BCE Inc.

BCE reported Q2 revenue of 1.5% year-over-year growth, adjusted EBITDA growth of 1%, and adjusted EPS of $0.65, up $0.02 from last year. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 43.8%, essentially unchanged. Free cash flow was over $1 billion, though down year over year because CapEx increased by $317 million, driven by Ziply Fiber build-out and Bell AI Fabric investments. Management reconfirmed all 2026 financial guidance targets and reiterated the goal of reaching 3.5x net debt leverage by the end of 2027. For the quarter, BCE said it remains on track with roughly $1.3 billion of expected 2026 Saskatchewan AI data center CapEx, with most of that to be incurred in the second half.

Mirko Bibic framed Q2 as proof BCE is executing on the Investor Day strategy: disciplined core telecom operations plus focused capital deployment into higher-growth areas like U.S. fiber, AI data centers and digital media. He stressed better wireless pricing, lower churn, stronger fiber performance, and Bell AI Fabric progress, saying the company is seeing 'real facilities, real construction milestones, real customer commitments.' His tone was confident and reiterative, emphasizing consistency with prior messaging and a long-term path to sustainable free cash flow growth.

Curtis Millen highlighted the main financial drivers: revenue up 1.5%, adjusted EBITDA up 1%, adjusted EBITDA margin at 43.8%, and adjusted EPS at $0.65. He noted CapEx rose $317 million year over year because of Ziply Fiber and Bell AI Fabric, while Canadian telco CapEx declined. He also said BCE ended Q2 with $4.6 billion of total available liquidity, net debt leverage at approximately 3.7x, and a solvency surplus of approximately $4.9 billion with an aggregate solvency ratio of approximately 125%. He added that BCE received its first tenant payment on the Saskatchewan facility in the quarter, part of roughly $400 million in setup fees and prepayments, and reconfirmed 2026 guidance.

Analysts focused on three areas: the timing of Saskatchewan AI data center CapEx, whether Ziply’s build would drive a more visible revenue inflection, and wireless pricing/ARPU trends. Management said Saskatchewan timing had not changed; CapEx is being recorded when cash is spent, not when equipment is ordered, and the build remains on plan. On Ziply, BCE said the build is ramping as permits, approvals, contractor capacity and fiber supply come together, and that revenue should flow as fiber penetration grows; it also said gross adds on fiber were up 25% quarter over quarter. On wireless, management said the quarter included an enterprise/government contract win, but excluding it, postpaid net adds were still in line with peers, and it declined to predict exact ARPU timing while saying pricing improved in late Q2 and early Q3.