Most Indebted Communication Services Stocks
Top communication services companies ranked by long-term debt, latest annual filings.
Most Indebted Communication Services Companies: What Long-Term Debt Tells You
Long-term debt in communication services reflects a sector split between heavily leveraged legacy operators and asset-light digital platforms. Telecoms and cable firms carry substantial debt tied to network build-outs, spectrum acquisitions, and media portfolio deals. The digital advertising and streaming side of the sector tends to run with lighter balance sheets, though some streaming firms took on meaningful debt to fund content investment during expansion phases before profitability arrived.
Why It Matters in Communication Services
For telecoms and cable, heavy debt is structurally expected and supported by subscriber-based cash flows that tend to be more stable than most industrial businesses. Still, network spending races against subscriber trends: heavy debt from a new technology cycle that then runs behind competitive rollouts or sees slower subscriber adoption than planned can strain balance sheets and dividend capacity, which has happened in multiple technology transitions across the sector's history.
What to Read Alongside
Pair long-term debt with [Free Cash Flow](/financials/top-free-cash-flow-stocks/communication-services/) to gauge dividend coverage against network capex, [EBITDA](/financials/top-ebitda-stocks/communication-services/) for leverage ratios relative to subscriber cash flow, and [Cash & Equivalents](/financials/top-cash-rich-stocks/communication-services/) for net-debt context after available liquidity.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VZ | Verizon Communications Inc. | Communication Services | $139.53B | $194.58B |
| 2 | T | AT&T Inc. | Communication Services | $134.72B | $185.10B |
| 3 | CHTR | Charter Communications, Inc. | Communication Services | $94.01B | $29.49B |
| 4 | CMCSA | Comcast Corporation | Communication Services | $92.98B | $106.60B |
| 5 | TMUS | T-Mobile US, Inc. | Communication Services | $81.15B | $217.81B |
| 6 | META | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Communication Services | $58.74B | $1747.83B |
| 7 | GOOG | Alphabet Inc. | Communication Services | $46.55B | $4105.72B |
| 8 | DIS | The Walt Disney Company | Communication Services | $35.31B | $188.29B |
| 9 | WBD | Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. | Communication Services | $32.57B | $68.86B |
| 10 | ATUS | Altice USA, Inc. | Communication Services | $26.15B | $0.84B |
| 11 | SATS | EchoStar Corporation | Communication Services | $18.66B | $38.48B |
| 12 | LUMN | Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Communication Services | $17.35B | $8.83B |
| 13 | PSKY | Paramount Skydance Corporation | Communication Services | $14.50B | $13.05B |
| 14 | NFLX | Netflix, Inc. | Communication Services | $13.46B | $409.75B |
| 15 | FYBR | Frontier Communications Parent, Inc. | Communication Services | $11.55B | $9.64B |
| 16 | OMC | Omnicom Group Inc. | Communication Services | $9.27B | $22.42B |
| 17 | AMX | América Móvil, S.A.B. de C.V. | Communication Services | $8.77B | $79.35B |
| 18 | SIRI | Sirius XM Holdings Inc. | Communication Services | $8.65B | $8.58B |
| 19 | LILAK | Liberty Latin America Ltd. | Communication Services | $8.27B | $1.76B |
| 20 | LBTYK | Liberty Global Ltd. | Communication Services | $7.81B | $4.08B |
| 21 | LYV | Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. | Communication Services | $7.61B | $36.76B |
| 22 | FOX | Fox Corporation | Communication Services | $6.60B | $24.90B |
| 23 | NXST | Nexstar Media Group, Inc. | Communication Services | $6.22B | $6.09B |
| 24 | BIDU | Baidu, Inc. | Communication Services | $5.91B | $42.92B |
| 25 | GTN | Gray Media, Inc. | Communication Services | $5.74B | $0.61B |
| 26 | CCO | Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. | Communication Services | $5.10B | $1.19B |
| 27 | FWONK | Formula One Group | Communication Services | $5.05B | $22.66B |
| 28 | IHRT | iHeartMedia, Inc. | Communication Services | $4.98B | $0.62B |
| 29 | SBGI | Sinclair, Inc. | Communication Services | $4.35B | $1.20B |
| 30 | WMG | Warner Music Group Corp. | Communication Services | $4.06B | $15.80B |
| 31 | AMC | AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. | Communication Services | $4.02B | $1.08B |
| 32 | TKO | TKO Group Holdings, Inc. | Communication Services | $3.72B | $14.53B |
| 33 | APP | AppLovin Corporation | Communication Services | $3.51B | $160.95B |
| 34 | SNAP | Snap Inc. | Communication Services | $3.49B | $10.18B |
| 35 | VEON | VEON Ltd. | Communication Services | $3.14B | $3.76B |
| 36 | IPG | The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. | Communication Services | $2.92B | $8.93B |
| 37 | TGNA | Tegna Inc | Communication Services | $2.53B | $3.24B |
