TELEPHONE & DATA SYSTEMS INC /DE/ (TDS) — payout ratio, three ways
Fiscal year ending 2025-12-31 · sector Communications · computed from SEC filings, not taken from a data vendor.
| Basis | Payout | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|
| GAAP earnings | negative | The company lost $0.65 per share, so there are no earnings to pay a dividend out of and no ratio exists. |
| Operating cash flow | 14.9% | Before capital spending, so it understates the payout that free cash flow shows. |
| Free cash flow | 44.0% | What is left after maintaining the business. |
Spread between highest and lowest: 29 percentage points. Same filings, different denominators.
The arithmetic
- GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $0.16 ÷ diluted EPS $-0.65
- Operating cash flow — dividends paid $87.7m ÷ operating cash flow $589.9m
- Free cash flow — dividends paid $87.7m ÷ (operating cash flow $589.9m − capex $390.5m)
Where the figures came from
- 10-K filed 2026-02-24 · accession
0001051512-26-000011
Every one is public at sec.gov and free to check. That is the point — you should not have to take my word for any of it.
Caveats on this company
- DPS $0.16 filed as declared, but dividends paid imply $0.74 — one of the two underlying facts is wrong. The filed per-share figure is used.
Computed by an open pipeline reading SEC XBRL directly. If any number here looks wrong to you, tell me — that is more useful to me than agreement.