Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.

Price story Before the numbers, the tape. A stock price moves through four repeating seasons: a flat base (stage 1), an advance (2), a top (3), a decline (4). Where the price sits in that cycle frames everything below.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. trades at $35.7, building a base and 13 weeks into that stage. That is −12.7% against its own 200-day average. It sits at 15% of a 52-week range of $34 to $48. On relative strength it is currently behind the S&P 500 on a trailing-13-week view (17 weeks and counting).

Today the stock is building a base — week 13 of stage 1. At $35.7 it trades −12.7% versus its 200-day average and sits at 15% of its 52-week range ($34–$48).

Against the market, two honest reads. Cumulative: over the last 10.1 years the stock moved +21% while the S&P 500 moved +263% — behind the index over the full window. Recent form: on a trailing-13-week view the stock is currently behind (17 weeks and counting; last ahead the week of 2026-04-10) — the ribbon below is that same metric, week by week.

What would end the trend, mechanically: two Friday closes in a row below the 200-day line. That is the exit rule — no debates.

Valuation P/E is the price of $1 of annual profit: how many dollars the market pays for each dollar the company earns in a year.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. trades at 71.5× P/E, at the pricey end of its own range (83rd percentile). Its long-run median P/E is 25.8×, measured across 4.3 years of weekly readings. This places the multiple against the stock’s own record, and says nothing about what the business is worth.

Today's P/E of 71.5× is at the pricey end of its own range (83rd percentile), against a long-run median of 25.8× measured over 4.3 years of weekly readings. This is a comparison against the stock's own history — not a claim about what it is worth.

Put together: the multiple is full against its own past, so the story rests on the earnings line underneath it, not the multiple.

Stage: No read Every business sits somewhere on a fundamental arc, and this page names the spot before anything else. The last twelve quarters of revenue, profit and EPS growth — plus the return the business earns on its capital — are read as curves: Deteriorating (the curves are falling), Turning around (a trough has just formed and the last few quarters lift off it), Improving (the climb off the trough is sustained), Consistent (steadily positive with healthy returns), Topping out (still high but decelerating from the peak). When the curves genuinely disagree the read is Mixed; too little history is No read. CAGR (compound annual growth rate) is the smooth yearly pace that turns the starting value into the latest one — the fairest way to compare growth across different time spans. Read the columns together: if the 1-year number towers over the 10-year, recent growth is running hotter than the long-run trend. A dash means that window is not held, or the base year was a loss (where a growth rate is not meaningful).

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. reads as no read on its fundamental arc. Under eight usable quarters on the growth trio — not enough history for an honest trajectory read. The read is built from 12 quarters across 2 curves, on partial evidence.

Why it matters: with too little history, an honest page says so instead of guessing a trajectory.

The latest quarter’s profit carries a one-off item larger than the operating base, so the profit curve is shown but does not vote in the stage call.

One or more growth curves carry a base-effect spike — a large year-on-year move off a near-zero or loss-making comparable quarter. Those spikes are capped before the classifier reads the trajectory, and shown pinned on the chart, so a single distorted quarter does not drive the stage call.

Fewer than eight usable quarters on the growth curves — this page will not guess a trajectory from a stub of history.

4-Factor Sector Score

43.0/100 — rank 15 of 21 in Telecom Services · 64% evidence confidence

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. scores 43.0 out of 100 against the 21 companies it is compared with in Telecom Services, ranking 15. Balanced evidence: keep at normal research priority and require another comparable period before raising conviction.

The four contributions add to the total exactly: 20.5 + 10.3 + 8.5 + 3.7 = 43. This is the SAME number shown on the sector comparison — it is computed once, for the whole peer set, and read here.

What would change it: The read weakens if profit growth turns negative or margin improvement reverses while sector-relative strength deteriorates.

Revenue Revenue is the top line: everything the company billed its customers in the period.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. reported $0.3 B of revenue in the Mar 26 quarter, +6.9% year on year. That is the 2nd straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 4 years it has compounded at −30.7% a year. The last full year, FY25, came in at $1.2 B. The last four reported quarters add to $2.1 B.

FY25 revenue came in at $1.2 B (−5.4% on the year), capping 4 years at −30.7% compound. The latest quarter (Mar 26) printed $0.3 B, +6.9% year on year — the 2nd consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.

Pace check: the last four quarters averaged +1.7% growth against the decade's −30.7% — the current year is running faster than its own long-run rate.

Acceleration check: trailing-twelve-month revenue grew −0.9% over the last 4 quarters against −35.3%/yr over the last 8 — accelerating.

Operating margin Operating margin is what is left of every $100 of sales after running the business, before interest and tax. It is the cleanest read on pricing power and cost control.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.'s operating margin is 48.4% in the Mar 26 quarter, +58.7 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. Across 5 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged −50.0% to 4.9%. The current quarter is running above every full year in that window.

The latest quarter's operating margin is 48.4%, +58.7 pp against the same quarter a year ago. Across 5 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged −50.0%–4.9%.

Why the margin moved: operating margin went +58.7 pp year on year while gross margin went −0.5 pp — the gain came mostly below the gross line: operating leverage, with costs spread over a bigger revenue base.

Net profit Net profit is what survives every cost, interest and tax — the number EPS, dividends and book value all grow from.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. earned $0.4 B of net profit in the Mar 26 quarter. That quarter carries a one-off item larger than its own revenue, so the year-on-year figure is an artefact rather than a trading result. Full-year FY25 profit was $0.2 B. The 4-year compound rate is −2.7%. That is 116.1% of the quarter's revenue.

Mar 26 profit was $0.4 B, +3,500.0% year on year — the 2nd consecutive quarter of growth. On the full year, FY25 printed $0.2 B (null), and the 4-year compound rate is −2.7%.

