Deutsche Telekom: Operational Wins Stack Up, but Share Price Remains Stalled by Merger and Frequency Fights
12.06.2026 - 20:53:34 | boerse-global.de
Deutsche Telekom has plenty to cheer about on the operational front. Its recent quarterly results topped expectations, a hard-fought labour deal has been struck for 60,000 German staff, and a flagship AI data centre in Munich is already drawing blue-chip tenants. Yet the stock continues to lag, weighed down by a combination of transatlantic merger uncertainty and a protracted battle over TV spectrum. The shares have lost roughly 10% over the past twelve months and sit about 17% below their February peak of €34.35, trading lately at €28.31 – a modest 0.6% gain on the day but still well under the 200?day moving average of €29.00.
The most immediate source of stability comes from the wage agreement reached with the ver.di union at the end of May. In the fourth round of talks, the two sides settled on a two?step pay package that lifts the monthly supplement from €190 to €340 from August 2026, and then to €480 from July 2027. For an employee on the reference annual salary of around €55,000, that represents a total increase of 8.5%. The deal still needs formal approval from ver.di’s tariff commission on 19 June, but barring an unexpected rejection it should run through to the end of 2028.
While domestic labour relations have been smoothed, the biggest strategic question mark hangs over the United States. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, chief executive Timotheus Höttges is pushing hard for a full takeover of T?Mobile US, the subsidiary that already supplies nearly two?thirds of group revenue. The aim would be to erase the conglomerate discount that weighs on Deutsche Telekom’s valuation and create the world’s largest telecoms company. But the path is strewn with obstacles. Bernstein Research analyst Ulrich Rathe points to “considerable regulatory hurdles”, and Höttges must not only win over T?Mobile’s minority shareholders but also secure the blessing of the German state, which retains a stake of roughly 28% in the Bonn?based group.
The core business, however, continues to fire on all cylinders. In the first quarter of 2026, group revenue climbed 4.7% to €29.9 billion, while organic service?revenue growth came in at 4.6%. Adjusted net profit rose 6.5% and organic EBITDA expanded 7.5%. The strong start prompted management to lift its full?year guidance: the company now expects EBITDA of about €47.5 billion and free cash flow of more than €19.8 billion. The German fixed?line network is also gaining traction: over 30% of households now have a Deutsche Telekom fibre connection, and the churn rate of 4.3% is far below the industry average.
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Beyond its traditional business, the group is stepping up its bet on artificial intelligence. A new AI data centre in Munich, equipped with 10,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs, has already attracted tenants including Siemens, SAP and the start?up Perplexity. The facility is part of a broader push to capture enterprise?grade cloud and AI workloads.
At the same time, Deutsche Telekom is using its balance?sheet strength to support the stock. A share buyback programme with a volume of up to €2 billion is under way; during the first week of June alone the company repurchased 1.58 million shares. The current price?to?earnings ratio of 13.5 underscores the market’s caution, even as the company plans to pay a dividend of €1 per share for the 2025 financial year.
Another unresolved dispute adds to the uncertainty on the home front. Together with Vodafone and O2 Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom published a study on 11 June from consultancy WIK Consult, which recommends that certain TV frequencies be freed up for mobile use from 2031. An estimated 2.3 million German households still rely on antenna television (DVB?T2), and the study argues that the public broadcasters could save up to €369 million over a decade if the old standard were switched off. The ARD broadcaster association pushed back forcefully, insisting that DVB?T2 usage “is not declining” and that the frequencies in question are irreplaceable for wireless microphones in media production. Security authorities also have their eyes on the same spectrum for a new public?safety network. The final decision will not come until next year’s World Radiocommunication Conference, followed by action from the German federal government.
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For now, investors have plenty of data to digest and a few key milestones to watch. The ver.di tariff commission votes on 19 June; the next quarterly numbers are due on 6 August. Until the merger puzzle in the US and the spectrum stalemate in Germany become clearer, the stock is likely to remain caught between strong fundamentals and persistent overhangs.
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