Deutsche Telekom AG

Deutsche Telekom's share price has more than doubled over the past five years, transforming from a low-teens "cheap defensive" into a higher-quality 5G/fiber and T-Mobile US-leveraged compounder, now trading at 32.72 as of 2026-02-22. The narrative shifted from restructuring and de-leveraging toward growth, capital returns, and sustained dividend visibility.

2020–2021: TMUS Scale-Up and Covid Defensive

The Sprint–T-Mobile US merger completed and integrated during this period, making Deutsche Telekom the controlling shareholder in a fast-growing U.S. operator and structurally lifting group revenue and EBITDA. Covid-19 reinforced telecom's defensive status; Deutsche Telekom delivered rising sales and EBITDA, underpinning dividends and supporting a gradual re-rating from "value trap" toward "defensive yield plus U.S. growth."

The investor narrative shifted from "ex-growth European incumbent" to "hidden U.S. growth story with a solid dividend," as T-Mobile US became the group's main earnings driver. Management emphasized de-leveraging using TMUS cash flows. The stock moved from low-teens levels (roughly €13–15) into a sustained uptrend, establishing a higher trading range in the mid- to high-teens by late 2021.

2022: Inflation, Rates, and Infrastructure Story

Inflation and rising rates arrived, but Deutsche Telekom's top line and EBITDA continued to grow, with group net sales increasing and EBITDA climbing above €40bn, reinforcing its infrastructure-style cash-flow profile. The company pushed 5G rollout and German fiber investments, framing itself as a long-duration network asset rather than a low-growth utility, which helped differentiate it from weaker European peers.

Investor perception evolved toward "defensive compounder": relatively predictable earnings, inflation-linked pricing in some markets, and a strong TMUS stake offsetting European headwinds. The share entered a broad sideways-to-up range, with pullbacks during market risk-off episodes but repeatedly finding support above prior years' lows.

2023: Volatility, Competition Jitters, and Rebound

Quarterly revenues remained in the high-€27–29bn band, and EPS prints around €0.37–0.46 per quarter broadly met expectations. However, the stock experienced a sharp sell-off around June amid fears of big-tech or satellite-based competition in connectivity. Mid-2023 saw an 8–10% one-day drop linked to rumors of Amazon offering connectivity to Prime members, highlighting how sentiment could swing on competitive headlines even when fundamentals remained stable.

The narrative temporarily tilted toward "underappreciated but headline-sensitive telco," as some investors questioned long-term pricing power in consumer connectivity while others focused on resilient cash flow and dividends. The stock showed a notable downdraft in early June followed by stabilization; dip-buyers used the dislocation to add exposure, setting up for later breakouts.

2024: Guidance, Growth Plan, and Breakout

Deutsche Telekom delivered quarterly revenues around €27.9–30.9bn and EPS of roughly €0.45–0.50, including a Q2 EPS beat of about 19% versus forecasts. At its 2024 Capital Markets Day, management presented a plan to "accelerate growth," emphasizing 5G, fiber build-out, AI-ready infrastructure, and continued monetization of the TMUS stake while maintaining attractive shareholder returns.

Investor perception increasingly moved toward a "quality telecom compounder" with a visible multi-year capex and dividend framework. Stronger earnings prints and clearer medium-term guidance underpinned a breakout from the prior multi-year range, with the stock moving into the high-20s and then low-30s, forming new support zones above previous resistance levels.

2025–Early 2026: Highs, Capital Returns, and Current Phase

By 2025, Deutsche Telekom's 5-year price performance exceeded 100%, supported by steady sales growth, expanding EBITDA, and significantly higher net income versus 2020. Guidance pointed to further EBITDA growth and capital returns through dividends and share buybacks, with analyses highlighting sustained TMUS-driven earnings and European fiber/5G scale as key drivers for ongoing cash generation.

The stock came to be viewed as a "core holding" in European telcos: not a high-flyer, but a relatively reliable, dividend-backed compounder with material U.S. exposure and infrastructure characteristics. The name traded in an elevated range with pullbacks from peaks, retests of breakout zones, and a subsequent recovery to around 32.72, keeping the longer-term uptrend intact.