The Zhitong Finance App learned that T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS.US), one of the largest wireless telecom operators in the US, has formulated a new shareholder return plan with an initial set amount of up to 14 billion US dollars. The plan will continue until December 31, 2025.

According to information, the plan, called “Shareholder Return 2025,” is expected to include an additional share repurchase scale and increased payment of cash dividends. Furthermore, the specific amount used to repurchase shares will be reduced in response to an increase in the amount of cash dividends declared and paid by the company.

The new plan fully complements the shareholder return plan announced by the company last year, which will run until December 31, 2024.

As discussed by the company's management on Capital Markets Day, T-Mobile US expects its business plan to support up to $80 billion in investment and return on capital between September 18, 2024 and the end of 2027, of which up to 50 billion dollars may be used for share repurchases and cash dividends.

In terms of stock prices, T-Mobile, which has the title of “cash bully,” can be called an “eternal classic” of the US stock market — that is, there will always be a continuous influx of capital into the stock. It has achieved a strong rise every year since 2022, and the stock price trend shows a very classic “long bull profile”. After a period of consolidation, its stock price was able to continue to reach record highs. Since this year, the company's stock price has risen by as much as 50%, continuously reaching record highs.

In the results and future outlook announced at the end of October, in addition to raising user and profit indicators, T-Mobile also raised the adjusted free cash flow for the full year of 2024 (including payment of consolidated related costs) in the performance outlook, which is expected to be between $16.7 billion and $17 billion, up from $16.6 billion to $17 billion previously. The adjusted free cash flow guidance does not assume any significant net cash inflows from securitization. According to performance data, T-Mobile's adjusted free cash flow reached 5.2 billion US dollars in the third quarter, a record high for the company, with a year-on-year increase of about 29% and a month-on-month increase of 16%, all of which ranked among the highest in the industry.

At a time when the global stock market plummeted in 2022, T-Mobile bucked the trend by 20% due to strong free cash flow reserves and strong performance in a high interest rate environment. After rising about 15% in 2023, T-Mobile's stock price has risen as much as 50% since this year. Currently, the total market value is hovering around 270 billion US dollars.

At a time when the global stock market is plummeting, the stock price performance of telecom giants such as T-Mobile can be described as being stronger than 95% of stocks and bucking the trend. The main reason is that telecom giants' rock-solid fundamentals, especially the size of free cash flow reserves, and Warren Buffett, who has the title of “stock god,” has mentioned many times that the company's extremely abundant free cash flow reserves are one of the core stock selection principles he has been adhering to for a long time.