Should you buy, sell or hold Bharti Airtel shares after telecom majors Q4 results, dividend announcement?

Bharti Airtel share price: Bharti Airtel shares rose on Wednesday, a day after the telecom major reported a quarterly net profit that exceeded analysts' estimates and announced a dividend of Rs 4 per share. The Bharti Airtel stock — traded on bourses BSE and NSE with the symbol BHARTIARTL — gained by as much as Rs 9.6 or 1.2 per cent to Rs 797.4 apiece on BSE in early deals. 

Brokerages have largely positive views on the telecom firm with target prices as high as Rs 950. 

Bharti Airtel Q4 results and dividend announcement: A summary

After market hours on Tuesday, Bharti Airtel — a major private sector operator in India’s highly competitive telecom space — posted an 89.2 per cent sequential jump in net profit to Rs 3,005.6 crore for the quarter ended March 2023. The telecom company's revenue grew 0.6 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis to Rs 36,009 crore, according to a regulatory filing.

According to Zee Business research, Bharti Airtel's quarterly net profit was estimated at Rs 2,250 crore and revenue at Rs 36,100 crore. 

Bharti Airtel's average revenue per user (ARPU), a key measure of a telecom operator’s profitability, stood at Rs 193, marking an increase of Rs 15 or 8.4 per cent on a year-on-year basis. Zee Business analysts had pegged the telecom operator's ARPU at Rs 197. 

The company said it will continue to ramp up its 5G roll-out, and expects to connect all major regions by the end of the year.

Bharti Airtel's board recommended a dividend of Rs 4 per share. Read more on Bharti Airtel Q4 results, dividend

EDITOR'S TAKE | What Anil Singhvi makes of Bharti Airtel results

Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi said Bharti Airtel's overall numbers were stable.

"While the company's revenue and margin are in line with estimates, there is a slight miss on the ARPU front... Cash flow is strong... The company has raised its dividend," the market wizard said. 

Should you buy, sell or hold Bharti Airtel shares?

Morgan Stanley maintained an 'overweight' rating on Bharti Airtel with a target price of Rs 860, implying a potential upside of 9.2 per cent from Tuesday's closing price.  

The brokerage said the company's results were a slight miss on the India EBITDA front.

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