Orange SA stock climbed more than 3% on Monday, touching an intraday high of €17.19 in Paris, after the French telecoms group posted first-half results that topped analyst forecasts and lifted its full-year outlook for the second time in 2026.
First-half revenue came in at €20.95 billion against a consensus estimate of €20.76 billion. EBITDAaL of €6.13 billion also beat the €6.11 billion average estimate.
The stock briefly surpassed Morgan Stanley’s €16.50 price target. The bank maintained its “equal-weight” rating, noting that “MEA strength and the guidance raise” were outweighing weakness in Spain.
🚨 $ORA (Orange) H1 2026 Update
Guidance raised again…
but Africa & Middle East growth is the real story 👀📊 KEY METRICS
🔹 H1 Revenue: €20.95B (beat consensus €20.76B) 🟢
🔹 2026 EBITDAaL Growth Target: raised to >4% (from >3%) 🟢👉 Core takeaway:
Second… pic.twitter.com/M78RquzyYB— Emmanuel – Big Tech & AI Investor (@EmmanuelInvest) July 28, 2026
Africa and the Middle East was the clear standout. Revenue in the region jumped 13.9% for the half, with Q2 alone up 15% year-on-year. The region added 10 million new mobile data customers.
Orange now expects full-year EBITDAaL growth above 4%, up from a prior forecast of above 3%. Organic cash flow guidance was raised 7.5% to around €4.3 billion — a figure the company says sits 4.2% above its own consensus.
France delivered a modest beat, with Q2 revenue up 0.1% against Morgan Stanley’s forecast for a 1% decline. The bank noted that underlying H1 growth, stripping out one-off wholesale effects, was flat and below the company’s full-year target.
Spain was the weak spot. Service revenue at MasOrange fell 2% and first-half EBITDAaL dropped 3%. Orange completed the acquisition of Lorca’s 50% stake in MasOrange in June for €4.25 billion, giving it full control of the Spanish operator. The company expects performance to improve in the second half.
Net income hit €3.6 billion for the half, a jump of €3.7 billion year-on-year. That number was heavily inflated by a €2.4 billion accounting gain from the MasOrange consolidation and the reversal of a prior-year restructuring charge. Adjusted net income rose 11.8% to €1.35 billion.
Net financial debt increased to €35.7 billion from €22.5 billion at year-end 2025, mainly reflecting the MasOrange deal. The net debt-to-EBITDAaL ratio rose to 2.4x. Orange has a medium-term target to bring that back to around 2x.
On June 6, Orange announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding alongside Bouygues Telecom and Free to acquire SFR from Altice France. Orange’s share of the total enterprise value of €20.35 billion is roughly 27%, or about €5.6 billion.
The deal would add approximately 4 million mobile customers and 1 million fixed broadband customers in France. Regulatory approval is required, and completion is not expected until the second half of 2027 at the earliest.
Orange also announced a joint venture with Morrison to develop data centers in France, targeting 400 MW of capacity, backed by a €3 billion investment plan.
The company set a 2026 dividend of €0.79 per share, payable in 2027, subject to shareholder approval.
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