Top-line performance remains under pressure with revenue growth contracting to -6.6% in 2025Q3, while operating margins exhibit extreme volatility, fluctuating between -3.7% and 12.0% over the last two years.
| Metric | TTM | Dec'24 | Dec'23 | Dec'22 | Dec'21 | Dec'20 | Dec'19 | Dec'18 | Dec'17 | Dec'16 | Dec'15 | Dec'14 | Dec'13 | Dec'12 | Dec'11 | Dec'10 | Dec'09 | Dec'08 | Dec'07 | Dec'06 | Dec'05 | Dec'04 | Dec'03 | Dec'02 | Dec'01 | Dec'96 | Dec'95 | Dec'94 | Dec'90 | Dec'89 |
|---|
| Sales/Revenue | 38.27B | 41.31B | 40.65B | 39.99B | 39.28B | 43.08B | 48.42B | 48.69B | 52.01B | 52.04B | 47.22B | 50.38B | 57.06B | 62.36B | 64.94B | 66.61B | 58.38B | 57.95B | 56.44B | 52.9B | 37.85B | 31.19B | 29.03B | 29.19B | 31.95B | 12.28B | 11.15B | 10.73B | 6.51B | 5.47B |
| Revenue Growth % | -5.67% | 1.63% | 1.65% | 1.82% | -8.82% | -11.04% | -0.56% | -6.37% | -0.05% | 10.2% | -6.27% | -11.71% | -8.49% | -3.98% | -2.5% | 14.1% | 0.74% | 2.67% | 6.69% | 39.75% | 21.37% | 7.42% | -0.53% | -8.63% | 160.07% | 10.16% | 3.89% | 64.8% | 19.02% | - |
| Cost of Goods Sold | 6.23B | 12.56B | 20.42B | 12.16B | 11.49B | 12.14B | 12.74B | 14.01B | 15.02B | 15.24B | 12.91B | 15.18B | 17.04B | 18.07B | 18.26B | 17.61B | 35.77B | 17.82B | 17.91B | 16.63B | 18.35B | 7.55B | 6.27B | 6.95B | 7.18B | 2.79B | 1.78B | 1.68B | 2.24B | 2.5B |
| COGS % of Revenue | - | 30.39% | 50.23% | 30.4% | 29.25% | 28.19% | 26.32% | 28.78% | 28.88% | 29.29% | 27.34% | 30.14% | 29.86% | 28.99% | 28.11% | 26.43% | 61.28% | 30.75% | 31.73% | 31.43% | 48.49% | 24.22% | 21.58% | 23.82% | 22.49% | 22.71% | 15.97% | 15.67% | 34.44% | 45.65% |
| Gross Profit | 32.04B | 28.76B | 20.23B | 27.84B | 27.79B | 30.93B | 35.68B | 34.68B | 36.99B | 36.79B | 34.31B | 35.2B | 40.02B | 44.28B | 46.69B | 49B | 22.6B | 40.13B | 38.53B | 36.27B | 19.5B | 23.63B | 22.77B | 22.23B | 24.76B | 9.49B | 9.37B | 9.05B | 4.27B | 2.97B |
| Gross Margin % | 83.73% | 69.61% | 49.77% | 69.6% | 70.75% | 71.81% | 73.68% | 71.22% | 71.12% | 70.71% | 72.66% | 69.86% | 70.14% | 71.01% | 71.89% | 73.57% | 38.72% | 69.25% | 68.27% | 68.57% | 51.51% | 75.78% | 78.42% | 76.18% | 77.51% | 77.29% | 84.03% | 84.33% | 65.56% | 54.35% |
| Gross Profit Growth % | - | 42.13% | -27.31% | 0.16% | -10.17% | -13.29% | 2.87% | -6.23% | 0.52% | 7.24% | -2.52% | -12.06% | -9.62% | -5.15% | -4.72% | 116.79% | -43.67% | 4.14% | 6.24% | 86.03% | -17.5% | 3.81% | 2.4% | -10.21% | 160.81% | 1.34% | 3.52% | 111.97% | 43.59% | - |
| Operating Expenses | 29.39B | 26.36B | 17.64B | 23.78B | 14.2B | 26.8B | 31.14B | 28.18B | 30.33B | 31.58B | 31.95B | 28.74B | 30.57B | 32.78B | 36.62B | 32.53B | 8.96B | 44.07B | 22.41B | 26.85B | 10.95B | 16.4B | 16.45B | 17.2B | 19.33B | 7B | 6.87B | 6.37B | 2.98B | 2.03B |
| OpEx % of Revenue | - | 63.81% | 43.4% | 59.46% | 36.16% | 62.21% | 64.31% | 57.87% | 58.32% | 60.69% | 67.67% | 57.05% | 53.57% | 52.57% | 56.39% | 48.83% | 15.34% | 76.06% | 39.7% | 50.76% | 28.92% | 52.6% | 56.66% | 58.94% | 60.51% | 56.96% | 61.63% | 59.37% | 45.72% | 37.12% |
