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Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (TDS)

NYSE / Communication Services / Telecommunications Services

Share price

33.93 USD Market dataClose of Oct 14, 2026

Market capitalisation

3.61B USD Market dataClose of Oct 14, 2026
Market data
Oct 14, 2026
Filed accounts
FY2025, filed Feb 24, 2026
Ratios computed
Oct 14, 2026
Filed years
17, FY2008 to FY2025
Four kinds of sourceSEC filingCompany statementMarket dataComputedWhat each means
SEC filingFiled with the SEC
Read from a statement the company filed with the SEC, with the form, fiscal year, filing date and accession beside it.
Company statementCompany statement
What the company says about itself in a filing: an 8-K item, the auditor, its own segment names.
Market dataMarket data
Prices, market value and what analysts publish, with the date they are as of.
ComputedComputed by ValueScreener
Worked out by us from the other three, with the inputs and the formula one press away. A score is a research output, not a rating or a recommendation.
Reading

1 of 10

Overview

What the business is, what it costs, and how it reads on four questions.

Market dataSEC filingComputed

Four questions, at a glance

Quality

Return on equity

-0.1% Computed

From the FY2025 filing

Read quality

Valuation

Price to book

0.75x Computed

FY2025 accounts, priced at the latest close

Read valuation

Cash generation

Free cash flow yield

5.5% Computed

FY2025 accounts, priced at the latest close

Read cash generation

Revenue and net income, as filed

FY2016 Revenue: 5.16B USDFY2016 Net income: 43.0M USDFY2017 Revenue: 5.04B USDFY2017 Net income: 153.0M USDFY2018 Revenue: 5.11B USDFY2018 Net income: 135.0M USDFY2019 Revenue: 5.18B USDFY2019 Net income: 121.0M USDFY2020 Revenue: 5.22B USDFY2020 Net income: 226.0M USDFY2021 Revenue: 5.33B USDFY2021 Net income: 156.0M USDFY2022 Revenue: 5.41B USDFY2022 Net income: 62.0M USDFY2023 Revenue: 1.36B USDFY2023 Net income: -500.0M USDFY2024 Revenue: 1.30B USDFY2024 Net income: -27.7M USDFY2025 Revenue: 1.23B USDFY2025 Net income: -6.2M USD
Revenue Net income10 filed fiscal years, from the annual reports; the table in Filings names each document.
Named tests met
4 of 30 Which tests
The business, and the score behind its five axes

The reading, in brief

Is it good

Return on equity was -0.1% in FY2025, in the band labelled "Likely below the cost of equity" (below 8.0%), on lines anchored on Damodaran's cost-of-capital data, suggesting returns on shareholders' money below the usual cost of equity.

Today, against the Telecommunications Services industry (46 companies), -0.1% sits at the 33rd percentile; the middle half of that group runs from -3.6% to 19.5%.

Is it safe

Net debt to EBITDA was 3.10x in FY2025, in the band labelled "Elevated" (2.50x to 4.00x), on lines set by credit-analyst convention.

No peer distribution is published for net debt to EBITDA today; the year-by-year comparison uses the filed annual figures.

Year by year against peers
Whether Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.'s return on equity stayed above the median of the Telecommunications Services industry, year by year. (FY2017 to FY2025, 9 fiscal years of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. with a comparable figure)
The direction
Which way Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.'s return on equity has moved, and how steadily. (FY2016 to FY2025, 10 filed years of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.)
What could explain it
What in Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.'s filed statements could explain the movements. (5 readings drawn from the statement lines Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. filed)
What to check next
What to check next on Telephone and Data Systems, Inc., and where in its filings. (3 questions for Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.)
In one paragraph
One paragraph on Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.'s returns, cash, balance sheet and price. (9 of sixteen figures read for Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.)

These are TDS’s filed figures. The research desk says what they mean, against peers and its own years, with what to check next.

Research TDSPart of Serious. New accounts start with 30 days of Professional, free, no card.

2 of 10

What changed

The newest filing, what it moved, and when the next one is due.

