How to Buy Telephone & Data Systems Stock
Telephone & Data Systems Inc
Telephone & Data Systems is a telecom company located in Illinois, United States, which is part of the Communication Services sector, and is traded under the ticker TDS on the NYSE exchange.
Telephone & Data Systems stock last closed at $42.06, up 1.55% from the previous day, and has increased 21.42% in one year. It has overperformed other stocks in the Telecom Services industry by 0.35 percentage points. Telephone & Data Systems stock is currently +29.02% from its 52-week low of $32.60, and -14.37% from its 52-week high of $49.12.
As of May 19, 2026, there are 113.5M TDS shares outstanding. The market cap of TDS is $4.77B. In the past 24 hours, 934,000 TDS shares were traded.
How to Buy Telephone & Data Systems Stock
Not sure how to invest in Telephone & Data Systems stock? Here's how.
- Decide where to buy Telephone & Data Systems stock: You need to pick an online brokerage, but don't worry - we've tested dozens of online stock brokerages and apps to help you decide where to buy Telephone & Data Systems stock.
- Create a brokerage account: Sign up for 0% fee trading with the highest-rated brokerage we've identified.
- Fund your brokerage account: Select your method of payment and add your information.
- Analyze Telephone & Data Systems stock: The Telephone & Data Systems ticker symbol is TDS. Is Telephone & Data Systems stock a good investment? Should you buy shares of TDS? How do TDS's underlying business fundamentals look? Do top analysts think Telephone & Data Systems is a good buy? Why has TDS's stock price moved recently? (Hint: Our stock research tools can help you figure out if TDS is a good stock to buy).
- Place your TDS buy order: Decide if you will purchase TDS shares at the current market price or use a limit order to purchase TDS shares at a specific price.
- Get updates on your TDS investment: Create a watchlist to important notifications about your position in Telephone & Data Systems stock.
Step 1: Decide where to buy Telephone & Data Systems stock
You will need an online brokerage account to access the NYSE market and buy TDS shares.
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Open eToro AccountStep 2: Create a brokerage account
Now that you've selected the right brokerage, you need to fill out some personal information so you can buy TDS today.
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Step 3: Fund your brokerage account
Now that you've created your account on a investment app, you can securely and quickly fund your account:
Watch this video walkthrough to see the process of transferring money into your new investment account.
Step 4: Analyze Telephone & Data Systems stock
After you have identified the best place to buy Telephone & Data Systems stock, it's important to analyze their stock prior to investing, so you can wrap your head around the risk and upside.
Telephone & Data Systems stock quick numbers
TDS Due Diligence Score
WallStreetZen was created to help average investors do more in-depth fundamental analysis in minutes instead of hours.
You can see all of the due diligence checks on TDS's stock page.
What is the fair value of TDS stock?
Investors use many financial metrics, analyses, models, and charts to gauge TDS's true value.
Using relative valuations measures:
- TDS may be overvalued based on its P/E ratio of 76.47x, relative to Telecom Services industry P/E ratio of 7.33x
- TDS may be undervalued based on its P/B ratio of 0.97x, relative to Telecom Services industry P/B ratio of 1.82x
You can access additional valuation research on TDS's stock here.
A look at TDS Cashflows and Balance Sheet
Signs that TDS is financially healthy:
- TDS profit margin has gone up from -5.5% to 2.9% in the past year.
- There are more short-term assets than short-term liabilities on the TDS balance sheet.
- TDS's operating cash flow of $471.35M allows it to safely service it's debt of $1.25B.
- Total TDS debt is lower than 5 years ago, relative to shareholder equity.
Signs that TDS is not financially healthy:
- TDS earnings of $273.80M is not enough to cover its interest payments.
- There are more long-term liabilities than short-term assets on the TDS balance sheet.
- TDS has a relatively high debt to equity ratio of 0.6.
Is it a good time to buy Telephone & Data Systems stock, according to Wall Street analysts?
Out of 1 Wall Street analysts who give recommendations on TDS, the consensus analyst rating on Telephone & Data Systems is a Strong Buy
It's important to note that analyst ratings are not recommendations, nor are they financial advice.
You can dive deeper into what analysts are saying on the Telephone & Data Systems stock forecast page.
TDS Technicals
TDS Performance Metrics
Last year, TDS earnings were $62.40M. During the past five year, TDS's earnings have gone up by -21.63% per year. This was slower than the Telecom Services industry average of 9.9%.
Last year, TDS revenue was $2.13B. During the past five year, TDS's revenue has increased by -16.57% per year. This was slower than the Telecom Services industry average of 1.62%.
You can analyze TDS's earnings and revenue performance here.
Who is buying/selling TDS?
In the past year, executives and large shareholders at TDS have bought more shares than they have sold.
Leroy T. Carlson Jr., Vice Chair of TDS, was the latest TDS insider to buy. They bought $28,890,432.00 worth of TDS stock on May 17, 2026.
Dig into more about who owns TDS shares here.
Can I get consistent income from TDS stock?
Telephone & Data Systems pays a dividend of 0.38%, compared to the Telecom Services industry's average dividend yield of 3.4%. If you owned $1,000 worth of TDS stock, you would have received $3.80 in the past 12 months.
Telephone & Data Systems dividend payments have not consistently grown over the past decade and have not remained stable.
Get more analysis about Telephone & Data Systems dividend yield and history here.
What do other investors have to say about TDS?
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Step 5: Place your TDS buy order
There are two primary options:
- Market order: A market order is an order to buy or sell a stock at the best price on the market.
Market orders are mostly fine. - Limit order: A limit order enables you to buy or sell a stock at a specific price (or better).
If you want to be certain you're buying or selling at an exact dollar amount limit, place a limit order.
Press the Open Trade button and your broker will place your order.
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Step 6: Get updates on your TDS investment
Now that you own some TDS stock, you'll want to stay up-to-date on your stock purchase.
Put TDS on a watchlist to keep track of your TDS stock.
TDS Feed
How to Buy Stock in Telephone & Data Systems
To reiterate, here are the 6 steps for buying Telephone & Data Systems stock:
- Decide where to buy Telephone & Data Systems stock
- Create a brokerage account
- Fund your brokerage account
- Analyze Telephone & Data Systems stock
- Place your TDS buy order
- Get updates on your TDS investment
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