CMCSA vs TDS Stock Comparison

Comcast and Telephone & Data Systems Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CMCSA Comcast Corp
$22.69 +0.6% 1M -22.6% 1Y
Market cap
$78.42B
P/E
6.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$123.01B
Div. yield
–
Broadband and Cable Communication Services
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Telephone & Data Systems leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Telephone & Data Systems 6, Comcast 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCMCSATDSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $78.42B $4.10B CMCSA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 6.9x 11.8x CMCSA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 6.7x 9.1x CMCSA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -0.2% +3.8% TDS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.2% 27.7% TDS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 7.8% 6.6% CMCSA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.4x -1.8x TDS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -22.6% -8.1% TDS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -16.0%/yr +12.8%/yr TDS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 34.1% 30.6% TDS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 66/100 58/100 CMCSA

Percentile Scorecard

CMCSATDS

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCMCSATDS
Valuation 94 #4 of 49 52 #24 of 49
Growth 22 #36 of 46 60 #19 of 46
Profitability 67 #16 of 46 56 #21 of 46
Financial Health 61 #20 of 50 98 #2 of 50
Shareholder Returns 86 #6 of 36 23 #28 of 36
Overall 66 58
  • CMCSA ranked among 51 companies in Telecommunications
  • TDS ranked among 51 companies in Telecommunications

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCMCSATDSSPY
1 month +0.6%-3.0% -1.0%
3 months +1.7%+2.8% +2.9%
6 months -17.7%-21.8% +6.4%
Year to date -24.1%-13.8% +11.4%
1 year -22.6%-8.1% +13.1%
3 years -47.8%+90.6% +79.4%
3 years, per year -19.5%+24.0% +21.5%
5 years -58.2%+82.2% +67.7%
5 years, per year -16.0%+12.8% +10.9%
10 years -29.2%+33.1% +255.2%
10 years, per year -3.4%+2.9% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCMCSATDSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 34.1%30.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.9%30.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.040.51 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.66-0.26 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -61.9%-68.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -30.1%-25.7% -2.5%
52-week high $32.48$47.59 $779.14
52-week low $20.66$32.96 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCMCSATDS
P/E now vs peer median 7.1xmedian 11.6x 11.6xmedian 11.6x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 1.1x 3.2xmedian 1.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 4.8xmedian 6.9x 3.1xmedian 6.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 4.1xmedian 5.6x -9.6xmedian 5.6x
P/B now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 1.3x 0.8xmedian 1.3x
PEG now vs peer median -1.55median 0.24 0.15median 0.24

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCMCSATDS
Revenue $123.01B $1.26B
Gross profit – $746.62M
Operating income $18.10B $465.89M
Net income $11.32B $544.60M
Free cash flow $19.67B -$424.28M
EPS (diluted) $3.18 $3.00
Cash & equivalents $7.60B $2.19B
Total debt $87.40B $6.26B
Shares (diluted) 3.56B 116.29M
Enterprise value $44.21B -$1.16B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCMCSATDS
P/E 7.1x 11.6x
P/FCF 4.1x -9.6x
P/Operating cash flow 2.5x 30.4x
P/S 0.7x 3.2x
P/B 0.9x 0.8x
P/Tangible book 2.4x 1.1x
EV/EBITDA 4.8x 3.1x
EV/EBIT 8.8x 5.5x
EV/Revenue 1.3x 2.0x
EV/FCF 8.1x -6.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 5.0x 19.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -1.55 0.15

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCMCSATDS
Revenue growth (1Y) -0.2% 3.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 0.6% -38.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 9.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – -35.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) -18.4% 360.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -8.1% 161.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -49.9% 1,371%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -9.3% 174.9%
EPS growth (1Y) -48.2% 413.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -4.6% 77.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -3.5% -88.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 3.7% -47.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -6.2% -139.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.2% -8.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCMCSATDS
Gross margin – 59.4%
EBITDA margin 27.3% 65.4%
Operating margin 14.7% 37.0%
Pretax margin 11.3% 61.4%
Net margin 9.2% 27.7%
FCF margin 16.0% -33.7%
Operating cash flow margin 25.8% 10.6%
Return on equity 11.9% 10.0%
Return on assets 4.2% 6.4%
Return on invested capital 7.8% 6.6%
Return on capital employed 8.0% 6.1%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.8x 0.2x
Stock comp / revenue 1.1% 1.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCMCSATDS
Debt / assets 33.9% 8.1%
Debt / equity 0.9x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.4x -1.8x
Debt / FCF 4.4x -1.6x
Liabilities / assets 64.1% 35.6%
Equity / assets 35.9% 64.4%
Interest coverage 4.3x 6.1x
Current ratio 0.8x 3.8x
Quick ratio 0.7x 3.7x
Cash ratio 0.2x 3.6x
Altman Z-score 1.31 1.74

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCMCSATDS
Dividend yield 5.8% 0.5%
Net buyback yield 5.0% –
Shareholder yield 10.9% 0.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 16.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) – -20.6%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 0.5%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -16.6%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCMCSATDS
Forward P/E 6.7xFY2026 9.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.39FY2026 $3.90FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -21.3%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +11.8% -94.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $114.87BFY2026 $1.32BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -7.1%FY2026 +7.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.8% -8.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCMCSATDS
Held by institutions 88.0% 92.5%
Institutions holding 1,884 348
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.7% +5.4%
Institutions buying 832 182
Institutions selling 858 113
Buyers to sellers 0.97 1.61

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CMCSATDS
CMCSA 1.00 0.18
TDS 0.18 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CMCSA and TDS?

Comcast (CMCSA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Comcast (CMCSA) $78.42B, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) $4.10B.

Which stock is cheaper, CMCSA and TDS?

Comcast (CMCSA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Comcast (CMCSA) 6.9x, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) 11.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Comcast (CMCSA) is cheapest (Comcast (CMCSA) 6.7x, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) 9.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Comcast (CMCSA) -0.2%, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) +3.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) has the highest net margin (Comcast (CMCSA) 9.2%, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) 27.7%). On return on invested capital, Comcast (CMCSA) leads (Comcast (CMCSA) 7.8%, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) 6.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) returned the most: Comcast (CMCSA) -22.6%, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) -8.1%. Over five years, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) compounded fastest (Comcast (CMCSA) -16.0%/yr, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) +12.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Comcast (CMCSA) 0.00%, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) 0.02%. Comcast (CMCSA) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) has been the steadiest (Comcast (CMCSA) 34.1%, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) 30.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do CMCSA and TDS move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.18, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, CMCSA and TDS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.