TEL. Child-Rights Ranking Holds as Foreign Buyers Return

Highlights

• PLDT scored 9.9 out of 10 in the 2026 Children's Rights and Business Benchmark, holding second place among global telcos for a third straight year.
• TEL has rallied 16% off its September low, with net foreign buying behind the move.
• Vini Research Desk rates TEL a Buy, ~27% upside to our ₱1589.50 fair value.

The Setup

Since our Oct. 9 note, the new development is non-financial. PLDT and its wireless arm Smart retained second place among telecom operators globally in the Global Child Forum's 2026 benchmark, which was built with Boston Consulting Group, scoring 9.9 out of 10. PLDT cited updated child-safeguarding policies covering product safety, AI and supplier due diligence, shaped by consultations with Filipino teenagers.

Source: news article

Our Read

The ranking moves nothing in revenue or margins. Its value is in keeping PLDT's disclosure profile at the top of its global peer set, which keeps the stock eligible for ESG-screened foreign mandates. That matters because TEL is drawing net foreign buying while foreign participation in Philippine equities broadly has been thin. In our view, this makes the rebound from the September trough look like ownership rebuilding rather than a speculative bounce. At a ₱259.3 billion market cap, the price still reflects little of the upside our fair value implies, and the next real test is earnings, not ESG scores.

Vini Research Desk rates TEL a Buy, seeing about 27% upside to our fair value of ₱1589.50. A steadier foreign shareholder base built on a clean governance record supports both capital appreciation and the dividend base, which benefits holders of the Passive Income Plan.

What We're Watching

• Third-quarter results, to confirm the earnings path behind our fair value
• Faster approvals for submarine cable repairs, a network-reliability and cost lever
• Whether net foreign buying carries the stock toward its ₱1,425 February high