SEC filingCompany statement

The newest accounts on file are the FY2025 annual report: 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, accession 0001051512-26-000011.

3 of 10

Quality

The returns the business earns on its capital, and the margins behind them.

SEC filingComputed

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc: returns on capital and margins, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Return on invested capital, after tax
Why n/a

The filed income tax is outside 0 to 100% of pre-tax income (a tax benefit on a profit, a charge on a loss, or a charge above the profit), which is a one-off in the tax line and not a rate operating profit was taxed at, so after-tax operating profit is not computed.

n/a ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Return on equity-0.1% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Return on capital employed, pre-tax-1.2% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Return on assets-0.1% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Gross margin
Why n/a

Our archived statements for this filer carry no gross profit line, so there is nothing to compute a gross margin from and trace back to source. That may be because the filer presents no cost of revenue, or because we have not captured the concept. We do not guess which.

n/a ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Operating margin-7.9% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Net margin-0.5% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
TDS -0.5%
IHS 9.1%LUMN -14.0%IDT 6.7%TKC 11.7%KYIV 10.7%
-14.0%11.7%
Net margin: TDS against the 5 companies named under Valuation context, each as filed for its own latest year. Placement only: no average is drawn.

4 of 10

Financial strength

What it owes against what it owns, and whether it can meet what falls due.

SEC filingComputedCompany statement

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc: leverage, liquidity and distress, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Debt to equity0.29 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Current ratio2.10 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Quick ratio2.09 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Interest coverage
Why n/m

Operating income is zero or below, so there is no operating profit to cover the interest bill and coverage is not meaningful (n/m).

n/m ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Altman Z-score1.15 ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Net debt638.5M ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Total assets 8.40BTotal liabilities 3.13BShareholders' equity 4.80BOwnsOwes, and equity
Total assets Total liabilities Shareholders’ equity
The balance sheet, line by line

Financial health

What Telephone and Data Systems, Inc owned and owed at the end of fiscal 2025, from the balance sheet it filed (10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011).

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc: balance sheet position
Total assets8.40B FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026
Total liabilities3.13B FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026
Shareholders' equity4.80B FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026
Cash766.0M FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026
Total debt1.40B FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026
Net debt638.5M
Current ratio2.10
Debt to equity0.29
  • Interest cover: FY2025: Operating income is zero or below, so there is no operating profit to cover the interest bill and coverage is not meaningful (n/m).

Read from the filed balance sheet for each year, with the income statement of the same year supplying operating profit where a ratio needs it. Nothing here is a view on whether this company is sound.

5 of 10

Valuation context

What the market charges for it, against its own record and companies like it.

Market dataSEC filingComputed

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc: what the market charges, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Price to earnings
Why n/m

Earnings are zero or negative, so a price to earnings multiple is not meaningful. A negative P/E is not a cheap company and a large positive one from a near-zero denominator is not an expensive one.

n/m ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
P/E on trailing twelve months11.60x ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · Trailing four quarters, each as known on the day; the quarterly filings are listed under Filings
Price to book0.75x ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Price to sales2.94x ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Enterprise value to EBIT
Why n/a

We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.

n/a ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Enterprise value to EBITDA20.61x ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Price to earnings over growth
Why n/m

Earnings are zero or negative, so a price to earnings multiple is not meaningful. A negative P/E is not a cheap company and a large positive one from a near-zero denominator is not an expensive one.

n/m ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Diluted earnings per share-0.65 USD FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Graham number
Why n/m

Earnings are zero or negative, so a price to earnings multiple is not meaningful. A negative P/E is not a cheap company and a large positive one from a near-zero denominator is not an expensive one.

n/m ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011

We publish no fair value or price target of our own. Value TDS on your own assumptions in the DCF workbench, starting from the filed figures.

