Sydney, June 9, 2026, 20:01 AEST
Telstra Group finished Tuesday up 2.21% at A$5.08, outpacing the Australian market. Investors bought into telecoms after a weak open. The S&P/ASX 200 ended down 0.24% in Sydney, with miners and materials pulling the index lower.
ASX normal trading ended at 16:00 Sydney time. The session on Tuesday was the first after the King’s Birthday holiday, which kept the cash market closed on Monday.
Telstra’s latest filing focused on capital moves. The company said it cancelled 25,413,931 ordinary shares on June 9, with A$133.7 million in consideration paid for shares repurchased between May 18 and June 4. After the buy-back, Telstra’s ordinary shares outstanding fell to 11.139 billion. Cancelled shares mean there are fewer on issue after a buy-back on market, which is a repurchase through the exchange.
Telstra’s final buy-back notice last week showed it bought back 245,892,740 ordinary shares at just under A$1.25 billion. The company said it paid as much as A$5.40 on April 2 and as little as A$4.78 on Oct. 8.
Telecoms helped lift the sector. TPG Telecom added 1.10% to A$3.67 and Chorus was up 3.75% at A$8.02. Telstra also gained, with the move coming amid a day described by market reports as firmer for telecommunications, consumer and healthcare stocks, while materials stocks lagged.
Telstra’s last results in February are still shaping investor thinking. The company boosted its interim dividend to 10.5 Australian cents, raised the share buy-back limit to A$1.25 billion, and narrowed guidance for full-year underlying EBITDAaL to between A$8.2 billion and A$8.4 billion. EBITDAaL stands for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and after lease amortisation. CEO Vicki Brady said at the time that the buy-back should help “earnings and dividend per share growth.” eToro’s Zavier Wong called Telstra “one of the most defensive names on the ASX.” Reuters
Barrenjoey’s Eric Choi called Telstra a cash-return play after its half-year numbers. He said the company is “a reliable free cash flow generator with a growing dividend.” Free cash flow is what’s left after Telstra pays its bills and covers capital spending. News
The buy-back cushion isn’t as strong. Telstra shares are 2.5% under last week’s close, with the repurchase done. There’s now less capital-management support showing if mobile stalls, network costs jump or investors start to lower dividend hopes.
Can Telstra hold its dividend and steer FY26 earnings as planned without support from its buy-back? On Tuesday, investors seemed willing to give the stock a pass.
