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Graham Number is a figure that measures a stock's fundamental value by taking into account the company's earnings per share and book value per share. The Graham number is the upper bound of the price range that a defensive investor should pay for the stock. According to the theory, any stock price below the Graham number is considered undervalued, and thus worth investing in.
As of today (2025-04-09), the stock price of Telephone and Data Systems is $36.41. Telephone and Data Systems's graham number for the quarter that ended in Dec. 2024 was $N/A. Therefore, Telephone and Data Systems's Price to Graham Number ratio for today is N/A.
The historical rank and industry rank for Telephone and Data Systems's Graham Number or its related term are showing as below:
During the past 13 years, the highest Price to Graham Number ratio of Telephone and Data Systems was 11.65. The lowest was 0.77. And the median was 2.20.
Graham Number is a combination of asset valuation and earnings power valuation. It is a very conservative way of valuing a stock.
The historical data trend for Telephone and Data Systems's Graham Number can be seen below:
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
Telephone and Data Systems Annual Data | |||||||||||||||||||||
Trend | Dec15 | Dec16 | Dec17 | Dec18 | Dec19 | Dec20 | Dec21 | Dec22 | Dec23 | Dec24 | |||||||||||
Graham Number | Get a 7-Day Free Trial |
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24.06 | 1.73 | - | - | - |
Telephone and Data Systems Quarterly Data | ||||||||||||||||||||
Mar20 | Jun20 | Sep20 | Dec20 | Mar21 | Jun21 | Sep21 | Dec21 | Mar22 | Jun22 | Sep22 | Dec22 | Mar23 | Jun23 | Sep23 | Dec23 | Mar24 | Jun24 | Sep24 | Dec24 | |
Graham Number | Get a 7-Day Free Trial |
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For the Telecom Services subindustry, Telephone and Data Systems's Price-to-Graham-Number, along with its competitors' market caps and Price-to-Graham-Number data, can be viewed below:
* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.
For the Telecommunication Services industry and Communication Services sector, Telephone and Data Systems's Price-to-Graham-Number distribution charts can be found below:
* The bar in red indicates where Telephone and Data Systems's Price-to-Graham-Number falls into.
Graham Number is a concept based on Ben Graham's conservative valuation of companies.
Telephone and Data Systems's Graham Number for the fiscal year that ended in Dec. 2024 is calculated as
Graham Number | |||||
= | sqrt of (22.5 | * | Tangible Book per Share | * | EPS without NRI) |
= | sqrt of (22.5 | * | -6.4 | * | -0.11) |
= | N/A |
Telephone and Data Systems's Graham Number for the quarter that ended in Dec. 2024 is calculated as
Graham Number | |||||
= | sqrt of (22.5 | * | Tangible Book per Share | * | EPS without NRI (TTM)) |
= | sqrt of (22.5 | * | -6.4 | * | 0.153) |
= | N/A |
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) Graham Number Explanation
Ben Graham actually did not publish a formula like this. But he wrote in The Intelligent Investor (1948 version) regarding to the criteria for purchases:
Current price should not be more than 15 times average earnings of the past three years.
Current price should not be more than 1.5 times the book value last reported. However, a multiplier of earnings below 15 could justify a correspondingly higher multiplier of assets. As a rule of thumb we suggest that the product of the multiplier times the ratio of price to book value should not exceed 22.5. (This figure corresponds to 15 times earnings and 1.5 times book value. It would admit an issue selling at only 9 times earnings and 2.5 times asset value, etc.)
Unlike valuation methods such as DCF or Discounted Earnings, the Graham number does not take growth into the valuation. Unlike the valuation methods based on book value alone, it takes into account the earnings power. Therefore, the Graham Number is a combination of asset valuation and earnings power valuation.
In general, the Graham number is a very conservative way of valuing a stock. It cannot be applied to companies with negative book values.
Telephone and Data Systems's Price to Graham number Ratio for today is calculated as
Price to Graham number | = | Share Price (Today) | / | Graham number (Q: Dec. 2024 ) |
= | 36.41 | / | N/A | |
= | N/A |
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
Be Aware
Please keep these in mind:
1. Graham Number does not take growth into account. Therefore it underestimates the values of the companies that have good earnings growth. We feel that if the earnings per share grows more than 10% a year, Graham Number underestimates the value.
2. Graham Number punishes the companies that have temporarily low earnings. Therefore, an average of earnings makes more sense in the calculation of Graham Number.
3. Graham Numbers underestimates companies that are light with book.
Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of Telephone and Data Systems's Graham Number provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.
Clarence A Davis | director | ONEIDA LTD., 163-181 KENWOOD AVENUE, ONEIDA NY 13421 |
Vicki L Villacrez | officer: Executive Vice President & CFO | 30 N. LASALLE STREET, SUITE 4000, CHICAGO IL 60602 |
Dirk S Woessner | director | 30 N. LASALLE STREET, SUITE 4000, CHICAGO IL 60602 |
Kurt B Thaus | officer: Senior VP - CIO | 30 N LASALLE STREET STE 4000, CHICAGO IL 60602 |
Prudence E Carlson | director | 30 N LASALLE STREET SUITE 4000, CHICAGO IL 60602 |
Joseph R Hanley | officer: VP Technology Planning Service | 535 JUNCTION ROAD, MADISON WI 53717 |
Gary L Sugarman | director | C/O MACHTEN, INC., 1516 BARLOW STREET, SUITE D, TRAVERSE CITY MI 49686 |
Laurent C Therivel | director, officer: President of a Subsidiary | 8410 W. BRYN MAWR STREET, CHICAGO IL 60631 |
Mizuho Securities Usa Llc | other: See Remarks | 1271 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, FLOORS - 2,3,4,18,19, NEW YORK NY 10020 |
Wade Oosterman | director | C/O INGRAM MICRO INC., 1600 E. ST. ANDREW PLACE, SANTA ANA CA 92705 |
Anita J Kroll | officer: VP, Controller & CAO | 30 N. LASALLE STREET, SUITE 4000, CHICAGO IL 60602 |
Scott H Williamson | officer: Senior Vice President | C/O TDS INC, 30 N. LASALLE ST #4000, CHICAGO IL 60602 |
Mitchell H Saranow | director | C/O METZLER GROUP INC, 520 LAKE COOK ROAD SUITE 500, DEERFIELD IL 60015 |
Kenneth R Meyers | director, officer: Executive Vice President & CFO | |
James W Butman | officer: President & CEO of subsidiary | 30 N. LASALLE STREET, STE. 4000, CHICAGO IL 60602 |
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