How to buy Telstra (TLS) shares

By   |   Verified by Stephen Birch   |   Updated 26 Sep 2023

Telstra Corporation Limited (ASX: TLS) is an Australian telecommunications company, and Australia's largest in terms of market share. It was founded in 1975 as Telecom Australia and renamed Telstra in 1995. Telstra is a member of the S&P/ASX 200 and has its headquarters in Melbourne.

This is the guide to investing in Telstra.

About the company

Telstra overview

Telstra is a telecommunications and technology company that competes in all telecommunications markets across Australia. The company builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television, and other products and services. By 2020 it was the largest Australian wireless carrier with 18.8 million subscribers.

Subsidiaries of Telstra include Foxtel, On Australia Pty Limited, EPiCON, and Pacnet among others.

Unsure about what trading platform to use?

Where to buy Telstra shares

eToro

On website

eToro AUS Capital Limited AFSL 491139. eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.

Highlights

  • Trade and invest in top financial instruments, including a wide selection of stocks.
  • eToro is regulated by CySec, FCA, and ASIC.
  • Your funds are protected by industry-leading security protocols.
  • Earn up to 5.3% annual interest on your balance.*

*Applicable to uninvested funds. Your capital is at risk. Eligibility and Terms & Conditions apply.

Saxo Markets

On website

Saxo Markets

Highlights

  • Invest in 23,500+ stocks from ASX, New York, Hong Kong, and 50+ other global markets.
  • No platform fees, no inactivity fees, and no FX fees on each trade.
  • Analyse, improve and manage your risk using intuitive trading tools.
Pearler

On website

Highlights

  • Enjoy low, transparent fees.
  • An option to Autoinvest. Set-and-forget your investment strategy.
  • Simply invest into any ETF from one of Pearler's ETF managers for at least one year, and it's free.
  • Clearing House Electronic Sub-register System (CHESS) sponsored.
Superhero

On website

Highlights

  • Open an account with just $100 and start investing today with a $5 flat-free brokerage ($0 on US shares) on share trades.
  • Buy and sell US shares & ETFs with $0 brokerage plus trade unsettled funds.
  • Fund your account in minutes with PayID and enjoy realtime FX transfers for fast US share trading.
Tiger Brokers

On website

Highlights

  • Available for ASX, US & HK stocks trading, ETFs, and US options trading.
  • Free market data for ASX and US stocks.
  • More accessible investment to all with a demo account.
Webull

On website

Webull

Highlights

  • Trade AU & US stocks, ETFs, and Options with $0 commission for the first 30 days.
  • Provides intuitive and powerful advanced charts, multiple technical indicators, and premier Level 2 Advance (Nasdaq TotalView).
  • Regulated by ASIC.

Pros

  • Invest from as little as US$5.
  • No deposit or withdrawal fees.
  • Allows you to trade fractional shares.
  • Access to advanced trading tools.

Cons

  • Scarcity of instructional resources for investors.
  • Supports AU and US markets only.
Moomoo

Moomoo

Highlights

  • Trade blue-chip stocks in AU and US markets.
  • Trade multi-markets and multi-products with a lower commission. No custodian fee.
  • CHESS-Sponsored trading is now available.
  • Regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

First time buying?

How to buy Telstra shares

Step 1: Choose a broker

When you buy shares online, you do it through an intermediary called a broker. There are many online brokers available, offering various options and features.

These are some of the key features to look for when choosing an online broker.

Free trades

Some online brokers will offer free trades. This is quite widely available now, but generally not for shares listed on the ASX.

Ease of use

Trading in shares needn’t be complicated, so keep an eye out for a trading platform that is straightforward to use.

Other useful features for new investors include demo trading accounts where you can practise without consequence, and educational guides (preferably in video format).

Research and reporting

Look for a platform with solid research and reporting on each company. Apart from charting, look for things like Telstra’s price history, market analyst recommendations, price forecasts, company announcements, earnings reports, etc.

Step 2: Fund your account

You need to add money to your account with your online broker before you can trade. It's a good idea to start with a small amount. You can expand your horizons when you become more confident at trading, but never invest an amount you cannot afford to lose, because share prices can be very volatile.

Step 3: Decide how much you want to invest

You should always have an investment plan, based on what you can afford. Take a look at Telstra's current share price and make a judgement, but remember you can always buy more when the price drops.

Step 4: Shares or an ETF?

One big question you'll have to answer is whether you want to invest in shares or an ETF. An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is considered to be a less risky option because it invests in a group of companies or market indices rather than relying on the performance of a specific company. This means less volatility, and you win if the market wins, but it is less interesting for those looking to actively manage their investments.

ETFs that own shares of Telstra include Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF (VHY), BetaShares Australian Sustainability Leaders ETF (FAIR), and SPDR S&P/ASX 200 ESG FUND (SSGA).

Step 5: Decide your order type

Orders are how you tell online brokers what sort of trades you'd like to make and decide how you'd like your money to behave.

Market order

A market order is an order to buy shares at the current market price. In fast-moving markets, these prices can change while you're making the trade. Let’s say you place an order for Telstra shares at $4.20. You place an order but by the time it executes the share price has dropped to $3.90. You will get your shares at a lower price. The same situation applies if the share price goes up while your order is being executed.

Limit order

With a buy limit order, your trade will only execute when the share price reaches the price, or lower, that you nominate. Let’s say you decide you only want to buy Telstra shares at $3.80 or lower. Once the price drops to $3.80, your limit order will kick in.

Stop limit

This is when you nominate a price range within which you want to buy or sell your shares. The stop price activates the order and the limit price indicates the highest price at which you are prepared to buy or the lowest price at which you are prepared to sell. Your order is only executed if shares can be bought or sold within your nominated price range.

Stop loss

In this case, you nominate a price at which you decide to sell your shares. If the share price drops significantly, for example, the stop loss means you automatically sell out before your shareholding suffers too much damage.

You might decide to set a stop loss at $3.95. If your Telstra shares hit this price, the order executes and they are sold.

Step 6: Place your order

Once you're happy with your strategy and with funds in place, it's time to get going with trading. On most platforms, you can place your order with the click of a button.

After you buy

What moves Telstra's share price

You can buy shares to hold them over the long term as an investment or to benefit from speculating on share price movements. Either way, you need to keep an eye on both company performance and share price movements.

Keep an eye on Telstra’s performance, financial fundamentals, and share price movements. Telstra is a dividend-paying company, so you also have to keep an eye on their dividend payments.

Track competition in the telecoms sector

As Australia's largest telecommunications provider, Telstra offers a full range of telecom services. It competes with a number of players across different subsegments and is the market leader in a number of them.

In the Australian mobile market, Telstra competes with Optus and Vodafone (VHA). In internet services, its competitors include TPG Telecom (TPG), Optus, and Vocus Group.

Disclaimer: We put our customer’s needs first. The views expressed in this article are those of the writer’s alone and do not constitute financial advice. Advertisers cannot influence editorial content. However, Finty and/or the writer may have a financial interest in the companies mentioned. Finty is committed to providing factual, honest, and accurate information that is compliant with governing laws and regulations. Do your own due diligence and seek professional advice before deciding to invest in one of the products mentioned. For more information, see Finty’s editorial guidelines and terms and conditions.