Deutsche Telekom shares rise after T-Mobile merger delay report

Deutsche Telekom shares climbed 2.8% in Thursday’s session after Bloomberg News reported that the German carrier stepped back from submitting a formal bid to acquire its U.S. subsidiary T-Mobile US outright, with the pause attributed to resistance from its works council and concerns about diluting the German federal government’s influence over any combined entity.

Investors appeared to interpret the delay as relief from the dilution risk that would have accompanied a large all-stock deal. The report added that Deutsche Telekom opted against submitting a formal bid "for the time being," while the plan is paused rather than abandoned, and that an offer could return later. Deutsche Telekom had been studying a full combination with T-Mobile US since at least April 2026 in what would have been the largest public merger on record.

T-Mobile reported third-quarter 2026 results after Wednesday’s close: adjusted EPS of $3.22 beat the $2.89 analyst consensus, while revenue of $23.58 billion topped the $23.15 billion forecast. Net income rose 27% year-over-year to $3.5 billion and T-Mobile raised its annual free-cash-flow forecast.

The carrier added 274,000 postpaid net accounts in the quarter, ahead of the 251,917 additions analysts polled by Visible Alpha had anticipated.

T-Mobile CEO Srini Gopalan called it "another strong quarter" and said the results were "further proof that our winning formula of the best network, best value, and best experiences drives durable and profitable growth," according to the company’s earnings release.

TMUS shares were indicated roughly 2.83% higher in premarket trading at $152.27 ahead of Thursday’s open, as the market absorbed the post-close earnings beat.