Telephone & Data Systems
TDS on NYSE. Telephone & Data Systems provides communications services to customers. Market value $4.1bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to December 2025.
Should I look at this?
Not a fit for our list right now
Why it could be worth it
See Media & telecom stocks that passed both tests
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $-11.31 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 5.3 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns -2 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 32 of 100. Price score: 66 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$35.15 a share, 12% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $31.51 to $49.12.
Dividend: 2.2% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
Spare cash swings from quarter to quarter here: a shortfall of $452 million in the past 12 months, $199 million in the year to December 2025.
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $5.3bn | $5.4bn | $1.4bn | $1.3bn | $1.2bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | 4.9% | 2.3% | -50.4% | -14.7% | -7.9% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 0.50 | 0.64 | 0.79 | 0.48 | 0.17 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.12bn | 0.11bn | 0.11bn | 0.11bn | 0.11bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive3 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Not enough data
- Financial strength (Piotroski)6 of 8 checks we could run
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- Debt0.17× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsShrinking, 25.1% a year
- Buying back its own sharesRoughly flat
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $309 million last quarter, up 4% on a year ago.
- Profit: $298 million, up 2479% on a year ago.
- Over the past 12 months it spent $452 million more cash than it brought in. A year earlier it had $1.1 billion spare.
- 1% more shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit less of the company.
- It has $1.5 billion more cash than debt. A year ago debt was $3.5 billion more than cash.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $327m |
| December 2024 | Not reported |
| March 2025 | $290m |
| June 2025 | $299m |
| September 2025 | $309m |
| December 2025 | $331m |
| March 2026 | $309m |
| June 2026 | $309m |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | -$66m |
| December 2024 | $6m |
| March 2025 | $7m |
| June 2025 | $12m |
| September 2025 | -$82m |
| December 2025 | $56m |
| March 2026 | $145m |
| June 2026 | $298m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- n/a
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 24 February 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 6 November 2026
Who owns it
4 long-term investors we follow own it, unchanged from 4 last quarter. 349 funds in all.
- GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli
- Value
- $55m
- Share of fund
- 0.5%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Third PointDan Loeb | $232m | 5.0% | Cut |
| Oaktree Capital ManagementHoward Marks | $196m | 5.2% | Added |
| GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli | $55m | 0.5% | |
| Royce & AssociatesChuck Royce | $2m | <0.1% | Cut |
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$584mAdded
- Dimensional Fund Advisors LP$235mCut
- Third Point$232mCut
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$214mCut
- Carronade Capital Management, LP$197mAdded
- Oaktree Capital Management$196mAdded
- American Century Companies$175mAdded
- State Street$164mAdded
- Vanguard Capital Management$154mCut
- Geode Capital Management$105mAdded
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
5 investors own more than 5%.
- BlackRock, Inc.Passive investor13.8%Since 31 March 2025
- The Trustees of Amendment and Restatement (dated as of April 22, 2005) of Voting Trust under Agreement dated as of June 30, 1989Passive investor11.7%−0.2 ptsSince 1 September 2026
What they said
This Item 4 is being updated by the following information. On September 1, 2026, the Issuer issued a press release (the "Press Release") announcing that it is no longer pursuing the acquisition of the Array Common Shares that it does not already own and has withdrawn its…
Read the filing - PICTON MAHONEY ASSET MANAGEMENTPassive investor11.2%+1.1 ptsSince 30 June 2026
- Vanguard Portfolio ManagementPassive investor5.9%Since 31 March 2026
- Third PointPassive investorat least 5.7%(filed with 1 related holder)Since 17 December 2024
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
BlackRock, Inc. Passive investor | 13.8% | 31 March 2025 | |
The Trustees of Amendment and Restatement (dated as of April 22, 2005) of Voting Trust under Agreement dated as of June 30, 1989 Passive investor | 11.7%−0.2 pts | 1 September 2026 | What they saidThis Item 4 is being updated by the following information. On September 1, 2026, the Issuer issued a press release (the "Press Release") announcing that it is no longer pursuing the acquisition of the Array Common Shares that it does not already own and has withdrawn its… Read the filing |
PICTON MAHONEY ASSET MANAGEMENT Passive investor | 11.2%+1.1 pts | 30 June 2026 | |
Vanguard Portfolio Management Passive investor | 5.9% | 31 March 2026 | |
Third Point Passive investor | at least 5.7% (filed with 1 related holder) | 17 December 2024 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
No insider bought shares on the open market in the last 12 months. 3 sold $4m.
- CARLSON LEROY T JRVice Chair, DirectorSold
- Date
- 11 September 2026
- Shares
- 77,100
- Price
- $38.45
- Value
- $3m
- Carlson Prudence EDirectorSold
- Date
- 23 March 2026
- Shares
- 5,811
- Price
- $42.00
- Value
- $244,062
- Kroll Anita JVP, Controller & CAOSold
- Date
- 11 November 2025
- Shares
- 870
- Price
- $39.16
- Value
- $34,069
- Kroll Anita JVP, Controller & CAOSold
- Date
- 10 November 2025
- Shares
- 16,217
- Price
- $39.02
- Value
- $632,787
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 September 2026 | CARLSON LEROY T JR Vice Chair, Director | Sold | 77,100 | $38.45 | $3m |
| 23 March 2026 | Carlson Prudence E Director | Sold | 5,811 | $42.00 | $244,062 |
| 11 November 2025 | Kroll Anita J VP, Controller & CAO | Sold | 870 | $39.16 | $34,069 |
| 10 November 2025 | Kroll Anita J VP, Controller & CAO | Sold | 16,217 | $39.02 | $632,787 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
What could go wrong
- Sales have shrunk: 25.1% a year.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.