Deutsche Telekom Faces a Two-Pronged Test as Q2 Report Collides With Starlink Jitters
Published on 08/06/2026 at 04:51 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The timing could hardly be less convenient. Just as Deutsche Telekom prepares to open its books for the second quarter, a fresh competitive threat across the Atlantic has sent ripples through the entire US telecom sector — and the German giant's stock is feeling the squeeze.
Shares of Deutsche Telekom closed Wednesday at €27.45, down 1.75 percent, as investors weighed the implications of SpaceX's aggressive push into mobile services. Elon Musk's satellite company rattled US carriers earlier in the week after confirming plans to enter the wireless market, a move underpinned by a $19.6 billion deal to acquire mobile spectrum from EchoStar. The announcement wiped roughly $12.4 billion in combined market value off AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile US on Wednesday alone, with AT&T shedding $3.3 billion of that total. AT&T fell 2.0 percent to $22.91, Verizon dropped 2.5 percent, and T-Mobile lost 2.2 percent.
A Numbers Day With Extra Weight
Thursday's earnings release — covering the period through June 30 — was always going to be a closely watched event. But the Starlink headlines have sharpened the focus considerably. Analysts are looking for earnings per share of €0.561, a 3.89 percent improvement over the year-ago figure of €0.540. Revenue is projected to reach €29.95 billion, up 4.46 percent from €28.67 billion in the same quarter last year.
The full-year consensus is equally upbeat: 15 analysts see EPS of €2.23 versus €1.97 in 2025, while 13 forecast annual revenue of €122.95 billion, ahead of last year's €119.08 billion.
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Yet the report lands against a backdrop of lingering disappointment. News from the previous Monday that a merger with T-Mobile US would not materialize has weighed on sentiment ever since, leaving the stock roughly 2.3 percent lower in the days since. That combination — dashed merger hopes compounded by a credible new competitive threat — raises the stakes for management's commentary on customer trends and the competitive landscape in the US market.
AT&T, for its part, moved quickly to reassure investors, reaffirming its 2026 free-cash-flow target of at least $18 billion despite the turbulence. The carrier also reported 432,000 net new postpaid subscribers in the second quarter, with churn holding at 0.86 percent.
Buybacks Continue in the Background
While the market's attention is fixed on Thursday's numbers, Deutsche Telekom has been quietly pressing ahead with its share repurchase program. Between July 20 and July 24, the company bought back 1,353,640 of its own shares on Xetra, bringing the total since the current tranche began on July 1 to 5,026,915 shares. The weighted average purchase price during that window ranged between €26.02 and €27.01.
The buyback activity is part of a broader capital-return strategy: a €2 billion program announced for this year, which follows a roughly €2 billion program completed in 2025. How long the company can sustain that pace will depend in part on the free-cash-flow and leverage figures due out Thursday — metrics investors are likely to scrutinize closely.
A Partial Recovery, Still Far From the Peak
The stock's recent trajectory tells a story of incomplete healing. Despite the 1.75 percent dip on Wednesday, the shares remain up 6.40 percent over the past 30 trading days — a recovery that follows a sharp slide to a 52-week low of €23.54 at the end of June. But even with that bounce, the stock sits more than 20 percent below its 52-week high of €34.35, reached on February 27. On a twelve-month view, the shares are still down over 12 percent.
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The chart picture, in other words, remains ambiguous: enough momentum to suggest a floor has been found, but not enough to signal a decisive trend reversal. Wednesday's session was itself a busy one for European markets, with Vonovia, Siemens Energy and DHL all reporting on the same day, while the DAX had just set a fresh all-time high.
That mix of macro strength at home and competitive pressure from abroad makes Thursday's report something of a referendum on whether Deutsche Telekom can hold the ground it has regained. The market will be listening not just for the numbers, but for how management frames the Starlink challenge — and whether the US growth engine can keep humming without the merger that once promised to accelerate it.
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