Why is Telstra stock sliding today?

Telstra's stock price dropped by 4.6% to A$4.77 on Thursday following mixed results in its FY2026 full-year report. While cash earnings grew by 12% to A$2.9 billion and underlying EBITDA grew by about 4%, reported net profit after tax increased by 2.7% to A$2.4 billion, the positives were overshadowed by a decline in Telstra-branded postpaid mobile users and deteriorating performance in key segments.

The company faced a significant increase in redundancy provisions, which more than doubled year-over-year due to restructuring efforts in its enterprise division. Furthermore, Telstra's guidance for FY27 highlighted a business-as-usual capex of A$3.35–3.65 billion, raising concerns about the pace of network investment eroding free cash flow, despite the company's emphasis on 5G Advanced rollout and AI capability investments as strategic priorities.

The broader Australian market also had a negative impact, as the S&P/ASX 200 fell by 0.5% on Thursday.