Deutsche Telekom’s Wage Row and Technical Drift Cloud a Strong Quarter and Lifted Guidance
27.05.2026 - 07:41:50 | boerse-global.de
The German telecoms giant is caught between two very different forces: a buoyant operational performance that prompted an upward revision to full-year forecasts, and a labour conflict that has already pulled over 32,000 employees onto the picket line. The result is a stock that, for all the fundamental progress, is struggling to break decisively higher.
Negotiations with the Verdi union enter a critical phase on 26 and 27 May, with the two sides still far apart. The union is demanding a 6.6% pay rise over twelve months for the roughly 60,000 to 70,000 tariff employees, plus an annual loyalty bonus of €660 for members and a €120 monthly increase in apprenticeship pay. Management’s counter-offer has been dismissed as “vague, incomplete and wholly inadequate,” and the walkouts, which began on 28 April, have already disrupted customer service, forced the cancellation of technician appointments, closed T?Shops, and slowed the fibre?optic rollout.
That slowdown is unfortunate timing for a company that just posted a record month for fibre expansion. In April alone, Deutsche Telekom added 209,000 new fibre connections, a year?on?year jump of more than 42%. The total number of households and businesses that can now sign up for fibre?based tariffs has reached 13.2 million. In the first quarter, 2.2 million households were already using a full?fibre contract, and the take?up rate rose from 15.5% to 17.1% over the past twelve months — modest progress, but a sign that the expensive build?out is beginning to generate returns.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Deutsche Telekom?
The underlying numbers for the first quarter of 2026 were solid. Revenue grew organically by 4.7% to €29.9 billion, while adjusted EBITDA after leases (AL) rose 7.5% to €11.5 billion. This performance gave management the confidence to lift the full?year target for adjusted EBITDA AL to roughly €47.5 billion and to reaffirm a free cash flow forecast of more than €19.8 billion. Adjusted earnings per share are expected to come in at around €2.20.
Shareholders are also being rewarded. The dividend has been raised to €1.00 per share, up 11% from €0.90 a year earlier, and the board has authorised a share buy?back programme of up to €2 billion for 2026. Such capital?return measures typically appeal to investors seeking predictable cash flows, but the immediate market reaction has been muted.
Technically, the stock is sending mixed signals. The shares recently changed hands at €29.17, exactly on their 200?day moving average, after a brief push to €29.21 at Tuesday’s close. Over the past 30 days the price has risen 8.71%, and a four?week high on 22 May generated a fresh long signal. Yet the market has failed to confirm that breakout with follow?through buying. The 50?day moving average sits just 1.49% above the current price at €29.65, and the relative strength index at 74.8 points to an overbought condition in the short term. Over twelve months the stock is still down roughly 14.8%, though it has gained 4.81% since the start of the year.
The labour dispute adds an extra layer of uncertainty. A negotiated settlement at the end of May would remove an immediate operational risk and could clear the path for the stock to challenge the 50?day line. Failure, on the other hand, threatens to widen the strike and directly hit both costs and the pace of network expansion. For now, the bond markets remain calm, the guidance is intact, and the fibre story is intact — but the chart is waiting for a decisive signal from the bargaining table.
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