Shares in Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX:TLS) had fallen 2.21% to A$4.84 around midday as investors weighed a mixed set of results, headlined by a A$1 billion share buyback and the sale of part of its cloud assets.
Jefferies analysts flagged that softness in the mobile segment could weigh on sentiment, despite overall results being in line with expectations. Reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at A$8.02 billion, with underlying EBITDA at A$8.62 billion.
Jefferies Australia analyst Roger Samuel said the “composition is a bit disappointing” given that mobile performance was weaker than anticipated, partly offset by strength in the fixed enterprise division. “On a like-for-like basis, Telstra only added 4,000 postpaid mobile subscriptions in the second half, citing a slowdown in the overall market and customer migration to a new digital stack,” he said.
The buyback exceeded expectations, while consensus estimates were already at the top end of Telstra’s fiscal year 2026 EBITDA guidance range of A$8.15–A$8.45 billion. UBS analysts also highlighted the drop in mobile subscribers — partly due to the removal of idle subscriber identity modules (SIMs) — and weaker international segment performance, offset by gains in fixed enterprise and the Consumer and Small Business (C&SB) division.