it needed to merge with T-Mobile USA in order to improve its network.

If Sprint was doing worse, the merger might not have happened. Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure said that the company's successful turnaround "positioned Sprint for strategic opportunities which led to our proposed merger with T-Mobile." Sprint's profitability and free cash flow was key in giving Sprint the chance to combine with T-Mobile, he said.