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 to gauge dividend coverage against network capex, EBITDA for leverage ratios relative to subscriber cash flow, and Cash & Equivalents for net-debt context after available liquidity.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VZ | Verizon Communications Inc. | Communication Services | $139.53B | $189.37B |
| 2 | T | AT&T Inc. | Communication Services | $127.09B | $145.71B |
| 3 | CHTR | Charter Communications, Inc. | Communication Services | $94.01B | $13.51B |
| 4 | CMCSA | Comcast Corporation | Communication Services | $92.98B | $86.61B |
| 5 | TMUS | T-Mobile US, Inc. | Communication Services | $81.15B | $171.61B |
| 6 | META | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Communication Services | $58.74B | $1.56T |
| 7 | VOD | Vodafone Group Public Limited Company | Communication Services | $52.41B | $36.10B |
| 8 | GOOG | Alphabet Inc. | Communication Services | $46.55B | $3.49T |
| 9 | DIS | The Walt Disney Company | Communication Services | $35.31B | $201.59B |
| 10 | RCI | Rogers Communications Inc. | Communication Services | $26.16B | $18.01B |
| 11 | BCE | BCE Inc. | Communication Services | $25.46B | $20.16B |
| 12 | AMX | América Móvil, S.A.B. de C.V. | Communication Services | $24.10B | $76.79B |
| 13 | TU | TELUS Corporation | Communication Services | $20.01B | $14.35B |
| 14 | ECHO | EchoStar Corporation | Communication Services | $18.66B | $27.53B |
| 15 | LUMN | Lumen Technologies, Inc. | Communication Services | $17.35B | $4.11B |
| 16 | SKYD | Skydance Corporation | Communication Services | $14.50B | $40.39B |
| 17 | NFLX | Netflix, Inc. | Communication Services | $13.46B | $260.38B |
| 18 | OMC | Omnicom Group Inc. | Communication Services | $9.27B | $23.70B |
| 19 | SIRI | Sirius XM Holdings Inc. | Communication Services | $8.65B | $10.90B |
| 20 | LILA | Liberty Latin America Ltd. | Communication Services | $7.87B | $1.66B |
| 21 | LBTYA | Liberty Global Ltd. | Communication Services | $7.81B | $3.29B |
| 22 | LYV | Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. | Communication Services | $7.61B | $41.31B |
| 23 | FOX | Fox Corporation | Communication Services | $6.61B | $25.10B |
| 24 | TIGO | Millicom International Cellular S.A. | Communication Services | $6.56B | $13.96B |
| 25 | NXST | Nexstar Media Group, Inc. | Communication Services | $6.22B | $5.86B |
| 26 | BIDU | Baidu, Inc. | Communication Services | $5.91B | $27.87B |
| 27 | GTN | Gray Media, Inc. | Communication Services | $5.74B | $506.68M |
| 28 | KT | KT Corporation | Communication Services | $5.74B | $8.97B |
| 29 | WPP | WPP plc | Communication Services | $5.53B | $5.88B |
| 30 | FWONA | Formula One Group | Communication Services | $5.05B | $25.32B |
| 31 | PHI | PLDT Inc. | Communication Services | $4.74B | $3.95B |
| 32 | SBGI | Sinclair, Inc. | Communication Services | $4.36B | $990.23M |
| 33 | NBIS | Nebius Group N.V. | Communication Services | $4.10B | $35.20B |
| 34 | WMG | Warner Music Group Corp. | Communication Services | $4.06B | $16.37B |
| 35 | AMC | AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. | Communication Services | $4.02B | $2.80B |
| 36 | TKO | TKO Group Holdings, Inc. | Communication Services | $3.72B | $36.15B |
| 37 | VIV | Telefônica Brasil S.A. | Communication Services | $3.71B | $18.26B |
| 38 | MTCH | Match Group, Inc | Communication Services | $3.55B | $8.88B |
| 39 | APP | AppLovin Corporation | Communication Services | $3.51B | $129.62B |
| 40 | SNAP | Snap Inc. | Communication Services | $3.49B | $8.56B |
| 41 | VEON | VEON Ltd. | Communication Services | $3.14B | $5.34B |
| 42 | TKC | Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. | Communication Services | $2.86B | $3.98B |
| 43 | TEO | Telecom Argentina S.A. | Communication Services | $2.62B | $4.29B |
| 44 | TTWO | Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. | Communication Services | $2.49B | $40.18B |
| 45 | PLTK | Playtika Holding Corp. | Communication Services | $2.38B | $933.73M |
| 46 | WB | Weibo Corporation | Communication Services | $2.10B | $1.60B |
| 47 | NWS | News Corporation | Communication Services | $1.99B | $15.55B |
| 48 | PSO | Pearson plc | Communication Services | $1.91B | $10.38B |
| 49 | IRDM | Iridium Communications Inc. | Communication Services | $1.76B | $4.67B |
| 50 | LLYVA | Liberty Live Holdings, Inc. | Communication Services | $1.67B | $9.40B |
| 51 | TLK | Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk | Communication Services | $1.56B | $10.95B |
| 52 | STUB | StubHub Holdings, Inc. | Communication Services | $1.51B | $2.35B |
| 53 | PPLI | People Incorporated | Communication Services | $1.40B | $3.16B |
| 54 | STGW | Stagwell Inc. | Communication Services | $1.33B | $2.89B |
| 55 | IQ | iQIYI, Inc. | Communication Services | $1.17B | $926.33M |
| 56 | RBLX | Roblox Corporation | Communication Services | $993.00M | $35.28B |