Its own record, and companies like it

Valuation

What the market charges for Telephone and Data Systems, Inc today, and the multiples it has carried. No value of ours: the figures are the filings’ and the market’s.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc: valuation
Share price33.93 USD
Market capitalisation3.61B USD
Enterprise value to EBITDA20.61x
Graham numbern/m
Diluted earnings per share, FY2025-0.65 USD

Price to earnings on trailing twelve months, a different basis from the fiscal-year P/E above, since Aug 13, 2021: low 10.99x, median 19.27x, high 87.68x, latest 11.60x. 488 trading days with a meaningful ratio, 808 more on a loss and left out. Each close over the trailing twelve months of earnings as known that day: a quarter counts from the day it was filed.

Companies like Telephone and Data Systems, Inc

  1. IHS Holding Limited (IHS)Market cap 2.85B USD
  2. Lumen Technologies, Inc. (LUMN)Market cap 4.69B USD
  3. IDT Corporation (IDT)Market cap 2.02B USD
  4. Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. (TKC)Market cap 4.38B USD
  5. Kyivstar Group Ltd. Common Shares (KYIV)Market cap 2.80B USD

Same industry (Telecommunications Services) and size band (Mid, 2B to 10B), nearest in market value, net margin and current ratio. Each of those counts equally, by how many of the companies considered sit between the two on it. Closest first: the order is likeness and nothing else.

6 of 10

Cash generation

Whether profit arrives as cash, and what is paid back to shareholders.

SEC filingComputed

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc: cash generation and what is paid out, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Free cash flow yield5.5% ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Free cash flow199.4M USD ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Free cash flow margin16.2% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Dividend yield0.5% ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Payout ratio
Why n/a

We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.

n/a ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
FY2016 Free cash flow: 146.0M USDFY2016 Net income: 43.0M USDFY2017 Free cash flow: 91.0M USDFY2017 Net income: 153.0M USDFY2018 Free cash flow: 241.0M USDFY2018 Net income: 135.0M USDFY2019 Free cash flow: 59.0M USDFY2019 Net income: 121.0M USDFY2020 Free cash flow: 194.0M USDFY2020 Net income: 226.0M USDFY2021 Free cash flow: -28.0M USDFY2021 Net income: 156.0M USDFY2022 Free cash flow: -6.0M USDFY2022 Net income: 62.0M USDFY2023 Free cash flow: 498.1M USDFY2023 Net income: -500.0M USDFY2024 Free cash flow: 780.4M USDFY2024 Net income: -27.7M USDFY2025 Free cash flow: 199.4M USDFY2025 Net income: -6.2M USD
Free cash flow Net incomeProfit that arrives as cash stands level with net income; a gap year after year is worth reading about.

7 of 10

Filings

Every figure, the year it is for and the document it was read from.

SEC filingMarket data

The filed figures

Computed from the accounts this company filed with the SEC and, in a ratio with a price in it, the last close, dated on this page. Every filed figure below carries the fiscal year and the filing date its accounts were read from, and every blank carries the reason it is blank. Nothing here is a view on this company.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.: the eight ratios, with the fiscal year and filing date behind each.
FigureValueYearAs of
n/mFY2025Oct 14, 2026
n/m Not meaningful for this company, such as a P/E on negative earnings or a bank's EV/EBIT.
0.75xFY2025Oct 14, 2026
n/aFY2025Oct 14, 2026
n/a Operating profit is zero or negative, so there is no profit for a buyer's price to be a multiple of.
5.5%FY2025Oct 14, 2026
n/aFY2025Feb 24, 2026
n/a The filed income tax is outside 0 to 100% of pre-tax income (a tax benefit on a profit, a charge on a loss, or a charge above the profit), which is a one-off in the tax line and not a rate operating profit was taxed at, so after-tax operating profit is not computed.
0.5%FY2025Oct 14, 2026
0.29FY2025Feb 24, 2026
2.10FY2025Feb 24, 2026
2.94xFY2025Oct 14, 2026
n/mFY2025Oct 14, 2026
n/m Not meaningful for this company, such as a P/E on negative earnings or a bank's EV/EBIT.
1.15FY2025Oct 14, 2026
-2.68FY2025Feb 24, 2026
6/9FY2025Feb 24, 2026

The figures are computed from the accounts for fiscal 2025, the newest full year on file. 17 filed fiscal years on record, FY2008 to FY2025, from SEC EDGAR. Prices as of Oct 14, 2026. Ratios recomputed Oct 14, 2026. Two facts, because a recompute is not a fresh quote.

