Deutsche Telekom Balances Raised Guidance With a Bigger Payout and Fresh AI Ambitions
Published on 11/07/2026 at 05:31 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Deutsche Telekom's third-quarter 2026 scorecard landed with a familiar shape: revenue climbing, profit climbing faster, and management feeling confident enough to lift the full-year outlook. What came alongside it — a beefed-up dividend plan, a multi-billion-euro buyback promise, and two separate partnership announcements — gave investors plenty to digest beyond the headline numbers.
Group revenue for the quarter came in at EUR 31.1 billion. The company reported organic growth of 5.5%, while the year-on-year increase measured 7.5%.
Profitability outpaced the top line. Adjusted EBITDA AL reached EUR 12.2 billion, up 8.0% on an organic basis and 9.9% as reported. Adjusted net profit attributable to shareholders hit EUR 3.0 billion, a 12.7% jump over the prior-year period — the steepest percentage gain among the three figures the Bonn-based group published.
Guidance Moves Up
On the back of that quarter, the group raised its 2026 targets. Adjusted EBITDA AL is now expected to come in at around EUR 47.6 billion, with free cash flow AL guided to roughly EUR 20.1 billion.
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Management also laid out how it intends to return cash to shareholders. The board is proposing a dividend of EUR 1.10 per share for the 2026 financial year — a 10% increase on the prior year. For 2027, Deutsche Telekom has flagged share buybacks of up to EUR 2 billion.
Analysts Diverge on the Target Price
The sell-side reaction was mixed on the price front but unanimous on direction. Goldman Sachs trimmed its price target to EUR 36 from EUR 38 on Thursday, keeping its buy rating intact. Deutsche Bank Research, by contrast, reaffirmed its "Buy" call and held its target at EUR 40.
AI Hardware and the Digital Euro
Two announcements sat outside the quarterly figures. T-Systems and Sparxity signed a letter of intent on Tuesday at the Digital Summit to collaborate on energy-efficient AI hardware for Telekom's data centers, with a first rollout pencilled in for 2028. The agreement sets out a planned cooperation built on a declaration of intent.
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Separately, the European Central Bank disclosed on 30 October that it had selected Deutsche Telekom Business Solutions and Nexi Payments as joint service providers for the digital euro platform's network connectivity. The contract took effect on 28 September and will initially support the platform's pilot phase.
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