| Selling, General & Admin | 0 | 5.98B | 155M | 5.61B | 6.81B | 5.37B | 8.19B | 6.33B | 9.14B | 10.43B | 9.8B | 9.36B | 8.66B | 11.26B | 11.08B | 8.41B | 8.97B | 6.76B | 11.03B | 18.72B | 5.65B | 4.83B | 5.05B | 10.42B | 6.42B | 3.56B | 3.48B | 3.4B | 936.49M | 231.34M |
| SG&A % of Revenue | - | 14.47% | 0.38% | 14.03% | 17.35% | 12.46% | 16.91% | 13% | 17.58% | 20.04% | 20.75% | 18.59% | 15.17% | 18.05% | 17.06% | 12.63% | 15.36% | 11.67% | 19.54% | 35.38% | 14.93% | 15.49% | 17.4% | 35.69% | 20.08% | 28.97% | 31.23% | 31.64% | 14.38% | 4.23% |
| Research & Development | 0 | 647M | 741M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 947M | 862M | 906M | 1.05B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R&D % of Revenue | - | 1.57% | 1.82% | - | - | - | - | 1.94% | 1.66% | 1.74% | 2.23% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Operating Expenses | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Operating Income | 2.65B | 2.4B | 2.59B | 4.06B | 13.59B | 4.14B | 4.54B | 6.52B | 6.79B | 5.47B | 2.9B | 6.97B | 9.45B | 10.8B | 10.06B | 16.47B | 13.65B | 13.87B | 13.39B | 9.42B | 8.55B | 7.23B | 6.32B | 5.03B | 5.43B | 2.5B | 2.5B | 2.68B | 1.29B | 942.47M |
| Operating Margin % | 6.93% | 5.8% | 6.38% | 10.14% | 34.59% | 9.61% | 9.37% | 13.39% | 13.06% | 10.51% | 6.14% | 13.83% | 16.56% | 17.32% | 15.5% | 24.73% | 23.38% | 23.94% | 23.72% | 17.81% | 22.6% | 23.18% | 21.76% | 17.24% | 17% | 20.34% | 22.4% | 24.96% | 19.84% | 17.22% |
| Operating Income Growth % | - | -7.64% | -36.07% | -70.15% | 228.24% | -8.77% | -30.44% | -3.96% | 24.17% | 88.78% | -58.42% | -26.28% | -12.48% | 7.29% | -38.91% | 20.72% | -1.63% | 3.62% | 42.09% | 10.16% | 18.3% | 14.45% | 25.54% | -7.37% | 117.46% | 0.03% | -6.78% | 107.33% | 37.09% | - |
| EBITDA | 12.34B | 11.19B | 11.39B | 12.85B | 21.98B | 13.5B | 15.12B | 15.57B | 16.19B | 15.12B | 11.41B | 15.52B | 19.08B | 21.23B | 20.21B | 25.78B | 22.6B | 22.92B | 22.82B | 19.13B | 15.27B | 13.64B | 13.02B | 11.72B | 13.12B | 5.72B | 5.71B | 5.49B | 3.21B | 2.63B |
| EBITDA Margin % | 32.24% | 27.09% | 28.02% | 32.14% | 55.97% | 31.34% | 31.22% | 31.98% | 31.12% | 29.05% | 24.17% | 30.8% | 33.43% | 34.05% | 31.12% | 38.7% | 38.72% | 39.55% | 40.44% | 36.15% | 40.33% | 43.73% | 44.86% | 40.17% | 41.06% | 46.57% | 51.21% | 51.19% | 49.23% | 48.16% |
| EBITDA Growth % | 10.51% | -1.72% | -11.38% | -41.54% | 62.86% | -10.72% | -2.9% | -3.81% | 7.07% | 32.45% | -26.43% | -18.67% | -10.15% | 5.05% | -21.6% | 14.04% | -1.38% | 0.42% | 19.34% | 25.28% | 11.94% | 4.72% | 11.08% | -10.63% | 129.33% | 0.18% | 3.92% | 71.36% | 21.69% | - |
| D&A (Non-Cash Add-back) | 9.69B | 8.8B | 8.8B | 8.8B | 8.4B | 9.36B | 10.58B | 9.05B | 9.4B | 9.65B | 8.52B | 8.55B | 9.63B | 10.43B | 10.15B | 9.3B | 8.96B | 9.05B | 9.44B | 9.7B | 6.71B | 6.41B | 6.71B | 6.69B | 7.69B | 3.22B | 3.21B | 2.82B | 1.91B | 1.69B |
| EBIT | 4.62B | 3.56B | 1.54B | 5.99B | 14.12B | 5B | 5.51B | 8.26B | 7.96B | 7.72B | 5.32B | 7.15B | 9.33B | 9.89B | 10.1B | 17.23B | 13.97B | 14.56B | 14.24B | 10.64B | 9.03B | 6.37B | 6.32B | -13.01B | 3.64B | 2.5B | 2.5B | 2.68B | 1.29B | 942.47M |
