← Deep analysesHome
mttssn research · Nordic Deep Dive
Tieto (TIETO.HE)
Teknik & IT · Nordic vertical software & IT consulting · LTM Q2 2026
Analysis date: 2026-07-24
Price at analysis: €17.43
Method: mttssn_streamlined_v1
Conviction: MEDIUM
BUY
Conviction: MEDIUM
A restructured, de-levered IT compounder priced for decline. Post-split continuing group earns adj ROIC 13% > WACC 8% (EP +EUR 83m) with adj-EBITA margin up 5.5pp to 14.9% on a EUR 130m cost-out programme. Reverse-DCF fair value ~EUR 20.4 even at zero growth vs EUR 17.43, EV/adj-EBIT 8.7x. Revenue is falling (-5% organic) and Tech Consulting is weak, but the vertical-software core and 1.0x leverage carry it. BUY, medium.
Adj. ROIC
13.0%
WACC 8% → spread +5.0pp
Economic Profit
+€83M
+EUR 83.4m; ROIC 13% vs WACC 8%
FCF Yield
n/a
Q2 CFO EUR 20.8m, WC build — LTM not clean, watch
Price / Target
€17 → €20
+18% base; BUY
Revenue (LTM)
€1.8B
LTM Q2 2026; continuing ops, organic -5%
EBIT Margin
17.1%
Adj-EBITA 14.9% (+5.5pp YoY); reported EBIT inflated by one-offs
EV / IC
n/a
Enterprise value / invested capital
Net Debt
n/a
EUR 388.8m; net debt/EBITDA 1.0x from 2.2x
Thesis

Tieto (ex-TietoEVRY) has reshaped itself from a broad IT house into a ~EUR 1.8bn continuing group of three vertical software franchises — Banktech (bank payments), Caretech (Nordic healthcare) and Indtech — plus a Tech Consulting arm, after divesting Tech Services (2025), Bekk (Feb 2026) and Edlevo/HR&Payroll (Q2 2026). The software segments carry real switching costs and a EUR 2.1bn backlog; the consulting leg does not, and is where the weakness sits (organic -6%).

The story is profitability, not growth. A EUR 130m cost-out programme (EUR 115m run-rate booked) lifted adj-EBITA margin to 14.9% (+5.5pp YoY) with all four businesses improving, even as organic revenue fell 5%. On mttssn adjustments — stripping EUR 77.2m of divestment capital gains out of reported EBIT and rejecting the EUR 18.3m PPA-amortization add-back — adjusted ROIC is 13.0% against an 8% WACC, generating +EUR 83.4m of economic profit.

Balance sheet is materially de-risked: divestment proceeds cut net debt/EBITDA to 1.0x from 2.2x, funded a EUR 150m buyback (shares down to 114.67m) and a fresh EUR 90m programme. The offset is a roll-up profile — goodwill EUR 1,318m is 121% of equity — and a EUR 110m arbitration counterclaim tied to the Tech Services sale that management deems meritless but is unresolved for ~a year.

Valuation · reverse-DCF & scenarios

Capitalising adjusted NOPAT of EUR 216.5m at WACC-g and bridging EUR 388.8m net debt across 113.85m shares: fair value ~EUR 20.4 at zero growth (+17%), ~EUR 28 at 2% and higher above that. Even the no-growth case — appropriate given a -5% to -3% organic outlook — sits above the EUR 17.43 price, because the model rewards the above-WACC return rather than penalising the shrinking top line.

Multiples corroborate: EV/adj-EBIT 8.7x and P/E 9.1x for a 13% ROIC franchise mid-turnaround. Base EUR 20.5 (+18%) on zero-to-low growth and margin holding near 15%; bull EUR 26 as the >16% 2028 margin target lands and organic growth turns positive; bear EUR 14 (-20%) if consulting demand stays depressed, restructuring persists as recurring cost and the roll-up de-rates.

