On August 6, Millicom International Cellular (NASDAQ:TIGO) released its second-quarter 2026 results, and the numbers pulled in two directions at once. Revenue jumped 59.4% year over year to $2.18 billion, while Adjusted EBITDA crossed $1 billion for the first time in the company’s history at $1.01 billion, up 58% from a year earlier. Yet net profit attributable to company owners fell 83.9% to just $109 million. Investors weighing this quarter have to decide which of those two stories actually describes the business.
Growth, Cash And A Bigger Dividend
The headline figures are hard to ignore. Service revenue reached $2.04 billion in the quarter, up 60.1% year over year, while H1 2026 revenue climbed to $4.16 billion from $2.74 billion a year earlier, a 52.3% increase. Equity free cash flow hit a quarterly record of $327 million, up 50.1% from a year ago, and leverage actually fell to 2.73x even after Millicom absorbed acquisitions in Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay. That combination, rising cash generation alongside falling leverage during an acquisition spree, is the kind of signal that tends to matter more than a single quarter’s headline growth rate.
Management is backing that signal with cash. Millicom already declared a $3.00 per share dividend in May, to be paid out quarterly over the next 12 months, and on August 5, the board approved an additional interim dividend of $1.50 per share, split into two $0.75 installments due January 15, 2027, and April 15, 2027. The company also raised its full-year 2026 equity free cash flow guidance from at least $900 million to around $1.1 billion, while lowering its year-end leverage target from about 2.5x to below 2.5x. CEO Marcelo Benitez pointed to Ecuador and Uruguay as evidence the integration playbook works, saying both markets have reached margins and cash generation broadly in line with the Millicom average, with Colombia and Chile now showing early improvement on the same path.
Where The Growth Story Cracks
Strip out the acquisitions, and the picture looks far less dramatic. Organic revenue growth was just 4.3% in the quarter and 4.2% for the first half, a fraction of the 59.4% and 52.3% reported figures. Most of what shows up in the headline number is Millicom buying its way to a bigger top line, not the existing business accelerating on its own.
The profit line raises a separate question. Net profit attributable to company owners dropped to $109 million from $676 million a year earlier, and the first-half figure fell 74.9% to $218 million from $869 million, even as EBITDA and cash flow set records over the same stretch. That gap between a surging EBITDA number and a collapsing bottom line is the kind of divergence that deserves scrutiny rather than a shrug. Capital spending is climbing too, up 51.2% to $234 million in the quarter and 48.8% to $426 million for the half, running well ahead of the organic growth rate it is meant to fund. And the balance sheet is still in motion: in July 2026, Bolivia took on five new local bank loans totaling roughly $44 million, while Colombia’s Coltel repaid about $102 million in credit facilities, a reminder that the newly acquired portfolio still needs active management.
Funds Pull Back, Shorts Stay Quiet
Hedge fund ownership slipped from 30 funds to 26 in the most recent quarter, which points to some institutional trimming even as the headline numbers improved. Short interest sits at a modest 3.50% of float, suggesting there is little organized bet against the stock right now. Millicom trades at a forward P/E of 10.41 as of September 17, a multiple that does not look like it is pricing in aggressive growth expectations. That combination, funds stepping back while shorts stay on the sidelines and the multiple stays low, suggests the market hasn’t fully made up its mind about which of Millicom’s numbers to believe.
Two Numbers, One Unresolved Question
Millicom is generating more cash than ever, raising its dividend twice in a matter of months, and telling a credible story about turning around the operations it has acquired. At the same time, the growth investors are cheering is mostly the product of buying revenue rather than growing it organically, and GAAP profit has fallen sharply even as EBITDA hit records. For the bull case to hold up, that profit gap needs to close as the newer markets mature the way Ecuador and Uruguay already have. For the bear case to matter, the organic growth rate would need to stay stuck near 4% while acquisition integration costs keep weighing on the bottom line longer than management expects.
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