| Net Interest Income | -1.72B | -2.02B | -1.92B | -1.23B | -1.41B | -1.74B | -1.95B | -1.23B | -2.29B | -2.71B | -2.34B | -2.52B | -2.67B | -3.06B | -2.78B | -2.54B | -2.77B | -2.8B | -2.84B | -2.73B | -1.63B | 0 | 0 | -1.59B | -1.61B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Interest Income | 0 | 980M | 924M | 1.8B | 614M | 677M | 842M | 1.46B | 1.07B | 1.77B | 2.08B | 992M | 933M | 963M | 827M | 792M | 3.9B | 7.02B | 703M | 1.14B | 792M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Interest Expense | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Income/Expense | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pretax Income | 547M | 557M | -1.47B | 2.96B | 12.1B | 2.58B | 2.72B | 5.57B | 4.6B | 3.25B | 311M | 3.63B | 6.28B | 5.86B | 6.49B | 13.9B | 10.39B | 10.91B | 10.68B | 6.76B | 6.79B | 4.39B | 3.36B | -14.6B | 1.76B | 1.33B | 1.11B | 887.14M | 711.8M | 716.44M |
| Pretax Margin % | 1.43% | 1.35% | -3.62% | 7.4% | 30.79% | 6% | 5.61% | 11.44% | 8.84% | 6.24% | 0.66% | 7.22% | 11.01% | 9.4% | 9.99% | 20.87% | 17.79% | 18.84% | 18.93% | 12.79% | 17.94% | 14.09% | 11.56% | -50.03% | 5.52% | 10.83% | 9.91% | 8.27% | 10.93% | 13.09% |
| Income Tax | 526M | 348M | -899M | 641M | 1.38B | 626M | 1.05B | 1.62B | 1.22B | 846M | 13M | 383M | 1.31B | 1.46B | 301M | 3.83B | 2.45B | 3.09B | 1.56B | 1.78B | 1.97B | 1.14B | 911.84M | -3.23B | -343.92M | 348.55M | 252.14M | 189.51M | 132.89M | 186.1M |
| Effective Tax Rate % | 96.16% | 62.48% | 61.03% | 21.66% | 11.39% | 24.24% | 38.78% | 29.1% | 26.52% | 26.07% | 4.18% | 10.54% | 20.88% | 24.91% | 4.64% | 27.54% | 23.59% | 28.3% | 14.65% | 26.34% | 28.97% | 25.9% | 27.17% | 22.11% | -19.5% | 26.21% | 22.81% | 21.36% | 18.67% | 25.98% |
| Net Income | -2.12B | -49M | -892M | 2.01B | 8.14B | 1.58B | 1.14B | 3.33B | 3.13B | 2.37B | 2.75B | 3B | 4.59B | 3.93B | 5.4B | 10.17B | 7.78B | 7.83B | 8.91B | 6.23B | 4.44B | 2.88B | 2.2B | -5.58B | 2.11B | 981.44M | 853.38M | 697.63M | 578.91M | 530.33M |
| Net Margin % | -5.53% | -0.12% | -2.19% | 5.03% | 20.72% | 3.67% | 2.36% | 6.84% | 6.02% | 4.55% | 5.81% | 5.96% | 8.05% | 6.3% | 8.32% | 15.26% | 13.32% | 13.51% | 15.78% | 11.78% | 11.74% | 9.22% | 7.58% | -19.11% | 6.6% | 7.99% | 7.65% | 6.5% | 8.89% | 9.69% |
| Net Income Growth % | -81.72% | 94.51% | -144.36% | -75.29% | 414.35% | 38.53% | -65.72% | 6.35% | 32.21% | -13.7% | -8.53% | -34.66% | 16.93% | -27.3% | -46.86% | 30.75% | -0.64% | -12.13% | 42.89% | 40.29% | 54.52% | 30.71% | 139.44% | -364.64% | 114.72% | 15.01% | 22.33% | 20.51% | 9.16% | - |
| Net Income (Continuing) | 21M | 209M | -574M | 2.32B | 10.72B | 1.96B | 1.66B | 3.95B | 3.38B | 2.4B | 751M | 3.31B | 4.53B | 4.4B | 6.19B | 10.07B | 7.94B | 7.83B | 9.12B | 4.98B | 4.7B | 3.35B | 2.2B | -11.37B | 1.84B | 981.44M | 853.38M | 697.63M | 578.91M | 530.33M |