Market-implied growth
-11.5%
NOPAT CAGR over 5y the EV already requires
No-growth value / share
€24
136% of price; rest = priced-in growth
ROIC − WACC
+5.0 pp
ROIC 13.0% vs WACC 8.0% — positive = value creation
CAP (priced-in)
0.0 yrs
years of excess returns the price implies (fades to WACC)

The market pays today’s enterprise value for roughly -11.5% NOPAT growth over 5 years. The business earns 13% on capital against a 8% cost of capital (spread +5.0 pp); the no-growth value is €24/share (136% of price), so the rest is priced-in growth.

Scenario24m targetImpl. gUpsideProb.Driver
Bull€26+4%+49%30%>16% 2028 margin lands; organic growth turns positive
Base€20-5%+18%45%Zero-to-low growth; margin holds ~15%; reverse-DCF fair value
Bear€14-19%-20%25%Consulting stays weak; restructuring recurring; roll-up de-rates
Prob-weighted€21+18%100%Scenario-weighted expected value

Sensitivity — fair value / share at WACC × growth

WACC \ g0%3%5%8%10%15%
6.50%333739434553
7.25%283032353742
8.00% (base)242627293034
8.75%212223242628
9.50%181920212224

Green = fair value above the current price of €17.43. The reverse-DCF conclusion is dominated by WACC and growth — see the whole surface, not a single fair value.

Method & data. NOPAT €216, invested capital and ROIC 13.0% are observed (adjustments.json); WACC 8.0% and terminal g 2.5% are assumptions. EV→equity uses net debt €389. The model holds ROIC constant (no fade) over the explicit horizon; the CAP figure instead fades excess returns to WACC.

⤓ Download the full model (.xlsx) — formula-driven sheets; flex the blue input cells and the model cascades in Excel.

Key drivers

1. Cost-out delivery

EUR 115m of EUR 130m run-rate savings booked; adj-EBITA margin +5.5pp to 14.9% with a >16% 2028 target — self-help driving the return spread.

2. Above-WACC returns

Adj ROIC 13% vs WACC 8%, EP +EUR 83.4m — genuine value creation, unusual at 8.7x EV/adj-EBIT.

3. De-levered balance sheet

Net debt/EBITDA 1.0x from 2.2x on divestment proceeds; funds EUR 150m + EUR 90m buybacks, shares cut to 114.67m.

4. Vertical-software stickiness

Banktech/Caretech/Indtech run mission-critical platforms with multi-year contracts and EUR 2.1bn backlog — the resilient, higher-margin core.

5. Reverse-DCF discount

Fair value above price even at zero growth — a real, if moderate, margin of safety on falling revenue.

Key risks
Conclusion

Tieto is a restructured, de-levered Nordic software-and-consulting franchise the market prices for continued decline: adj ROIC 13% > WACC 8%, EP +EUR 83m, adj-EBITA margin up 5.5pp, at EV/adj-EBIT 8.7x and below no-growth reverse-DCF value. The vertical-software core and 1.0x leverage make the falling top line survivable. BUY, medium conviction; base target EUR 20.5 (+18%).

The watch-items are Tech Consulting stabilisation, the legacy-contract phase-out completing on schedule, and clean free-cash-flow conversion. Confirmation on those — or the arbitration resolving benignly — would support a conviction upgrade; a further consulting leg-down would push the thesis toward the bear case.

Footnote evidence & sources

Every adjustment traces to the cited note/page in the source filing — click to open it there. Annual report / 10-K: 📄 open  ·  Latest interim: 📄 open