The year and the filing date name the statement each figure’s accounts are read from, and they stand even where the figure itself could not be computed: the line beneath a blank says what that statement did not carry. A figure’s name opens its formula and the filings behind it; a statement that names no SEC filing has no filing date, and reads n/a.

Ten years of filed figures, year by year

Ten years of filed figures

10 filed fiscal years, FY2016 to FY2025, read from the annual reports Telephone and Data Systems, Inc filed with the SEC. Each year names its filing. Amounts in USD, as filed.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc: revenue, earnings, free cash flow and returns, by fiscal year, with the filing each year was read from
YearRevenueOperating incomeNet incomeEPS, dilutedFree cash flowOperating marginReturn on equityFiling
FY20251.23B-97.4M-6.2M-0.65199.4M-7.9%-0.1%10-K, Feb 24, 20260001051512-26-000011
FY20241.30B-191.3M-27.7M-0.85780.4M-14.8%-0.5%10-K, Feb 21, 20250001051512-25-000011
FY20231.36B-682.6M-500.0M-5.05498.1M-50.4%-9.6%10-K, Feb 16, 20240001051512-24-000010
FY20225.41B122.0M62.0M-0.07-6.0M2.3%1.1%10-K, Feb 16, 20230001051512-23-000006
FY20215.33B261.0M156.0M1.00-28.0M4.9%2.6%10-K, Feb 17, 20220001051512-22-000013
FY20205.22B259.0M226.0M1.93194.0M5.0%4.7%10-K, Feb 18, 20210001051512-21-000009
FY20195.18B179.0M121.0M1.0359.0M3.5%2.6%10-K, Feb 25, 20200001051512-20-000014
FY20185.11B205.0M135.0M1.17241.0M4.0%3.0%10-K, Feb 22, 20190001051512-19-000008
FY20175.04B-108.0M153.0M1.3791.0M-2.1%3.6%10-K, Feb 26, 20180001051512-18-000009
FY20165.16B108.0M43.0M0.39146.0M2.1%1.0%10-K, Feb 24, 20170001051512-17-000013
  • Revenue, compound annual growth FY2016 to FY2025: -14.7%
  • Earnings: Earnings was not positive in both 2016 and 2025, so a compound rate across the window is not defined. Both figures are in the table.
  • Earnings per share: Earnings per share was not positive in both 2016 and 2025, so a compound rate across the window is not defined. Both figures are in the table.
  • Free cash flow, compound annual growth FY2016 to FY2025: 3.5%

Every figure in this section is a line of a filed annual statement or a ratio of two of them. Nothing here is estimated or smoothed. Earnings per share filed before a share split are put on today's share count, and say so. Nothing here is a verdict on the company.

8 of 10

Risks and guardrails

The accounting screens, the published tests, and the lines you can set to be told.

ComputedCompany statement

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc: accounting screens and published tests, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Beneish M-score-2.68 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Piotroski F-score6/9 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 24, 2026, 0001051512-26-000011
Named tests met4 of 30 Computed
Beta0.74 ComputedClose of Oct 14, 2026

The named tests

Of 30 tests value investors published: 4 met, 18 not met, 8 we could not complete. Counts, never a score: a single figure would have to decide that meeting one investor’s criteria and meeting another’s are worth the same.

