Singapore, Jan 15, 2026, 15:52 SGT — Regular session
- Singapore Telecommunications Ltd shares down about 0.7% in afternoon trade
- DBS research keeps Singtel on 2026 pick lists as focus shifts to returns, telecom pricing
- Investors look to Feb. 18 earnings update and signals on sector consolidation
Shares of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (Singtel) fell 0.7% to S$4.48 by 3:48 p.m., trimming recent gains as the broader market weighed new broker calls into the year.
The move matters because Singtel is a heavyweight Singapore blue chip and a proxy for how investors are pricing “steady” cash generators when growth looks patchy and competition stays tight.
This week’s shift in tone has been toward what drives returns in 2026: pricing discipline in mobile, capital spending that does not run away, and whether Singapore’s market reforms keep money rotating into big liquid names.
DBS Group Research analysts Kee Yan Yeo and Fang Boon Foo kept Singtel among their top Straits Times Index picks for 2026, pointing to improving core earnings growth and the possibility of telecom sector consolidation, even as their economists expect Singapore’s 2026 GDP growth to cool to 1.8%.
Separately, DBS also maintained a “buy” view with a target price of S$5.71, The Edge Singapore reported on Wednesday, framing Singtel’s appeal around return on invested capital (ROIC) — a measure of profit generated per dollar of capital — and a turn in mobile pricing. (The Edge Singapore)
DBS expects blended mobile ARPU — average revenue per user — in Singapore to bottom out around mid-2026 after years of discounting, with peer StarHub on a similar trajectory, the report said.
Singtel last lifted guidance in November after posting a 14% rise in first-half underlying profit, helped by Optus and regional associates, and said it expects higher operating earnings from its core units.
For traders, the near-term question is whether the stock can keep re-rating on narrative alone, or whether they need cleaner proof in the numbers — especially on Singapore mobile margins and the pace of buildout in digital infrastructure.
The risks run the other way: promotional pressure could flare again, any consolidation theme could stall in the approvals process, and a softer economy could hit enterprise demand just as telcos lean on business customers for growth.
The next clear catalyst is Singtel’s earnings report for the period ending December 2025, which Investing.com lists for Feb. 18. (Investing)
