TELUS heads into its August 4 earnings report having just suffered its worst single-day drop in recent memory, leaving the stock at its lowest point in years and testing the conviction of income investors who have long treated it as a stable dividend anchor.
The price action is the story. Shares fell 11.3% on July 31 alone, and are now down 10.8% on the month to CAD 13.38. That move has compressed valuation sharply — the EV/EBITDA multiple has contracted to 7.0x, down from around 7.1x a week ago and 7.1x a month ago. The analyst consensus hasn't caught up yet: the mean price target sits at CAD 18.86, implying roughly 41% upside from current levels. That gap deserves some skepticism given how quickly conditions have moved, but even haircut significantly, it points to a stock the Street has not abandoned. TELUS's dividend score ranks in the 98th percentile across the ORTEX universe — a reminder that the yield, at a forward rate north of 10% against current prices, remains a gravitational force for income-oriented holders.
The bears, however, are not rushing in to press the move. Short interest has climbed 24% on the month to about 3.7% of free float — a notable build, but not extreme. More telling is the lending market: availability is loose at around 281%, meaning nearly three shares remain available to borrow for every one already lent out. Borrowing costs have also eased sharply, falling nearly 40% over the past week to just 0.69%. That combination — rising short interest alongside falling borrow costs and wide availability — suggests the short buildup reflects considered positioning rather than a frantic scramble to get short ahead of the print. The ORTEX short score of 48 sits near neutral, reinforcing that the short community is watching rather than piling in.
The insider picture adds a note of support. TELUS's CFO Gopi Chande bought shares at CAD 15.00 as recently as July 1, just before the selloff accelerated. A director made a larger purchase in late March. The pattern of insider buying at prices well above today's close is not a guarantee of a floor, but it does signal that those closest to the business were viewing the stock as undervalued at levels the market has now blown through. Peer BCE gained just over 1% on the week while TELUS fell more than 7%, suggesting some company-specific pressure on top of Canada's already challenged telecom backdrop.
The August 4 print will therefore test whether the selloff reflects deteriorating fundamentals — rising debt costs, slowing subscriber growth, or weaker TELUS International drag — or whether the market has overcorrected against a business that analysts still view as structurally sound, and insiders were buying weeks ago.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open T on ORTEX →ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
