The case for & against
Bull & Bear analysis
Bearish
PLDT Inc. (NYSE: PHI) is the oldest and largest integrated telecommunications and digital services provider in the Philippines, headquartered in Makati City. The company predominantly operates through three segments: Wireless, Fixed Line, and Others, providing a wide array of services including mobile communications, fixed-line broadband, enterprise ICT solutions, cloud computing, and cybersecurity. PLDT is strategically focused on advancing the Philippines' digital economy and enhancing its technological infrastructure, positioning itself as a vital connectivity backbone in a growing digital ecosystem.
Bull says
- ↑Service revenue: ₱212.2B (+2% YoY) driven by mobile data & fiber.
- ↑EBITDA margin robust at 52%, indicating operational efficiency.
- ↑Maya turns profitable with ₱0.7B net income; deposits +49%.
- ↑CapEx ~₱55B planned through 2026 to expand network infrastructure.
- ↑Fiber net additions of 392k subscribers (+98% YoY) boost growth.
- ↑Strong earnings and dividend yields, solid profitability metrics.
Bear says
- ↓Telco core income fell to ₱33.9B (−3% YoY) due to higher financing costs and depreciation.
- ↓Negative growth and earnings revision factors signal stagnation risk.
- ↓Net debt at ₱289B with 2.61× net debt/EBITDA heightens leverage risk.
- ↓Regulatory changes under the Conectadong Pinoy Act may erode market share.
- ↓Wireless revenue stagnates amid intense competition and churn risk.
- ↓Unfavorable liquidity and elevated short interest could pressure shares.
Earnings Call · Q4 2024 · Mgmt. Guidance
Updated 07-10-2026neutral
Transcript signals
Bull points
- PLDT Home has maintained an industry-leading churn rate of 1.7% in stable ARPU, which reflects effective customer retention initiatives that are key to sustaining growth.
- In fact, you're going to see a very strong reduction in our copper subscribers, even just in the month of January alone. We have a mandate to significantly finish the migration by mid-year or third quarter of next year.
- We do know that we do have targets, we do have budget numbers, and they're showing increases in revenues and profitability for 2025.
Bear points
- So we saw some subscriber losses on prepaid in the fourth quarter, raising concerns about our mobile subscriber base and potential impacts on future revenue.
- drag of legacy services continue to decline and hopefully by next year will be completely wiped out.
- We've seen some softness in the market, not only telcos, but also in the power business and so forth. And we're not quite sure why that is so at this stage.
Read full transcript analysis ›