Is the Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price a buy? Before today's movements it was down 20% since the share market coronavirus declines started.
The falls haven't been as bad as some shares like Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) have dropped 40%.
In some ways Telstra is proving its defensive nature compared to plenty of other businesses.
People have to keep paying their telecommunications bill if they want to stay connected to the internet and other people during this terrible period. The continuing revenue supports earnings and the Telstra share price.
Whereas banks are facing potentially large bad debt write offs and lower net interest margins (NIMs). Many retailers have completely shut their doors. Those earnings are definitely going to be a lot lower.
But Telstra continues to provide its services. It really helps that its service hardly ever involves person-to-person interaction.
But is the Telstra share price a buy?
I don't think a share is a buy simply because it's fallen less than other shares. That might show you could have owned it in your portfolio before the declines. But perhaps those shares that have declined further are now better opportunities.
Looking at an estimate for FY22 earnings, it's trading at around 20x. But that's just a guess at this stage, it's hard to evaluate how the coronavirus is going to affect things.
But the question is whether there are better value shares out there compared to Telstra. I think there are plenty of solid ASX 200 shares which are market leaders in their industry which could make better buys today such as Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW) and Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP).
