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Telephone and Data Systems (TDS) Competitors

Telephone and Data Systems logo
$38.58 -0.23 (-0.59%)
Closing price 10/16/2025 03:59 PM Eastern
Extended Trading
$38.53 -0.05 (-0.13%)
As of 10/16/2025 04:35 PM Eastern
Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more.

TDS vs. USM, BB, SHEN, SPOK, CCI, SBAC, LNT, KEP, SBS, and WTRG

Should you be buying Telephone and Data Systems stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Telephone and Data Systems include United States Cellular (USM), BlackBerry (BB), Shenandoah Telecommunications (SHEN), Spok (SPOK), Crown Castle (CCI), SBA Communications (SBAC), Alliant Energy (LNT), Korea Electric Power (KEP), Companhia de saneamento Basico Do Estado De Sao Paulo - Sabesp (SBS), and Essential Utilities (WTRG).

Telephone and Data Systems vs. Its Competitors

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) and United States Cellular (NYSE:USM) are both mid-cap wireless telecommunication services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Telephone and Data Systems has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United States Cellular has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Telephone and Data Systems has higher revenue and earnings than United States Cellular. United States Cellular is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Telephone and Data Systems, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings Ratio
Telephone and Data Systems$4.96B0.89-$28M-$0.97-39.77
United States Cellular$3.71B1.78-$39M-$0.30-259.60

United States Cellular has a net margin of -0.68% compared to Telephone and Data Systems' net margin of -0.85%. United States Cellular's return on equity of 1.68% beat Telephone and Data Systems' return on equity.

Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets
Telephone and Data Systems-0.85% 0.92% 0.32%
United States Cellular -0.68%1.68%0.74%

80.0% of Telephone and Data Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.0% of United States Cellular shares are owned by institutional investors. 15.0% of Telephone and Data Systems shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of United States Cellular shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Telephone and Data Systems presently has a consensus price target of $52.00, suggesting a potential upside of 34.78%. United States Cellular has a consensus price target of $85.33, suggesting a potential upside of 9.57%. Given Telephone and Data Systems' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Telephone and Data Systems is more favorable than United States Cellular.

Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score
Telephone and Data Systems
0 Sell rating(s)
2 Hold rating(s)
2 Buy rating(s)
0 Strong Buy rating(s)
2.50
United States Cellular
0 Sell rating(s)
0 Hold rating(s)
3 Buy rating(s)
0 Strong Buy rating(s)
3.00

In the previous week, Telephone and Data Systems had 9 more articles in the media than United States Cellular. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Telephone and Data Systems and 1 mentions for United States Cellular. Telephone and Data Systems' average media sentiment score of 0.92 beat United States Cellular's score of 0.00 indicating that Telephone and Data Systems is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment
Telephone and Data Systems
4 Very Positive mention(s)
0 Positive mention(s)
3 Neutral mention(s)
0 Negative mention(s)
0 Very Negative mention(s)
Positive
United States Cellular
0 Very Positive mention(s)
0 Positive mention(s)
1 Neutral mention(s)
0 Negative mention(s)
0 Very Negative mention(s)
Neutral

Summary

Telephone and Data Systems beats United States Cellular on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time

This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding TDS and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
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Media Sentiment Over Time

This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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TDS vs. The Competition

MetricTelephone and Data SystemsWireline IndustryUtilities SectorNYSE Exchange
Market Cap$4.46B$4.46B$17.17B$21.97B
Dividend Yield0.41%0.41%4.60%3.59%
P/E Ratio-39.77N/A58.0432.64
Price / Sales0.890.8933.5282.90
Price / Cash4.424.4219.3224.53
Price / Book0.920.922.304.62
Net Income-$28M-$28M$748.50M$1.01B
7 Day Performance0.60%0.60%1.23%1.64%
1 Month Performance0.60%0.60%8.92%-0.07%
1 Year Performance52.73%52.73%68.01%11.46%

Telephone and Data Systems Competitors List

CompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)
TDS
Telephone and Data Systems
3.345 of 5 stars
$38.58
-0.6%
$52.00
+34.8%
+51.5%$4.46B$4.96B-39.777,900News Coverage
Analyst Revision
USM
United States Cellular
2.207 of 5 stars
$77.88
+4.9%
$85.33
+9.6%
+30.5%$6.62B$3.71B-259.594,100High Trading Volume
BB
BlackBerry
2.7112 of 5 stars
$4.56
+1.7%
$5.10
+12.0%
+73.2%$2.69B$536.60M-455.501,820
SHEN
Shenandoah Telecommunications
2.4937 of 5 stars
$13.30
+1.4%
$26.00
+95.5%
-5.9%$729.64M$328.06M-23.751,089
SPOK
Spok
3.9355 of 5 stars
$15.69
+0.4%
$20.00
+27.5%
+5.9%$323.07M$140.74M18.90380Analyst Forecast
CCI
Crown Castle
4.6944 of 5 stars
$96.13
-1.5%
$115.76
+20.4%
-15.3%$41.86B$6.57B-9.013,900Positive News
Upcoming Earnings
Analyst Forecast
Short Interest ↓
SBAC
SBA Communications
4.7667 of 5 stars
$188.12
-0.5%
$249.07
+32.4%
-20.6%$20.20B$2.68B23.901,720News Coverage
Analyst Forecast
LNT
Alliant Energy
4.0684 of 5 stars
$67.66
-0.1%
$66.78
-1.3%
+8.5%$17.39B$4.14B20.882,998Positive News
Analyst Forecast
KEP
Korea Electric Power
2.008 of 5 stars
$12.70
+1.5%
N/A+90.1%$16.30B$68.46B3.6248,440News Coverage
SBS
Companhia de saneamento Basico Do Estado De Sao Paulo - Sabesp
2.3753 of 5 stars
$22.64
+1.7%
N/A+46.2%$15.47B$6.70B7.8310,552
WTRG
Essential Utilities
4.7189 of 5 stars
$39.75
-2.4%
$45.17
+13.6%
+2.2%$11.15B$2.34B17.063,291Positive News

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This page (NYSE:TDS) was last updated on 10/17/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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