Sydney, Feb 15, 2026, 18:10 AEDT — Market closed
Telstra Group Ltd shares ended Friday up 1.23% at A$4.94, after trading between A$4.895 and A$4.960 in the session. About 18.96 million shares changed hands, and the stock has ranged from A$3.84 to A$5.14 over the past 52 weeks. (Investing)
Australia’s market is shut for the weekend, leaving investors to focus on Telstra’s half-year results announcement due on Thursday, Feb. 19, and the interim dividend timeline that follows. The stock is set to trade ex-dividend on Feb. 25 — when shares start trading without the right to receive the payout — with a record date on Feb. 26, a dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) election date on Feb. 27 and payment due on March 27. (Telstra.com)
This matters because Telstra is a staple holding for local income funds, and the half-year update can shift the near-term debate around cash generation and capital returns. Guidance and cost lines can do the damage, too, even if the headline profit doesn’t surprise.
The wider market ended last week on the back foot. The S&P/ASX 200 slid 1.39% on Friday to 8,917.6 points, with information technology down about 5% and health care off about 4%, while utilities rose more than 3%, Market Index data showed. (Market Index)
A separate overhang is spectrum pricing — the radio frequencies carriers use to run mobile networks. Telstra has urged the Australian Treasury to impose a hard cap on industry-wide spectrum licence renewal fees, Simply Wall St reported, saying the debate is landing as the company moves into its half-year results window. (Simply Wall St)
In the results, investors will look for any change in tone on mobile and broadband trends and how hard Telstra leans on costs to hold margins. Network spending is always in the background; the question is whether it creeps higher again.
The dividend line is just as sensitive. Telstra’s timetable puts the ex-dividend date a week after the numbers, which can pull trading forward and distort the price action around the announcement.
Competition remains the grind. Telstra faces Optus and TPG Telecom in mobile, and fixed-line economics still lean heavily on the national broadband network.
But the set-up cuts both ways. Any hint that costs are running hotter, growth is slowing, or capital spending needs are rising could weigh on a stock that has been acting as a defensive pocket when risk appetite fades.
Trading resumes on Monday, with positioning likely to stay cautious into Thursday’s update rather than chase a weekend headline.
The next clear catalyst is Telstra’s FY26 half-year results webcast on Feb. 19. (Telstra.com)
