Sydney, June 19, 2026, 06:03 (AEST)
- Telstra ended Thursday at A$5.07, slipping 0.2%. The S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.62%.
- Citi started on the stock with a Hold and set the price target at A$5.50, which is roughly 8.5% higher than the last close.
- Vodafone, owned by TPG, brought its network back online following an outage. Telstra finished its A$1.25 billion buyback, having bought 245.9 million shares.
Telstra Group shares edged down Thursday, but the stock outperformed the broader Australian market after the U.S. Federal Reserve sent a hawkish signal that lifted bond yields and the dollar. Telstra moved in a range of A$5.065 to A$5.095 before closing at A$5.07. The index finished at 8,911.1.
Telstra is down 2.5% in the past five sessions and now trades about 9% under its May high of A$5.58. Investors have to figure out if the drop makes the stock a buy again or if Telstra’s defensive story is already in the price. That relative resilience is in focus.
Citi’s new call brings the stock’s valuation debate into focus. A separate poll of six analysts has an average target price of A$5.25, about 3.6% higher than where shares ended Thursday. The targets range from A$4.60 to A$5.57. A price target is just a broker’s 12-month view—no promise.
Mobile is still the core of the story. Telstra booked first-half mobile income at A$5.77 billion. Attributable profit came in 9.4% higher at A$1.12 billion. The company tightened its FY26 underlying EBITDA after lease amortisation range to A$8.2 billion to A$8.4 billion. CEO Vicki Brady said the buyback would “support earnings and dividend per share growth.” eToro analyst Zavier Wong called Telstra “one of the most defensive names on the ASX.” Reuters
Telstra’s finished buyback means cancelled shares will lift per-share earnings and dividends, but the company has stopped supporting its own stock by buying in the market. That could leave the share price more reactive to changes in earnings forecasts and rates.
Vodafone’s network went down for several hours on Thursday but was back online later in the day. TPG Telecom, the parent company, still ended up 0.8% higher at A$3.68. Investors didn’t seem to see the outage as a short-term risk for TPG.
Telstra’s outage puts network reliability back in the spotlight for the carrier, which leans on that as a selling point. But it’s not clear from this incident that customers will walk away. Telstra still faces the challenge of turning its network and brand into higher revenue, and has to do that without sending cost-conscious users to cheaper options.
But the risk is obvious. Mobile price growth might cool, enterprise restructuring could drag out, and more spending on networks might eat into cash. If FY26 ends on a soft note, there’s not much room to justify the current valuation or boost dividends, and with the buyback done, there’s less regular support for the stock.
Telstra’s next test comes with annual results on August 13. Investors want to see if the company sticks to its earnings guidance, keeps up mobile growth, and shows that any dividend hike is coming from cash generation and not just a reduced share count.
