NEW YORK—Wall Street gave T-Mobile US Inc., the new-born combination of T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS, a warm welcome on its first day of trading.

The stock was at $16.45 in midday trading Wednesday, up 87 cents, or 5.5 percent, from the value of MetroPCS shares at Tuesday's close. That suggests the combined company is attracting new investor interest.



Goldman Sachs analyst Matthew Niknam started coverage on Wednesday with a "Buy" rating and a $22 price target. Deal-making in the U.S. wireless industry is at a fever pitch, and Niknam believes Deutsche Telekom would be willing to sell its stake in the company.

AT&T Inc. tried to buy T-Mobile USA in 2011 with an offer much higher than the current market value, but the deal fell through because of opposition from regulators. Satellite-TV company Dish Network Corp. last month launched an unsolicited bid for No. 3 wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp., but Sprint has already agreed to sell to Softbank Corp. of Japan.


There is speculation that T-Mobile could be Dish's next target, if the Sprint offer is rebuffed.



In March, T-Mobile dropped its conventional two-year service contracts in favor of selling phones with installment plans. It's made the change a centerpiece of its marketing, calling itself the "Un-carrier." It's a break with industry practices, and a reflection of the fact that T-Mobile has had a hard time attracting people to its contract-based plans. It has been losing customers from these plans for two years.

MetroPCS, meanwhile, started losing customers last year after many years of growth. It sells cheap phone service to low-income urban customers, who often line up in its stores to pay their monthly fees in cash.



The new company is worth $11.8 billion at Wednesday's prices, and Deutsche Telekom's stake is worth $9 billion. As such, it's a consolation prize compared to the $39 billion that AT&T agreed to pay two years ago.