| Discontinued Operations | -1000K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 442M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -425.03M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Minority Interest | 3.73B | 3.4B | 5.24B | 6.62B | 6.48B | 7.03B | 8.33B | 9.03B | 9.7B | 10.23B | 9.66B | 9.17B | 6.3B | 7.2B | 5.75B | 7.23B | 2.54B | 2.33B | 2.73B | 2.82B | 3.42B | 3.77B | 4.42B | 5.61B | 7.44B | 2.29B | 2.01B | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| EPS (Diluted) | -0.38 | -0.06 | -0.20 | 0.31 | 1.38 | 0.23 | 0.32 | 0.64 | 0.56 | 0.42 | 0.51 | 0.61 | 1.01 | 0.85 | 1.20 | 2.25 | 1.71 | 1.63 | 1.87 | 1.30 | 0.91 | 0.64 | 0.34 | -1.04 | 0.40 | 0.28 | 0.25 | 0.20 | 0.17 | 0.16 |
| EPS Growth % | -45.37% | 71.8% | -164.52% | -77.54% | 500% | -28.13% | -50% | 14.29% | 33.33% | -17.65% | -16.39% | -39.6% | 18.82% | -29.17% | -46.67% | 31.58% | 4.91% | -12.83% | 43.85% | 42.86% | 42.19% | 88.24% | 132.69% | -360% | 42.86% | 12% | 25% | 17.65% | 6.25% | - |
| EPS (Basic) | - | -0.06 | -0.26 | 0.31 | 1.38 | 0.23 | 0.33 | 0.65 | 0.56 | 0.42 | 0.51 | 0.61 | 1.01 | 0.85 | 1.20 | 2.25 | 1.71 | 1.63 | 1.87 | 1.30 | 0.91 | 0.64 | 0.34 | -1.04 | 0.40 | 0.28 | 0.25 | 0.20 | 0.17 | 0.16 |
| Diluted Shares Outstanding | 5.64B | 5.63B | 5.72B | 5.74B | 5.73B | 5.82B | 5.12B | 5.19B | 5.11B | 5.06B | 4.93B | 4.61B | 4.55B | 4.61B | 4.51B | 4.53B | 4.55B | 4.8B | 4.76B | 4.78B | 4.87B | 5.15B | 6.55B | 5.36B | 5.32B | 3.45B | 3.43B | 3.47B | 3.42B | 3.34B |
| Basic Shares Outstanding | 5.74B | 5.63B | 4.41B | 5.74B | 5.73B | 5.81B | 5.12B | 5.13B | 5.11B | 4.91B | 4.93B | 4.61B | 4.55B | 4.6B | 4.51B | 4.52B | 4.55B | 4.8B | 4.76B | 4.78B | 4.87B | 4.97B | 6.55B | 5.36B | 5.32B | 3.45B | 3.43B | 3.47B | 3.42B | 3.34B |
| Dividend Payout Ratio | - | - | - | 48.14% | 52.73% | 81.92% | 240.11% | 83.88% | 78.51% | 122.67% | 101.09% | 77.57% | 47.51% | 83.32% | 140.05% | 61.46% | 62.22% | 53.22% | 34.55% | 42.15% | 53.39% | 66.66% | 67.47% | - | 15.4% | 63.38% | 80.4% | 39.32% | 67.19% | 68.8% |
Revenue contraction and margin volatility
As indicated by the most recent quarterly filings, Telefónica's top-line performance has deteriorated significantly, with revenue growth falling to -6.6% in 2025Q3, marking a sustained period of negative momentum that challenges the company's ability to maintain its market share in core European and Latin American segments.
The consistent decline in quarterly revenue suggests that the company is struggling to offset competitive pressures from new market entrants and the saturation of its primary telecommunications markets. Investors should monitor whether this downward trajectory reflects a structural loss of pricing power or merely the impact of strategic divestments and currency headwinds.
Based on the provided financial data, Telefónica exhibits highly erratic gross margin reporting, oscillating between 28.9% and 100% over the last ten quarters, which complicates the assessment of underlying operational efficiency and suggests potential inconsistencies in how the company classifies its cost of goods sold.