| 57 | VSNT | Versant Media Group, Inc. | Communication Services | $983.00M | $4.61B |
| 58 | GLIBA | Liberty Capital Corporation | Communication Services | $979.00M | $1.05B |
| 59 | TDAY | USA TODAY Co., Inc. | Communication Services | $884.90M | $971.30M |
| 60 | GOGO | Gogo Inc. | Communication Services | $833.58M | $526.45M |
| 61 | TDS | Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. | Communication Services | $823.36M | $3.78B |
| 62 | SPHR | Sphere Entertainment Co. | Communication Services | $767.44M | $4.35B |
| 63 | MANU | Manchester United plc | Communication Services | $765.78M | $3.90B |
| 64 | ZD | Ziff Davis, Inc. | Communication Services | $717.82M | $1.70B |
| 65 | BILI | Bilibili Inc. | Communication Services | $682.94M | $5.86B |
| 66 | WLY | John Wiley & Sons, Inc. | Communication Services | $670.90M | $2.55B |
| 67 | AD | Array Digital Infrastructure, Inc. | Communication Services | $670.26M | $2.59B |
| 68 | SHEN | Shenandoah Telecommunications Company | Communication Services | $628.24M | $534.28M |
| 69 | BMBL | Bumble Inc. | Communication Services | $582.72M | $924.50M |
| 70 | MSGE | Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. | Communication Services | $540.33M | $3.65B |
| 71 | BATRA | Atlanta Braves Holdings, Inc. | Communication Services | $523.28M | $3.58B |
| 72 | RSVR | Reservoir Media, Inc. | Communication Services | $455.71M | $673.98M |
| 73 | GSAT | Globalstar, Inc. | Communication Services | $451.95M | $10.93B |
| 74 | CARS | Cars.com Inc. | Communication Services | $451.52M | $695.21M |
| 75 | MGNI | Magnite, Inc. | Communication Services | $347.67M | $3.93B |
| 76 | TIMB | TIM S.A. | Communication Services | $338.34M | $8.62B |
| 77 | GRPN | Groupon, Inc. | Communication Services | $309.15M | $629.91M |
| 78 | SIFY | Sify Technologies Limited | Communication Services | $286.40M | $940.93M |
| 79 | MSGK | MSG Knickerbockers Corp. | Communication Services | $242.00M | $7.51B |
| 80 | SKM | SK Telecom Co., Ltd. | Communication Services | $207.68M | $11.99B |
| 81 | MCS | The Marcus Corporation | Communication Services | $159.01M | $832.01M |
| 82 | EVC | Entravision Communications Corporation | Communication Services | $147.12M | $829.67M |
| 83 | MAX | MediaAlpha, Inc. | Communication Services | $131.60M | $840.69M |
| 84 | TBLA | Taboola.com Ltd. | Communication Services | $102.30M | $532.55M |
| 85 | SCHL | Scholastic Corporation | Communication Services | $75.00M | $684.83M |
| 86 | QNST | QuinStreet, Inc. | Communication Services | $70.00M | $1.18B |
| 87 | CHT | Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. | Communication Services | $51.00M | $38.67B |
| 88 | ANGX | Angel Studios, Inc. | Communication Services | $45.50M | $633.10M |
| 89 | MOMO | Hello Group Inc. | Communication Services | $448,013.041 | $660.72M |
| 90 | DJT | Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. | Communication Services | $442,600 | $1.11B |
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.
- Size floor: A company qualifies at $500 million in market cap or above. Below that, one mis-stated figure outranks the companies the list is about.
- Currency check: A company whose annual revenue runs above 15 times its market cap is left out, because at that gap the two figures are not in the same currency.
- Currency check: A company whose balance sheet runs above 150 times its market cap is left out for the same reason.
- Market cap: stated at each company's latest close, which is newer than the annual figure ranked here.
- 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.
Frequently asked questions
Why do telecoms carry some of the largest debt loads in the market?
Telecoms must continually deploy capital into network equipment, spectrum rights, and fiber or wireless infrastructure, all of which represent long-lived assets that are naturally funded with long-duration debt. Subscriber-based cash flows are relatively stable, which supports investment-grade credit access and higher sustainable leverage than most sectors carry. Large merger and acquisition activity, particularly around media and content portfolios, has added another layer of debt across the sector over time. The result is consistently high absolute debt balances that are often normal for the business model rather than signs of stress.
How does content spending interact with debt for media companies?
Firms that invested heavily in streaming content during expansion phases often funded part of that spending with debt, betting that future subscription revenue would support the obligations. When subscriber growth slowed or pricing power proved weaker than expected, those balance sheets came under scrutiny. Content spending shows up partly as capex and partly in working capital, and the cash outflows precede the associated revenue, which means debt taken on during content-heavy periods deserves closer attention than similar debt at a more cash-stable operator.