🚨 Read this profit with care: at $0.4 B it is larger than the whole quarter's revenue of $0.3 B — no operating business earns more than it sells, so this is a one-off item (a debt-to-equity conversion, a tax write-back or an asset sale), not money the business earned. The underlying operations are running at 48.4% operating margin; the year-on-year jump and any P/E built on this number are artefacts of the one-off, not a real earnings turn.

Cash flow — the router The P&L says what was earned; the cash-flow statement says what actually arrived. Operating cash flow (CFO) against profit is the cleanest lie detector in the accounts.

Over the last 3 fiscal years 663% of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.'s reported profit arrived as operating cash — the cash follows the profit. In FY25 that was $0.6 B of operating cash against $0.2 B of profit. After $0.4 B of capital spending, $0.2 B was left as free cash.

FY25: operating cash of $0.6 B against reported profit of $0.2 B, leaving free cash of $0.2 B after $0.4 B of capital spending. Across the last 3 fiscal years the conversion rate is 663% of profit.

Cash-flow readings here are annual — that is the resolution our series carries, so this section moves once a year.

Why: conversion is measured cleanly, but the working-capital day-counts behind it sit below what we hold — the move is shown without inventing its driver.

Router verdict: the visible cash user is investment — the next section checks what the spending is buying.

Where the cash goes Working capital is the cash tied up between paying suppliers and getting paid: debtor days (customers owe), inventory days (stock waits), and the cash conversion cycle (the whole loop, in days of sales).

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. does not report the debtor, inventory and payable day-counts a cash cycle is built from, so this section reads the investment side instead. Capital spending ran $1.0 B over the last 3 years. Averaged over those years that is 27.1% of FY25 revenue a year.

Working-capital day-counts are not in our numbers for this stock, so this section reads the investment side — where the cash is being put to work.

On the investment side: capital spending of $1.0 B over the last 3 fiscal years.

The synthesis: the cash is going into capacity, not disappearing into the cycle — the question becomes whether the new capacity earns.

Return on equity Return on equity (ROE) is the profit the business earns on its shareholders’ money. With the full capital-employed split not in our numbers, ROE is the cleanest long ladder we can draw here.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. earns a ROE of 3% in FY25. That is up from a trough of −17% in FY23. Return on invested capital clears the cost of that capital by −7.1 percentage points, so growth here is not yet paying for the capital it uses. The wiring behind it is 13.8% net margin on 0.15× asset turns.

FY25 ROE is 3%, recovered from a FY23 trough of −17% — the full ladder below shows the fall and the climb, undoctored.

🚨 Why the return is what it is — the wiring (FY25): 13.8% net margin × 0.15× asset turns × 1.59× balance-sheet leverage ≈ 3.3% on equity. Margin does its share; leverage is modest — this is an earned return, not a borrowed one.

The capstone test — ROIC − WACC: −0.6% − 6.5% = a −7.1 pp spread. The 6.5% is an estimate of this company's own cost of capital — read the sign and the size of the spread, not the decimals. Negative — growth at these returns destroys value until the returns recover.

Dividend A dividend is cash paid out per share. Dividend per share is the declared amount for the period; the trailing twelve-month total is the four most recent quarters added together.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. paid $0.16 per share over the last four reported quarters, down 78.9% on a year ago. The most recent declaration was $0.04 for Mar 26. Against the current price of $35.7 that is a trailing yield of 0.45%, measured on dividends already paid rather than on a forecast.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. paid $0.16 per share across the last four reported quarters, most recently $0.04 for Mar 26. That is down 78.9% against the same quarter a year earlier. Against the current price of $35.7 the trailing twelve months work out to 0.45% — trailing dividends measured against today's price, not a forward estimate.

Debt Debt-to-equity says how much of the business is funded by borrowings. Low is the safe corner; the trend matters as much as the level.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. carries total debt of $1.3 B against shareholder equity of $5.3 B as of Mar 26, a debt-to-equity of 0.24 — effectively unlevered. On the annual view that ratio went from 0.60 in FY21 to 0.27 in FY25. The returns elsewhere on this page are therefore earned rather than borrowed.

Mar 26: total debt of $1.3 B against shareholder equity of $5.3 B — a debt-to-equity of 0.24. On the annual view, debt-to-equity went from 0.60 (FY21) to 0.27 (FY25). The returns on this page are earned, not borrowed.

Ownership There is no quarter-by-quarter holder register to read here, so we read the crowd through short interest — the slice of tradable shares currently sold short, positioned for a fall.

0.1% of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.'s tradable float is currently sold short — the crowd is not positioned against this stock. At typical trading volumes those positions would take about 0.0 days to buy back. There is no quarter-by-quarter holder register to read for this filer, so the crowd is read through short interest instead.

The latest reading: 0.1% of the float is sold short, and at typical trading volumes it would take about 0.0 days to buy those positions back. The crowd is not positioned against this stock. This is a single point-in-time reading — we do not yet hold its history, so we show no trend chart.

Why it sits there: who is doing the shorting, and why, does not travel with the number — the level is shown without inventing its story.

Safety line The Z-score estimates how far a company sits from balance-sheet distress — above roughly 3 is safe, below roughly 1.8 is the danger zone. It was built for manufacturers, so it is not applied to banks and lenders.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.: the Z-score reads 1.52. A Z-score above roughly 3 reads as safe and below roughly 1.8 as the distress zone, so this sits inside the distress zone. It is a distance-to-distress estimate from the balance sheet, not a forecast of failure.

🚨 Why it matters: a Z-score of 1.52 is inside the distress zone — the balance sheet is a real risk, not a detail.

The safety line in one sentence: the Z-score reads 1.52.

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