Deutsche Telekom raised its 2026 guidance for a third time this year after third-quarter profit beat expectations, powered by its American mobile business and steady growth at home.

Revenue rose 5.5% in organic terms to €31.1 billion in the three months to September, while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation after leases climbed 8% to €12.2 billion. Adjusted net profit increased 12.7% to €3.0 billion, and free cash flow after leases edged up 1.4% to €5.7 billion.

The Bonn-based group now expects adjusted EBITDA after leases of around €47.6 billion for 2026, up from around €47.5 billion previously, and free cash flow after leases of around €20.1 billion, up from around €20.0 billion. It also plans to raise its dividend by 10% to €1.10 per share and buy back up to €2 billion of shares in 2027.

T-Mobile drives the growth

T-Mobile US again supplied most of the momentum. The American unit added 274,000 postpaid accounts in the quarter, taking the total to nearly 35 million, with service revenue up 6.3% to $19.4 billion and adjusted EBITDA after leases up 11.4% to $9.4 billion.

In Germany, revenue rose 3.9% to €6.6 billion, with 190,000 new fibre-optic customers and 284,000 new branded mobile contract customers in the quarter. Profits in the group's other European markets have now risen for 35 consecutive quarters.

"Our strong figures are setting benchmarks in our industry," said chief executive Tim Höttges. "The consistently impressive results we have delivered for many years now bear testimony to the success of our strategy."

The shares slipped about 2% on the day, as some investors judged the buyback smaller than hoped.