Stocks · Communication Services · Telecommunications Services
Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. TDS
$35.39 +0.54% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NYSE · Market cap $3.76B
Low risk
Next earnings report: Nov 6, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Revenue over the last four quarters was $1.26B, down 73.8% from a year earlier, slowing from -56.0% a quarter earlier.
- Operating margin widened to 24.6% from 0.6% a year earlier.
- The shares trade at 8.5× trailing earnings, lower than 91% of the company's own readings over the past five years.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Communication Services sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
Growth2Very weak
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 2%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 5%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRBottom 3%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 6%
Quality41Weak
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalBottom 47%
- Gross marginBottom 18%
- Operating marginTop 9%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 6%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 8%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 13%
- Interest coverTop 32%
Value78Positive
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 9%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 8%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 2%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 42%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Top 30%
Momentum42Weak
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthBottom 39%
- 6-month returnBottom 20%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Bottom 49%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 42%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 45%
Revisions78Positive
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersTop 5%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 19%
- Share of analysts rating BuyTop 22%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 1%
Stability87Strong
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 37%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 18%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 45%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 13%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | -56.0% | -73.8% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 57.7% | 28.7% | ↓ |
| Operating margin | 0.6% | 24.6% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | 11.1% | -36.0% | ↓ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | -73.8% | -56.0% | ↓ | Bottom 2% |
| Gross margin | 28.7% | 57.7% | ↓ | Bottom 18% |
| Operating margin | 24.6% | 0.6% | ↑ | Top 9% |
| Net margin | 33.3% | -0.9% | ↑ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | -36.0% | 11.1% | ↓ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 3.4% | — | Bottom 47% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | -39.0% | — | Bottom 3% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 0.25×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- 3.7%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 1.4%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -15.7 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- -0.79×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 4.1×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 2.33%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 2.87%
- Shareholder yield
- 5.20%
- Share count change, 1 year
- +1.1%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +1.0%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 7, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 4
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 6 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +100.0%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -3.7%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 3 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $27.67
- Target vs current price
- -21.8%
- Analysts with a rating
- 7
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 71%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 7, 2026 | +2693.8% | -8.4% | -2.7% | +5.1% | — |
| May 8, 2026 | +227.6% | +2.1% | -8.0% | -13.9% | -21.5% |
| Feb 20, 2026 | +255.6% | -0.5% | -1.8% | -7.7% | -11.1% |
| Nov 7, 2025 | +216.7% | -2.1% | +0.5% | +2.4% | +21.2% |
| Aug 11, 2025 | -400.0% | -0.2% | -0.6% | -1.0% | +2.2% |
| May 2, 2025 | -350.0% | -8.8% | -9.8% | -8.7% | +3.4% |
| Feb 21, 2025 | +71.9% | -4.2% | -10.4% | -9.0% | -11.9% |
| Nov 1, 2024 | +107.1% | -7.6% | +9.1% | +14.9% | +20.7% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 7, 2026 | $2.42 | $0.09 | +2693.8% | $309.3M |
| May 8, 2026 | $1.11 | -$0.87 | +227.6% | $309.4M |
| Feb 20, 2026 | $0.32 | $0.09 | +255.6% | $330.7M |
| Nov 7, 2025 | $0.07 | -$0.06 | +216.7% | $308.5M |
| Aug 11, 2025 | -$0.05 | -$0.01 | -400.0% | $1.19B |
| May 2, 2025 | -$0.09 | -$0.02 | -350.0% | $1.15B |
| Feb 21, 2025 | -$0.09 | -$0.32 | +71.9% | $1.24B |
| Nov 1, 2024 | $0.01 | -$0.14 | +107.1% | $1.22B |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 8.5× | 16.5× | 9th | Top 9% |
| P/E (forward) | 9.6× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 2.3× | — | — | Top 2% |
| EV / Sales | 2.24× | — | — | Bottom 42% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | -12.02% | — | — | Bottom 8% |
| Earnings yield | 11.81% | — | — | Top 9% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 7.9× – 306.4× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✓ Price above 50-day average
- ✗ Price above 200-day average
- ✗ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✗ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 2
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- +1.4%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- -0.5%
- Distance from 50-day average
- +0.8%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -12.0%
- RSI (14)
- 48.1
- Relative volume
- 0.86×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 36.7%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 43th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.80
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.32
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -25.6%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -33.6%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 8, 2021 | Jun 1, 2023 | -75.0% | 499 days | 348 days (Oct 18, 2024) |
| Feb 13, 2026 | Aug 7, 2026 | -30.7% | 120 days | Not yet recovered |
| Feb 18, 2025 | May 5, 2025 | -21.3% | 53 days | 83 days (Sep 3, 2025) |
| Feb 8, 2021 | Feb 26, 2021 | -14.2% | 13 days | 6 days (Mar 8, 2021) |
| Oct 12, 2020 | Oct 28, 2020 | -12.8% | 12 days | 12 days (Nov 13, 2020) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $3.76B
- P/E (TTM)
- 8.5
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $4.18
- Revenue (TTM)
- $1.26B
- Dividend yield
- 29.42%
- 52-week range
- $31.51 – $49.12
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $5.33B | $5.41B | $5.16B | $4.96B | $1.23B |
| Gross profit | $2.86B | $2.85B | $2.83B | $2.83B | -$62.0M |
| Operating income | $261.0M | $122.0M | -$414.0M | $63.0M | -$62.0M |
| Net income | $156.0M | $62.0M | -$500.0M | -$28.0M | -$6.2M |
| EPS (diluted) | $1.00 | -$0.07 | -$5.04 | -$0.85 | -$0.66 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.22B | $1.24B | $1.15B | $1.19B | $308.5M | $330.7M | $309.4M | $309.3M |
| Net income | -$66.0M | $6.0M | $7.0M | $12.0M | -$81.8M | $56.5M | $145.5M | $298.4M |
| EPS (diluted) | -$0.73 | -$0.10 | -$0.09 | -$0.04 | $0.35 | $0.33 | $1.08 | $2.42 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $1.10B | $1.16B | $1.14B | $1.15B | $589.9M |
| Capital expenditure | -$1.15B | -$1.77B | -$1.34B | -$904.0M | -$394.7M |
| Free cash flow | -$48.0M | -$620.0M | -$199.0M | $241.0M | $195.2M |
| Dividends paid | -$119.0M | -$151.0M | -$153.0M | -$104.0M | -$87.7M |
| Net share buybacks | $1.05B | -$83.0M | -$6.0M | -$54.0M | -$129.5M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $2.19B
- Total assets
- $8.38B
- Total liabilities
- $2.98B
- Total debt
- $1.25B
- Net debt
- -$945.0M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $5.17B
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 7, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2026 | $0.04 | Sep 30, 2026 |
| Jun 16, 2026 | $0.04 | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Mar 16, 2026 | $0.04 | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Jan 23, 2026 | $10.25 | Feb 2, 2026 |
| Dec 15, 2025 | $0.04 | Dec 30, 2025 |
| Sep 15, 2025 | $0.04 | Sep 30, 2025 |
| Jun 16, 2025 | $0.04 | Jun 30, 2025 |
| Mar 17, 2025 | $0.04 | Mar 31, 2025 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 5,981,278
- Days to cover
- 4.00
- Change vs previous report
- -0.5%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Jan 25, 2012
- 1,087-for-1,000
- May 16, 2005
- 80-for-41
- Dec 19, 1988
- 3-for-2
- Mar 18, 1988
- 3-for-2