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what it is
BCE runs Canada’s phone, internet, and TV network.
how it gets paid
Last year Bce made $17.9B in revenue. Bell Mobility was the main engine at $7.6B, or 42% of sales.
what just happened
BCE posted $0.50 a share, above the $0.42 estimate by 19%.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
100/100 earnings predictability — you can trust these numbers
12.8x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
5.0% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
7.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 58/100 — below average
What they do
BCE runs Canada’s phone, internet, and TV network.
Bell services reach about 70% of Canada. That is the lock-in → your bill stays sticky because leaving the bundle is a chore. Bell Media is the smaller side, so the network, not the TV studio, does the heavy lifting.
How they make money
$17.9B
annual revenue
Bell Mobility
$7.6B
Bell Canada Wireline
$4.9B
Bell Media
$2.9B
Business & Wholesale
$1.7B
Other & Investments
$0.8B
The products that matter
regional telecom footprint
ontario operations
part of the $17.9B revenue base
the source data flags ontario as a core operating market, but not with a standalone revenue figure. that's worth saying out loud. what you can see is that it sits inside a $17.9B business with a 43.5% operating margin.
scale market
regional telecom footprint
quebec operations
part of the $17.9B revenue base
same story here: meaningful footprint, thin segment disclosure on this page. the important number is still enterprise-wide — $17.9B in revenue supporting a 5.0% yield and $25.5B of debt.
core market
enterprise-wide cash flow engine
recurring telecom billing
100/100 predictability
the feed does not split wireless, broadband, and media here. what it does show is 100/100 earnings predictability, which tells you recurring customer bills are the real product investors care about.
income thesis
Key numbers
5.0%
dividend yield
Dividend yield → cash you get back each year as a percent of price → 5.0% is why income buyers keep staring at BCE.
$2.05
2027 EPS
EPS → profit per share → $2.05 says this is a slow-growth stock, not a rocket.
$20B
2029 sales
Sales → the top line before costs → $20B by 2029 shows how little growth the market is paying for.
$25.5B
long-term debt
Long-term debt → borrowed money that must be serviced → $25.5B makes rates and refinancing matter to your dividend.
Financial health
B++
strength
- balance sheet grade B++ — above average financial health
- risk rank 2 — safer than 80% of stocks
- price stability 100 / 100
- long-term debt $25.5B (51% of capital)
- net profit margin 12.1% — keeps 12 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 12% — $0.12 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B++ — risk rank looks solid but long-term debt needs watching.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in BCE 3 years ago → it's now worth $7,310.
The index would have given you $13,880.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
BCE posted $0.50 a share, above the $0.42 estimate by 19%.
Profit stayed under pressure. December-quarter EPS was down 7% from a year earlier. Bell Canada operating profit fell 1%, and Bell Media fell 11%.
$17.9B
revenue
$0.50
eps
43.5%
margin
EPS beat
The 19.05% beat matters because the market is watching for any sign the earnings slide has stopped.
-
profits remained under pressure at bce inc. in the closing stages of 2025.
-
december-quarter earnings of $0.50 a share were down 7% from the prior-year period, the 10th negative comparison in the past 13 quarters. (too, last year's comparisons would have looked even weaker, but for the strengthening of the canadian dollar versus the greenback during 2025.) in the telecom service provider's home currency, adjusted operating profits for the fourth quarter rose 2%, powered by contributions from last august's acquisition of ziply, a provider of fiber internet in the united states.
-
closer to home, however, operating profits were down at both bell cts canada (1%) and bell media (11%).moreover, higher expenses for depreciation and amortization, as well as interest, weighed on the bottom line.
-
earnings will likely dip further in 2026.on the positive side, both revenues and adjusted operating profit should advance at a low-single-digit rate. a full year of results from ziply figures to be a key growth driver, and management is preparing to step up the pace of the fiber rollout there.
-
but we don't foresee much progress in canada, particularly as recent signs of competitive pressures there may well make it harder to get average revenue per user for wireless customers (down 1% last year) moving back in the right direction.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the main risk is debt-heavy telecom math. BCE's customers are sticky. the balance sheet and payout expectations are where the pressure shows up.
high
balance sheet leverage
$25.5B in long-term debt equals 51% of capital and slightly exceeds the company's ~$24B market value. that is the number the market is fixated on.
debt is larger than the current equity value
high
income thesis leaves less room for error
a 5.0% dividend yield looks attractive next to a 7.0% return on capital. it also means a lot of shareholders are here for payout stability first and everything else second.
if payout confidence weakens, the natural buyer base weakens with it
med
the market has stopped giving BCE the benefit of the doubt
$10,000 became $7,310 over 3 years while the index reached $13,880. that $6,570 gap is what a damaged stock narrative looks like.
cheap can stay cheap when confidence is gone
med
institutions are not stepping in yet
there were 122 institutional buyers and 158 sellers in 4q2025. net selling for 2 straight quarters tells you the big money has not called the bottom.
sentiment is still working against the rerating case
the business is stable. the equity case is thinner: leverage is high, upside to the $30 base target is only about 15%, and recent holders have been paid more in yield than in capital gains.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
debt versus equity value
$25.5B of long-term debt against a roughly $24B market cap is the cleanest summary of why BCE screens cheap but feels constrained.
calendar
next earnings update
the specific date is not populated here. that makes the next report more important, not less. you need fresh evidence on revenue stability and payout durability.
trend
institutional flow
122 buyers versus 158 sellers in 4q2025 is the opposite of accumulation. if that reverses, sentiment can improve before fundamentals do.
risk
total return gap
BCE lagged the index by $6,570 over 3 years on a $10,000 starting investment. the stock needs more than a high yield to close that credibility gap.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
100 / 100
in human-speak, this is about as steady as a public company gets. BCE rarely shocks investors because telecom billing is recurring.
risk rank
2
safer than roughly 80% of stocks. the business itself is not the scary part. the capital structure is where your attention should go.
valuation setup
12.8x
trailing p/e of 12.8x means the market is not paying for much growth. that's what telecom skepticism looks like in a single number.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net selling for 2 consecutive quarters — 122 buyers vs. 158 sellers in 4q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.4B shares. net selling for 2 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$22
$38
$26
current price
$30
target midpoint · +15% from current · 3-5yr high: $45 (+75% · 18% ann'l return)
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