Deutsche Telekom Keeps Buying Back Shares as Bernstein Steps Aside on T-Mobile Merger Doubts
Published on 09/29/2026 at 08:40 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Deutsche Telekom's capital return machine keeps humming. The Bonn-based carrier disclosed in a mandatory filing that it repurchased 3,292,319 of its own shares on the open market during the trading week of September 21 through 25, lifting the total bought back since the program launched on August 10 to 17,298,084 shares.
The steady stream of buybacks trims the number of shares in circulation and gives a mathematical boost to earnings per share. Yet the stock has been moving in the opposite direction. By midday the equity was down 1.1% at EUR 26.76, leaving it roughly 22% below its 52-week high. In pre-market trading the shares had changed hands at EUR 26.66, a decline of 0.4% from the prior session.
Bernstein Pulls Back Its Rating
The pressure traces back to Friday, when Bernstein downgraded the DAX heavyweight from "Outperform" to "Market Perform" and slashed its price target to EUR 28.10 from EUR 37. The broker pointed to two forces weighing on the outlook: uncertainty over a possible merger with US subsidiary T-Mobile US, and mounting competitive pressure in Germany's fixed-line and broadband market. The analysts also flagged their neutral stance toward the American unit.
That caution has a backstory. According to a Reuters report, activist investor Elliott Investment Management built a stake in Deutsche Telekom on September 3. Media accounts say the fund urged management not to pursue a combination with T-Mobile US, though the size of Elliott's holding was never disclosed.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Deutsche Telekom?
Streaming, eSIM and a Fiber Build in Baden-Württemberg
While the strategic debate plays out, the company is pressing ahead on the operating front. On September 23 it folded the streaming service HBO Max into its MagentaTV platform in Germany, letting subscribers book and use the service directly through the portal. A separate launch, T-Travel, offers eSIM services that allow even non-customers to purchase mobile data packages for more than 200 countries.
Infrastructure work continues in parallel. On September 17 the group announced a fiber-optic project targeting previously underserved addresses in the Baden-Württemberg municipality of Löchgau, part of a gradual push to densify network coverage and defend its position against fixed-line rivals.
Robots in Ingolstadt, and Two Dates to Watch
Industrial applications are getting attention too. On Thursday, Deutsche Telekom and software firm Unikie demonstrated automated loading and unloading of new vehicles onto rail wagons at Audi's Ingolstadt site. The carrier supplies the 5G mobile connection and edge-cloud infrastructure, while its partner provides the vehicle control software.
Investors now have two calendar entries to circle. Management has scheduled an "AI Investor Day" for October 5, where it will lay out how it intends to deploy artificial intelligence strategically. Third-quarter results for 2026 follow on November 5.
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