Deutsche Telekom beats core profit expectations, sees mixed outlook for 2026

By Emanuele Berro and Danny Callaghan

Feb 26 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom DTEGn.DE beat fourth-quarter core profit expectations on Thursday, driven by a slight recovery of its home market, but presented a mixed forecast for financial year 2026.

The Germany-based telecoms operator reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortization after leases (EBITDA AL) of 10.8 billion euros ($12.8 billion), above a company-provided analyst consensus of 10.7 billion euros.

Its shares traded flat at 0900 GMT.

The operator estimated a better-than-expected core profit of 47.4 billion euros for 2026 but free cash flow after leases of 19.8 billion euros was slightly below analyst consensus.

After several quarters of sluggish performance, the group's home market of Germany showed first signs of recovery, as its revenue and core profit rose respectively by 2.7% and 2.5% compared to the same quarter of 2024.

"The great news is that German trends are better in Q4," Oddo BHF analyst Stéphane Beyazian told Reuters, pointing to a turnaround in broadband sales. "Germany has been a key concern in 2025."

On a yearly basis, Deutsche Telekom's key growth driver was its U.S. subsidiary T-Mobile TMUS.O, which saw a 4.1% revenue increase in 2025, despite the impact of a weaker US dollar on earnings.

Rising demand for premium plans and bundles boosted T-Mobile's quarterly revenue above estimates earlier in February, prompting it to raise its 2027 revenue and free cash flow forecasts, although it missed consensus for new monthly-paying phone customers.

The German telecoms group is accelerating its AI push and has launched one of Europe's largest AI factories in cooperation with Nvidia NVDA.O. It is also in talks with unlisted retailer Schwarz to submit a joint application for billions of euros of EU funding available for the construction of AI gigafactories.

($1 = 0.8462 euros)