| 38 | TTWO | Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. | Communication Services | $2.51B | $39.26B |
| 39 | PLTK | Playtika Holding Corp. | Communication Services | $2.38B | $1.37B |
| 40 | TIGO | Millicom International Cellular S.A. | Communication Services | $2.29B | $13.63B |
| 41 | WB | Weibo Corporation | Communication Services | $2.19B | $2.16B |
| 42 | NWSA | News Corporation | Communication Services | $1.94B | $14.27B |
| 43 | IRDM | Iridium Communications Inc. | Communication Services | $1.76B | $4.42B |
| 44 | CCOI | Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. | Communication Services | $1.73B | $1.18B |
| 45 | LLYVK | Liberty Live Holdings, Inc. | Communication Services | $1.67B | $8.87B |
| 46 | STUB | StubHub Holdings, Inc. | Communication Services | $1.51B | $2.47B |
| 47 | IAC | IAC Inc. | Communication Services | $1.40B | $3.32B |
| 48 | STGW | Stagwell Inc. | Communication Services | $1.33B | $1.85B |
| 49 | TLK | Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk | Communication Services | $1.15B | $18.34B |
| 50 | RBLX | Roblox Corporation | Communication Services | $0.99B | $43.19B |
| 51 | VSNT | Versant Media Group, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.98B | $5.89B |
| 52 | GLIBK | GCI Liberty, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.98B | $1.50B |
| 53 | GCI | Gannett Co., Inc. | Communication Services | $0.88B | $0.67B |
| 54 | TDAY | USA TODAY Co., Inc. | Communication Services | $0.88B | $1.08B |
| 55 | GOGO | Gogo Inc. | Communication Services | $0.83B | $0.67B |
| 56 | TDS | Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.82B | $5.22B |
| 57 | WLY | John Wiley & Sons, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.82B | $2.13B |
| 58 | LBRDA | Liberty Broadband Corporation | Communication Services | $0.79B | $7.91B |
| 59 | SPHR | Sphere Entertainment Co. | Communication Services | $0.77B | $4.82B |
| 60 | ZD | Ziff Davis, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.72B | $1.80B |
| 61 | BILI | Bilibili Inc. | Communication Services | $0.68B | $10.48B |
| 62 | AD | Array Digital Infrastructure, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.67B | $4.33B |
| 63 | SHEN | Shenandoah Telecommunications Company | Communication Services | $0.63B | $0.90B |
| 64 | BMBL | Bumble Inc. | Communication Services | $0.58B | $0.55B |
| 65 | BATRA | Atlanta Braves Holdings, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.52B | $3.39B |
| 66 | GSAT | Globalstar, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.45B | $10.27B |
| 67 | CARS | Cars.com Inc. | Communication Services | $0.45B | $0.62B |
| 68 | RSVR | Reservoir Media, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.39B | $0.66B |
| 69 | MGNI | Magnite, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.35B | $1.98B |
| 70 | GRPN | Groupon, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.31B | $0.58B |
| 71 | MSGS | Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. | Communication Services | $0.27B | $8.09B |
| 72 | SCHL | Scholastic Corporation | Communication Services | $0.25B | $0.85B |
| 73 | CHT | Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. | Communication Services | $0.22B | $33.92B |
| 74 | MCS | The Marcus Corporation | Communication Services | $0.16B | $0.61B |
| 75 | MAX | MediaAlpha, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.13B | $0.56B |
| 76 | SSTK | Shutterstock, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.12B | $0.63B |
| 77 | SIFY | Sify Technologies Limited | Communication Services | $0.04B | $0.97B |
| 78 | IAS | Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. | Communication Services | $0.03B | $1.74B |
| 79 | OPRA | Opera Limited | Communication Services | $0.00B | $1.54B |
| 80 | DJT | Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. | Communication Services | $0.00B | $2.84B |
| 81 | MOMO | Hello Group Inc. | Communication Services | $0.00B | $0.97B |
| 82 | UPWK | Upwork Inc. | Communication Services | $0.00B | $1.47B |
No companies match this search.
How this ranking is built
Companies are ranked by long-term debt as reported in their most recent annual filing with the SEC. Figures shown are in US dollars (or percent, as noted), rounded to two decimals.
- Source: annual 10-K / 20-F filings from companies trading on US exchanges (NYSE, Nasdaq, AMEX).
- Fiscal year: whichever annual period the company has most recently filed. Fiscal years don't always align with the calendar year, so the "as of FY" stamp above reflects the most common year across the table.
- Filtered out: warrants, preferred shares, and duplicate listings that share a parent company's financials.
- Update cadence: refreshed as companies file new annual reports (typically within 60–90 days of fiscal year end).
Not financial advice. This is a research tool, not a recommendation.