Sprint hasn’t hit rock bottom, but the operator’s downward spiral continued unabated during the third quarter of 2019. The nation’s fourth-largest carrier was in dire straits when T-Mobile US pitched yet another attempt to acquire the company and its financial performance has declined during the 18 months since.

Sprint’s executives have also become increasingly tight lipped during the last month. CEO Michel Combes skipped his keynote at MWC Los Angeles 2019 and the company opted to not hold an earnings call with analysts to discuss the recently closed quarter. The operator’s financial outlook and guidance also remains on hold because of the challenges it faces in delivering a strategy with or without T-Mobile.

Every important metric is down, including active accounts, revenue, net income, and free cash flow. “Results were expected to be awful. And they were,” analysts at MoffettNathanson wrote. “The company generates no cash, is badly over-leveraged, hasn’t turned a sustainable profit in a decade, and is losing subscribers. Any company with that profile would be a bankruptcy risk.”

In a bid to win regulatory approval for its proposed $26.5 billion merger with T-Mobile US, Sprint executives have been relatively candid about the company’s misfortunes. “Simply put, we lack the spectrum assets, scale, and financial resources needed to compete aggressively against the larger wireless companies,” Combes wrote in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in April.

“We cannot build a consistently reliable nationwide 5G network on our own,” Combes admitted. “Without the merger, the trajectory for Sprint will worsen and Sprint’s prospects will be limited. Sprint will be forced to further reduce its operating expenses, which means more job reductions … and our future as a standalone company will be in jeopardy.”

Despite those compounding problems, Sprint achieved some noteworthy milestones during the quarter. After some delays the company made good on its promise to bring 5G to nine markets. And last month it expanded the reach of its nascent 5G network by increasing the potential coverage population by 45% from about 11 million people to roughly 16 million people in those markets.

The operator also announced numerous efforts last month to expand its Curiosity IoT platform with an academic partnership and new IoT products, but it largely remains in a holding pattern as it awaits the outcome of the long-delayed merger with T-Mobile US.

“I am proud of the resiliency of the Sprint team as they work to deliver results in a challenging environment,” Combes said in a prepared statement. “However, I remain convinced that merging with T-Mobile and building one of the world’s most advanced 5G networks is the best outcome for all consumers, employees, and shareholders.”

During and earnings call last week T-Mobile US CEO John Legere said he expects the merger to close in early 2020 and said the operator has “detailed integration plans” and is “preparing to start deploying Sprint’s 2.5 GHz spectrum soon after closing.”

Jan Geldmacher, president of Sprint Business, also conveyed optimism during a keynote at MWC Los Angeles 2019. “We are facing opposition right now [from] about 16 state attorneys general that are trying to stop the merger with the Department of Justice (DoJ),” he said. “We are expecting a lawsuit on Dec. 9 and the decision in due course. We are still very optimistic that we get the right approval from the judge.”

The deal has already garnered support from the DoJ and a majority of commissioners at the FCC.

Analysts have repeatedly criticized Sprint for underspending on its network for years, but the operator shared some improvements in that regard as part of its earnings release. The company said it has deployed 2.5 GHz spectrum on about 85% of its macro sites and has approximately 35,000 outdoor small cells deployed.

The prevailing opinion, however, is that Sprint’s network improvements are too little too late and, as the company has admitted, it doesn’t have the financial wherewithal to continue investing at required levels.

“Absent the merger, Sprint will eventually need to either start generating free cash flow or they will have to restructure,” analysts at MoffettNathanson concluded. “If the states win the case and the deal doesn’t happen, Sprint will very likely either have to sell spectrum — which would be tantamount to burning not only the furniture but the house itself to keep warm — or the company will have to be restructured.”

Sprint reported a net loss of $279 million on almost $7.8 billion in revenue. Revenues are down 7.5% year-over-year and the company has reported a cumulative net loss of $385 million during 2019. The operator ended the quarter with a total debt of nearly $37.37 billion.