Deutsche Telekom Faces a Test of Nerves as Strikes Escalate and Q1 Figures Loom

Weeks before the FIFA World Cup 2026 kicks off, Deutsche Telekom has found a fresh revenue stream in its media division. The Bonn-based group, which holds the German broadcast rights to all 104 matches, has inked a distribution deal with Sky. Through Sky’s business platform, MagentaTV will beam three dedicated linear World Cup channels into restaurants, hotels, and bars, with Sky also handling FIFA licensing and technical support for public screenings. Forty-four of those games will be exclusive to Telekom in Germany. It is a neat piece of business, but it is not the story dominating the headlines.

The real drama is playing out on the picket lines. On Thursday, the company saw its most intense strike day yet in the current wage round. Roughly 9,000 employees across twelve federal states walked out. The action continued into Friday, with ver.di extending walkouts to four more states. For the first time, staff from sales units and IT subsidiaries such as T-Systems joined in solidarity. The union is turning the screws ahead of the third round of negotiations on 11 and 12 May.

The demands are clear: ver.di wants a 6.6 percent pay rise over one year for around 70,000 workers, plus a 660-euro membership bonus. Management has so far tabled no offer, pointing instead to competitive pressure and the heavy costs of fibre-optic expansion. The union has seized on the company’s planned two-billion-euro share buyback programme as a weapon in the argument—a move that has sharpened the rhetoric on both sides.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Deutsche Telekom?

The labour unrest is hitting a share price already nursing wounds. The stock closed at 27.66 euros yesterday, well below its 50-day moving average, and has shed roughly twelve percent over the past month. At 27.69 euros, it now sits about 19 percent below its 52-week high of 34.25 euros. Technically, the RSI is hovering near 72, putting the shares in overbought territory—a condition the next earnings report could either validate or reverse.

That report lands on 13 May. Analysts are pencilling in adjusted EBITDA of around 47.4 billion euros for the full year, a clear uptick from last year, with free cash flow seen climbing to roughly 19.8 billion euros. The company itself is guiding for an operating result of just over 47 billion euros. But the numbers will be read through the lens of the labour dispute. Investors will be watching to see whether the operational engine—powered largely by T-Mobile US, which posted first-quarter revenue of $23.1 billion and added 217,000 postpaid subscribers—can absorb the wage pressure without derailing the outlook.

The coming days thus serve up two hard data points. At the bargaining table, the question is whether a costly prolonged strike can be averted. On the earnings call, the question is whether the business can keep humming through the noise. The World Cup deal is a nice subplot, but for now, all eyes are on Bonn.

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