Bharti Airtel jumps after reporting mixed December quarter results; what brokerages say about it

Bharti Airtel Share Price: Bharti Airtel got a morning boost on BSE on Tuesday (February 6, 2024) after the telecom company reported mixed December quarter results. 

The stock of the large-cap firm was trading higher by 2.67 per cent, or Rs 29.70, at Rs 1143.45 at 11:56 am on Tuesday.

Bharti Airtel announced its third-quarter results on Monday evening, reporting an 82.1 per cent jump in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) to Rs 2442 crore in the December quarter from Rs 1341 crore in the September quarter.

It was slightly below Zee Business research estimates of Rs 2650 crore.

Revenue from operations jumped by 2.3 per cent to Rs 37899 crore against Rs 37044 crore quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) compared to research estimates of Rs 37450 crore.

Adjusted PAT slipped by 11.6 per cent to Rs 2572 crore in Q3 against Rs 2911 crore Quarter-on-Quarter (QoQ) compared to analysts' estimates of Rs 2650 crore.

The average revenue per user (ARPU) for the December quarter was up by 2.5 per cent to Rs 208 against Rs 2024 in the previous quarter. 

The telecom company's EBITDA improved by 1.5 per cent to Rs 19815 crore in the December quarter compared to Rs 19514 core against estimates of Rs 19900 crore.

The margin for the company turned out to be 52.3 per cent for the quarter under review against 52.7 per cent QoQ. The analysts' estimates for the same were 53.1 per cent.

Other features of Q3 results

• There was an exceptional loss of Rs 130 crore in the December quarter.
• The company was partially impacted by currency devaluations in Africa.
• Revenue from India business sustained its momentum and grew sequentially by 3.0 per cent, the company said.

What brokerages say about Bharti Airtel

CLSA has maintained a buy call on the company, raising the target share price to Rs 1370 from Rs 1240.

Morgan Stanley has maintained an equalweight rating with a target of Rs 1015.

In its report, it says that the telecom company has shown steady performance as it- 

a) Beat in India mobile business revenues and EBITDA led by improving subscriber mix

b) Flattish capex QoQ coming lower than our estimate

c) Has a robust cash flow generation.

JP Morgan has maintained a neutral rating on the firm with a target of Rs 1100.

Citi has also maintained a buy call with a target of Rs 1270

Macquarie has maintained an outperform stance on Bharti Airtel with a target of Rs 990.

In its report, the brokerage wrote that the company has steady execution in its Indian mobile operations

Growth deceleration in India enterprise has derived its EBIT miss

The results again underscore Bharti Airtel's focus on its premiumisation strategy

Strategy driving higher blended ARPU and positive operating leverage

What Anil Singhvi says about Bharti Airtel results

Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi says that the company has shown strong growth in its Indian business.

The improvement in ARPU is positive.

Bharti Airtel futures have support at Rs 1,110 and a higher level at Rs 1,155.

What expert says