Adjustment / figureValueSourceWhy mttssn treats it this way
LTM revenue 1793.3 (FY2025 1852.3 - H1'25 933.9 + H1'26 874.9)1,793Income statement p.18 + Quarterly figures p.34 📄 p.18Continuing-operations revenue; LTM bridged over the Tech Services / Bekk / Edlevo divestments using restated columns.
LTM reported EBIT 306.5306Income statement p.18 / Quarterly EBIT p.34 📄 p.18Sum of quarterly EBIT Q3'25 56.5 + Q4'25 58.8 + Q1'26 79.6 + Q2'26 111.6; inflated by 77.2m divestment gains.
Company adjusted EBITA (LTM) 292.3292Reconciliation of adjusted operating profit (EBITA) p.32 📄 p.32FY 256.5 - H1'25 93.5 + H1'26 129.3; strips capital gains, restructuring, impairment, PPA amort.
PPA amortization add-back we reject (LTM) 18.318.3Amortization of intangibles recognized at fair value from acquisitions p.32 📄 p.32Acquisition-intangible amort; mttssn keeps in opex as a real cost of the roll-up.
Divestment capital gains stripped (LTM) 77.277.2Capital gains p.32 + Acquisitions and divestments p.28-30 📄 p.32Edlevo/HR&Payroll 57.1m + Bekk 20.1m; one-off, removed from operating profit.
Total equity 30 Jun 2026 1088.11,088Statement of financial position p.19 📄 p.19Continuing-group equity, snapshot for IC.
Cumulative translation differences (OCI) -196.8-197Statement of changes in equity p.20 📄 p.20Stripped from equity for IC (equity_ex_oci = 1284.9).
Interest-bearing debt 621.8 (loans 608.4 + 13.4)622Statement of financial position p.19 📄 p.19Non-current + current loans; leases excluded from IC (office ROU peripheral).
Cash & equivalents 301.5 (incl 25.1 restricted Ukraine)302Statement of financial position p.19 note 1 📄 p.19op cash floored at 2% revenue; excess 265.6 removed from IC.
Goodwill 1318.51,318Statement of financial position p.19 📄 p.19121% of equity — roll-up profile flag.
Quality · Buffett tenets10 / 15
Understandable business
Four-segment software + consulting model (Banktech, Caretech, Indtech, Tech Consulting) on ~EUR 1.8bn continuing revenue; clean segment P&L, but a portfolio in flux after the 2025-26 Tech Services / Bekk / Edlevo split reduces the operating-history read to a couple of restated quarters.
Durable moat
[byteskostnader · stabil] Vertical software (Banktech/Caretech/Indtech) carries genuine switching costs — mission-critical bank-payments and Nordic-healthcare platforms with multi-year contracts; order backlog EUR 2,109m (-4% YoY) and rev/employee ~EUR 138k anchor a sticky installed base, and adj EP has been positive (+83.4m LTM, ROIC 13% vs WACC 8%). Capped at 2, not 3: Tech Consulting (~40% of revenue) is labour-cost / competitive with no lock-in and organic -6%, and continuing-ops history is too short to evidence positive spread in 8/10 years. Falsifier: legacy-contract phase-outs in Banktech/Caretech accelerate, or SaaS entrants reprice the platforms at renewal.
Able & honest management
Cost-out programme delivered EUR 115m run-rate savings vs EUR 130m target; net debt/EBITDA cut to 1.0x from 2.2x via divestments; EUR 150m buyback executed (3.97m shares cancelled to 114.67m) + fresh EUR 90m launched. Candor mark tempered: company adjusted EBITA add-backs (PPA amort EUR 18.3m, restructuring EUR 32.6m) flatter the APM — mttssn rejects both; a EUR 110m arbitration counterclaim on the Tech Services sale is an open contingency.
Financial strength
Adj ROIC 13.0% > WACC 8%, EP +EUR 83.4m; adj-EBITA margin 14.9% (+5.5pp YoY) with a >16% 2028 target; net debt/EBITDA 1.0x, equity ratio 48%. Held below 3 by roll-up goodwill of EUR 1,318m (121% of equity), revenue in organic decline (-5%), and unverified LTM free cash flow (Q2 CFO EUR 20.8m, down on working-capital build).
Margin of safety
Reverse-DCF on adj NOPAT EUR 216.5m: zero-growth fair value ~EUR 20.4, GDP-growth ~EUR 28 vs EUR 17.43 price; EV/adj-EBIT 8.7x, P/E 9.1x. Real discount even on no-growth economics, but the base rests on a declining top line so the margin is moderate, not deep.