The extreme variance in reported gross margins appears to indicate significant accounting adjustments or shifts in cost allocation methodologies rather than genuine operational shifts. This lack of stability in core profitability metrics makes it difficult to gauge the true impact of network maintenance costs on the company's bottom line.
According to the reported income statements, operating margins have remained under pressure, fluctuating between -3.7% and 12.0% over the past two years, which implies that the company is failing to achieve the necessary scale to consistently leverage its massive fixed-cost infrastructure base effectively.
The inability to maintain positive operating margins during periods of revenue decline suggests that the company's cost structure remains overly rigid. This lack of operating leverage warrants further investigation into whether management can successfully reduce overheads through the ongoing decommissioning of legacy copper networks.
As evidenced by the frequent swings between net profitability and significant quarterly losses, such as the -$2.2B net loss in 2023Q4, Telefónica's bottom-line performance appears heavily influenced by non-operating items and restructuring charges that mask the underlying health of the core telecommunications business.
The volatility in net income suggests that investors should focus more on operating cash flow rather than reported EPS, which is frequently distorted by one-off events. The recurring nature of these bottom-line swings may indicate that the company is still grappling with the legacy of its historical debt burden and asset impairment cycles.
While management emphasizes infrastructure density, the recent emergence of consolidated competitors like MasOrange suggests that Telefónica's historical moat in the Spanish market may be eroding, as evidenced by the persistent revenue declines observed in the most recent quarterly data provided in the financial statements.
Short-sellers would likely focus on the company's inability to stabilize revenue despite its significant capital investment in fiber networks. The risk remains that the company is trapped in a cycle of high capital expenditure requirements without a corresponding increase in high-margin service revenue, potentially leading to further margin compression.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying TEF stock.
For fiscal year 2024, Telefónica, S.A. (TEF) reported total revenue of $41.31B. This represents a 655.1% increase compared to $5.47B in 1989.
Telefónica, S.A. (TEF) reported a net loss of $49.0M for the fiscal year ending 2024.
Telefónica, S.A. (TEF) reported an operating income of $2.40B, resulting in an operating profit margin of 5.8%. This margin reflects the operational efficiency of the business before interest and taxes.
Telefónica, S.A. (TEF) generated $28.76B in gross profit for the year, representing a gross profit margin of 69.6%. This demonstrates the company's core pricing power and production efficiency.