Bharti Airtel is back in focus after its Q1FY26 results. But now the main question is – Is it worth betting on at current levels? Two major brokerage firms – Motilal Oswal and Nuvama recommended Buy. Both the brokerage firms have given a ‘Buy’ rating to the stock, citing strong fundamentals, improving financials, and an uptick in performance across its India and Africa operations.
Let’s take a look at what the brokerages say about this stock and what is driving this bullish sentiment.
Motilal Oswal sees growth momentum building post Q1
Motilal Oswal has assigned a ‘Buy’ rating to Bharti Airtel with a target price of Rs 2,200. This implies an upside potential of nearly 14%.
According to Motilal Oswal, the company reported a “good quarter,” especially with better-than-expected performance from its Africa business.
The brokerage highlights a 3% sequential growth in India wireless revenue and EBITDA, aided by an increase in ARPU (average revenue per user) and strong operational efficiency.
“Capex has normalized after a sharp increase in Q4FY25, while net debt saw a sharp reduction of around Rs 13,000 crore,” noted the Motilal Oswal report. This was largely due to the strong free cash flow of Rs 14,300 crore generated during the quarter.
Nuvama sees Bharti Airtel as the “Best Play” in telecom
The brokerage firm, Nuvama has also retained a ‘Buy’ call on Bharti Airtel. The firm believes Bharti’s consistent execution and balance sheet strength make it the “best way to play the Indian telecom sector.”
As per the brokerage report, the company reported a revenue of Rs 49,970 crore, up 3.3% quarter-on-quarter, driven by an ARPU of Rs 250 and the addition of 1.2 million new subscribers during the quarter.
The capex fell sharply to Rs 8,300 crore from Rs 14,400 crore in the previous quarter, helping improve the free cash flow to Rs 19,900 crore.
Nuvama has set a revised target price of Rs 2,200 for Bharti Airtel, up from Rs 2,130 earlier. This indicates an upside of about 14% from the current levels.
Bharti Airtel share price
Bharti Airtel’s share price has dipped around 5% in the past month but it still delivered a 19% return over the last six months and surged 33% over the past year.
On a year-to-date basis, it is up by 20%.
The company’s market capitalisation currently stands at Rs 11.57 lakh crore, with its 52-week high at Rs 2,045.80 and low at Rs 1,422.60.