TDSTELEPHONE & DATA SYSTEMS INC /DE/

Telephone Communications (no Radiotelephone)

Revenue: $1.1B; 9.0% YoY
Operating margin: -9.1%; 44% YoY
EBITDA: $206M; 119% YoY
Market cap: $3.9B
Employees: 3,500; $306K revenue each
Net debt / EBITDA: -7.4×; −$1.5B net debt
AI in 10-K: 0.3; mentions per 10K words

Takeover score 5 of 13

Fixable underperformance 0 of 7

TSR below peersNo
1 of 5 years
3+ of last 5 years
High CEO pay despite TSRNo
—
Median CEO pay ≥ $15M while TSR trails
Earnings not backed by cashNo
29× net income
Cash flow under 80% of net income
Dilutive SBCNo
3% of revenue
Over 10% of revenue
Payouts exceed cash flowNo
28% of cash flow
Buybacks + dividends over cash flow
Goodwill-heavyNo
0% of assets
Over 40% of assets
Shareholder dissentNo
93% lowest support
Any vote under 80% support

Buyer economics 4 of 4

Low revenue per employeeYes
$306K · 6th pct
Bottom quartile of its SIC industry
Quiet on AIYes
0.3 per 10K words · 14th pct
Bottom quartile of AI mentions in 10-Ks
Net cashYes
Net cash · 7.4× EBITDA
More cash than debt, positive EBITDA
Buyout-sizedYes
$3.9B market cap
Market cap $500M–$5B

Catalysts 1 of 2

Active 13DYes
1 filing
Active-intent 13D in 18 months
Net insider sellingNo
−$4M net
Net sales over $10M in 12 months

Financials

Metric	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025	YoY	Trend
Revenue	$5.2B	$5.3B	$1.2B	$1.2B	$1.1B	9.0%
Operating income	$261M	$122M	−$683M	−$191M	−$97M	49%
Net income	$188M	$72M	−$487M	−$26M	$20M	176%
Operating cash flow	$1.1B	$1.2B	$1.1B	$1.1B	$590M	49%
Capex	$1.1B	$1.2B	$643M	$365M	$391M	6.9%
Stock-based comp	$49M	$42M	$20M	$18M	$27M	48%
Buybacks	$8M	$40M	$6M	$0	$108M

Deal filings

None.

13D filers

Filed	Filer	Form	Stake	Intent
Sep 2, 2026	Trustees of Amendment & Restatement (dated as of April 22, 2005) of Voting Trust under Agreement dated as of June 30, 1989	SCHEDULE 13D/A	11.7%	Passive
May 8, 2026	TELEPHONE & DATA SYSTEMS INC VOTING TRUST 1989	SCHEDULE 13D/A	11.9%	Passive
Aug 5, 2025	TELEPHONE & DATA SYSTEMS INC VOTING TRUST 1989	SCHEDULE 13D/A	11.7%	Active
Jul 3, 2024	TELEPHONE & DATA SYSTEMS INC VOTING TRUST 1989	SC 13D/A	11.9%	Passive
May 29, 2024	TELEPHONE & DATA SYSTEMS INC VOTING TRUST 1989	SC 13D/A	12.0%	Passive
Aug 4, 2023	TELEPHONE & DATA SYSTEMS INC VOTING TRUST 1989	SC 13D/A	11.9%	Active
Jul 2, 2019	GAMCO INVESTORS, INC. ET AL	SC 13D/A	4.8%	Active

Insider trading

Open-market buys, 12 mo: $0 · 0
Open-market sells, 12 mo: $4M · 4
Net: −$4M

Pay vs performance

Year	CEO total comp	Comp actually paid	TSR (indexed)	Peer TSR
FY2025	—	—	261	124
FY2024	—	—	216	116
FY2023	—	—	114	89
FY2022	—	—	61	86
FY2021	—	—	112	91