Telstra Group Ltd shares tumbled 5% during intraday trading on Thursday, as investors reacted to the company's fiscal 2026 earnings report that revealed a revenue miss and underlying weakness in its key postpaid mobile segment, overshadowing a raised dividend and a new A$1 billion share buyback plan.

Australia's largest telecommunications provider reported total income of A$23.41 billion for the 12 months ended June 30, down from A$23.61 billion a year earlier and below the FactSet consensus estimate of A$23.72 billion. Adjusted revenue came in at A$22.94 billion, also missing the IBES estimate of A$23.76 billion. Net income of A$2.24 billion fell short of the A$2.32 billion consensus forecast. While underlying EPS of A$0.204 met expectations, analysts at Jefferies flagged weakening trends in postpaid mobile, which were offset by strength in prepaid and mobile virtual network operator segments.

Adding to the negative sentiment, the company disclosed that the board cut CEO Vicki Brady's salary by more than A$600,000 due to a nationwide network outage in July, and reduced performance multipliers for remaining senior executives. The outage, which disrupted transport networks, payments systems and emergency calls, has been a source of reputational concern for the telco, even as UBS analysts noted the absence of additional outage-related costs in the company's fiscal 2027 guidance came as a relief.