Telstra

Telstra Group Limited (Telstra) is an Australian telecommunications company. It sells mobile, fixed broadband and enterprise connectivity services, and its infrastructure business owns mobile towers, fiber and subsea cables. Telstra reports in Australian dollars for years that end on June 30. In FY26 (the year to June 30, 2026), total income was A$23,405 million, underlying EBITDAaL (EBITDA after leases) was A$8,341 million, and cash earnings were A$2,876 million, or 25.5 cents per share.

Mobile users grew by over 270,000. Telstra is building the Aura Network, a long-distance fiber network, and has signed contracts with Microsoft, Google, AWS and Firmus. Vicki Brady is Chief Executive Officer. The pick is the American Depositary Receipt (ADR) that trades over the counter in the US under TLGPY, in US dollars.

Each ADR represents five ordinary shares (the F-6 registration statement of the depositary, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, October 20, 2022). Telstra's ADRs are sponsored Level I receipts and cannot list on a US exchange (Telstra investor page). Telstra is not an SEC filer, so this profile comes from its own annual report and ASX releases.

The market prices Telstra close to the AI estimate, as a mature telecom with large spending needs, more debt and outage risk. Cash earnings per share rose 13.8% to 25.5 cents in FY26, helped by a smaller share count. But total income fell 0.9% to A$23,405 million. Strategic investment in the Aura Network and Viasat is now about A$1.8 billion from FY23 to FY28, up from A$1.6 billion.

A major network outage on July 8, 2026 affected some Triple Zero calls, and Telstra cannot yet size the regulatory and customer costs. Telstra also shifts its funding toward debt: it finished an A$1.25 billion buy-back in June 2026 and announced another of up to A$1 billion. For the price to stay close to the AI estimate, Telstra must meet its FY27 guidance of underlying EBITDAaL of A$8.5 billion to A$8.8 billion and Cash EBIT of A$4.75 billion to A$4.95 billion. It must also grow cash earnings at a mid-single digit rate toward FY30 and turn Aura Network and digital infrastructure contracts into revenue.

The regulator's response to the outage and the half-year result on February 18, 2027 are the next tests. If guidance holds, the price can stay close to the AI estimate as cash earnings grow.

AI estimate, checked by Kevin. How it is made

1. Feb 18, 2027Pending

   FY27 half-year results: guidance on trackGrowth in underlying EBITDAaL that keeps the FY27 guidance of A$8.5 billion to A$8.8 billion on track passes; a cut to guidance fails.
2. Aug 12, 2027Pending

   FY27 results: cash earnings per shareCash EPS of 27 cents or more for FY27 passes; less fails.
3. 2027 · est.Pending

   July 2026 outage: regulator outcome and costsA regulator outcome and customer costs that Telstra can size and absorb inside its FY27 guidance pass; costs that force a guidance cut fail.

Every passed and failed checkpoint across all picks

• August 13, 2026Telstra reported FY26 results. Underlying EBITDAaL rose 4.0% to A$8,341 million, cash EPS rose 13.8% to 25.5 cents, and net profit after tax rose 2.7% to A$2.4 billion. The final dividend is 10.5 cents per share, 90.5% franked, for a total of 21 cents. Telstra announced a new on-market buy-back of up to A$1 billion and gave FY27 guidance.
• August 13, 2026Telstra raised its expected strategic investment in the Aura Network and Viasat to about A$1.8 billion from FY23 to FY28, from about A$1.6 billion, because of inflation and project factors. It expects a mid-teens IRR and a payback of about nine years on the Aura Network.
• July 8, 2026A network outage hit some mobile calls and data services, including some Triple Zero calls. Telstra said that its own undocumented network design change and a software update that had not been applied caused it. It has received one regulatory notice, expects more, and commissioned an external expert review.

• Network outages and their cost. The July 8, 2026 outage affected some Triple Zero calls. Regulatory outcomes and customer claims are uncertain and Telstra cannot reliably estimate them (annual report, events after the reporting date).
• Spending may not earn its return. Strategic investment was A$457 million in FY26 and BAU capex was A$3,365 million, and FY27 BAU capex may reach A$3.65 billion. The Aura Network case depends on contracts that turn into revenue.
• Debt is rising. Net debt rose 5.2% to A$17,301 million at June 30, 2026, and the buy-backs move funding toward debt. Debt servicing was 2.0 times.
• Revenue is flat. Total income fell 0.9% in FY26. Telstra is still resetting its Fixed Enterprise business, and growth depends on mobile prices and users.
• Currency. The ADR trades in US dollars, but Telstra earns and pays dividends in Australian dollars. A fall in the Australian dollar lowers the ADR price for the same share price in Australia.

At June 30, 2026, Telstra's gross debt was A$18,404 million. It was made of borrowings of A$15,512 million and lease liabilities of A$3,091 million, less net derivative financial instruments of A$199 million. Read more

Yield at the current rate

4.3% (current annual rate, at today’s price)

Dividend yield

4.3% (last 12 months, at today’s price of $17.43)

Paid per share

$0.741 in the last 12 months (2 payments)

Current annual rate

$0.741 (the last two payments)

Latest ex-dividend date

August 27, 2026, $0.37 per share

Dividends per share by year

From 2020 to 2025, the dividend fell by about 11.6% a year. From 2015 to 2025, the dividend fell by about 12.6% a year.

Source: company filings and market data, read on November 13, 2026. The ex-dividend date is the first day a buyer no longer gets the next payment.