Which tests, by name(all 30)
Meets
Deep value; Book or below, low debt (Walter Schloss); Tangible book or below; Cheapest quarter on P/B (David Dreman)
Does not
Defensive investor (Benjamin Graham); Large cap, low P/E; High F-score, low P/B (Joseph Piotroski); Three forensic scores; High returns and growth; Gross margin, turnover (Robert Novy-Marx); EV/EBITDA and coverage; High yield, low payout; Dividends and buybacks; Low beta, profitable; Z-score and coverage (Edward Altman); Two thirds of NCAV (Benjamin Graham); High returns, low debt; Owner earnings yield; High return on tangibles; Low P/S, rising earnings (James O'Shaughnessy); Clean books, high ROIC; Low P/E, growth, yield (John Neff)
Not measured
Earnings yield and ROIC (Joel Greenblatt); Low PEG, low debt (Peter Lynch); ROIC at or above WACC; Near the 52-week low; P/E times P/B (Benjamin Graham); Cash-covered dividend; Cash-flow yield and ROIC; Cheapest quarter on P/E (David Dreman). A test with a figure we could not read is incomplete, never met and never failed.
Figures we could not read(12)
  • P/E Ratio: Earnings are zero or negative, so a price to earnings multiple is not meaningful. A negative P/E is not a cheap company and a large positive one from a near-zero denominator is not an expensive one.
  • EV/EBIT: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • Return on Invested Capital: The filed income tax is outside 0 to 100% of pre-tax income (a tax benefit on a profit, a charge on a loss, or a charge above the profit), which is a one-off in the tax line and not a rate operating profit was taxed at, so after-tax operating profit is not computed.
  • PEG Ratio: Earnings are zero or negative, so a price to earnings multiple is not meaningful. A negative P/E is not a cheap company and a large positive one from a near-zero denominator is not an expensive one.
  • Eps Growth 5Y: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • Gross Margin: Our archived statements for this filer carry no gross profit line, so there is nothing to compute a gross margin from and trace back to source. That may be because the filer presents no cost of revenue, or because we have not captured the concept. We do not guess which.
  • Interest Coverage: Operating income is zero or below, so there is no operating profit to cover the interest bill and coverage is not meaningful (n/m).
  • Payout Ratio: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • ROIC-WACC Spread: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • Price To Graham: Earnings are zero or negative, so a price to earnings multiple is not meaningful. A negative P/E is not a cheap company and a large positive one from a near-zero denominator is not an expensive one.
  • Dividend Coverage Ratio: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • Dividend Streak: The stored figure is a zero that can stand for data we do not hold, so this test is not measured.

9 of 10

Declared positions

Whether anybody here owns this company.

Positions declared by Javier Sanz Alvarez: no holding in any company shown here, as of October 3, 2026.

10 of 10

Next step

What to do with what you have read.

A thesis is your reason for owning it, in your words, with the figures that must stay true. Checking those figures every night against the newest filed accounts, and telling you once when one breaks, is what the subscription adds.

More on this company

What this cannot tell you

  • 12 figures could not be read on this company, among them P/E Ratio, EV/EBIT, Return on Invested Capital. Each blank in the table above names the rest, with its reason. 8 named tests come back incomplete because of them, which is neither met nor missed.

And the one that is true of all of it: This is what the numbers say today. It cannot tell you the day one of them stops being true. Nothing here can, because the reasons are not written down.

Running this once is arithmetic on public documents and you are welcome to it. Writing down why you own each company, in your own words and with the numbers that have to stay true for it to hold, and then having those numbers re-checked every night against the newest filed accounts, and against the latest close where a rule watches a price, is Professional, the plan a new account starts on for 30 days, one trial per person. It writes to you the day one breaks, and stays quiet when nothing does. The check runs every night at 23:30 UTC. A filing is picked up the night after it is published.

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ValueScreener · valuescreener.ai · Computed from accounts filed with the SEC by this company, read from EDGAR, and from dated closing prices. On this page a filed figure opens into its formula, its inputs and the statement, fiscal year and filing date it was read from, and a price into the day of its close. A figure that cannot show that trail says so.

A computation on accounts filed with the SEC, not a recommendation and not advice. Past filings do not indicate future results. Risk disclaimer.

Margin Notes

Once a week, what changed in the filings of US-listed companies, why it can matter to a thesis, and what deserves a closer review. Grounded in filings, not market noise.

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