Sydney, June 26, 2026, 05:06 (AEST)
- Shares gained 0.6% at A$5.14, even as the S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.7%.
- The buyback finished at an average price of A$5.0835 per share.
- Repurchases made up 2.16% of the reported share base.
- Analyst consensus target price gives shares 2.8% upside from here before factoring in dividends.
Telstra Group Limited (ASX:TLS) gained 0.59% to A$5.14 on Thursday, outperforming the S&P/ASX 200, which dropped 0.7% to around 8,748. Telstra outpaced the index by about 1.3 percentage points for the day and is up 1.18% in the past week.
ASX hadn’t moved into pre-open as of 05:06 AEST Friday. Pre-open is at 07:00, with normal trading set for around 10:00. June 26 is a regular trading day.
IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said the index came up against “a stronger US dollar and falling commodity prices”. Materials names dropped for a sixth straight session in late trading. IG
Telstra’s buyback ended with the company spending A$1,249,999,998.72 on 245,892,740 shares. That works out to an average price of A$5.0835. Telstra paid in a range from A$4.78 to A$5.40. Thursday’s close was 1.1% higher than the average buyback price. The shares retired are 2.16% of the total 11.385 billion shares from the filing. With the smaller share count and flat profit, EPS would get a 2.2% bump on paper. Now, the market is without support from the programme’s bid.
Chief Executive Vicki Brady in February said the buyback should “support earnings and dividend per share growth”. Zavier Wong, a market analyst at eToro, said Telstra is “one of the most defensive names on the ASX”. Reuters
Half-year cash EPS came in at 14.0 cents, up 20%. Reported EPS was 9.9 cents, up 11%. The interim dividend is 10.5 cents, 90.5% franked—this works out to 106% of EPS, or 75% of cash EPS. At a simple annualised rate of 21 cents, yield comes to about 4.1% at A$5.14, but Telstra hasn’t given a full-year dividend outlook. For FY26 the company set guidance between A$8.2 billion and A$8.4 billion in underlying EBITDAaL and A$4.55 billion to A$4.75 billion in cash EBIT.
Fourteen analysts give the stock an average Hold with a target price of A$5.284, about 2.8% over where shares closed Thursday. Their targets sit between A$4.60 and A$5.60. Since the gap is tight, the argument for returns leans more on dividends and cash flow.
Telstra will report its annual numbers on Aug. 13. Shares go ex-dividend Aug. 26, with the dividend paid Sept. 24.
