Bharti Airtel shares gain over 3% despite steady ARPU; CLSA sees up to 49% potential upside

Bharti Airtel share price NSE: Bharti Airtel shares in Wednesday’s trade (May 14, 2025) zoomed over 3 per cent in trade after a strong set of earnings for the March quarter. At around 9:57 am, shares of the telecom major traded higher by nearly 3 per cent at Rs 1,399.85 per share. At the day’s high, the stock scaled Rs 1,408 levels.

Considering the 52-week high price of Rs 1,464.8, the stock is trading just 4 per cent away taking into account day’s high price.

Bharti Airtel Q4FY25 results

New Delhi-headquartered Bharti Airtel, a private sector telecom service provider, on Tuesday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 11,022 crore for the quarter ended March 31, marking a 25.4 per cent fall compared with the previous three months. However, the quarterly net profit was better than analysts’ expectations. 

According to Zee Business research, Bharti Airtel was estimated to register a March-quarter net profit of Rs 6,078 crore with revenue of Rs 48,194 crore.

The telecom service provider said its overall customer base stood at around 591 million across 15 countries, as against 577 million for the quarter ended December 31. 

Its margin came in at 56.41 per cent for the fourth quarter of FY25, expanding from 54.5 per cent for the previous three months, according to the filing.

The company’s consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 10.1 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis to Rs 27,404 crore.

Its EBITDA margin expanded by 210 bps sequentially to 57.2 per cent, according to a company statement. 

Bharti Airtel’s EBITDA From its India business increased 11 per cent to Rs 22,024 crore.

Bharti Airtel Results | Average revenue per user (ARPU)

Bharti Airtel’s average revenue per user, a key metric of profitability for mobile operators, remained unchanged sequentially, at Rs 245 in Q4. 

Revenue from the company’s domestic mobile services business grew 20.6 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the quarter ended March 31, 2025, driven by its strong smartphone customer additions and premiumisation efforts. For the previous three months, the business had registered growth of 21.4 per cent.

Brokerages on Bharti Airtel stocks

Morgan Stanley on Bharti Airtel

Morgan Stanley has maintained an equalweight call on the stock with the target at Rs 1,870. The brokerage acknowledged that the company’s India operations ex-Indus delivered a beat On EBITDA in Q4FY25, led by better-than-expected performance in Airtel business segment. India (Ex-Indus) capex came in much higher than Q3. Also, the company’s Rs 16 per share dividend is showing 100 per cent on-year increase, which is ahead of Morgan Stanley estimates.

Its revenue grew 6.1 per cent sequentially to Rs 47,876 crore for the final quarter of FY25, according to a regulatory filing. 

Also, it pointed that the company’s consolidated net debt increased due to redemption of $1 billion perpetual bonds. 

Goldman Sachs on Bharti Airtel

The brokerage maintained ‘buy’ with the target at Rs 1,920, raising it from Rs 1,780.

CLSA on Bharti Airtel

The brokerage maintained ‘accumulate’ with the target at Rs 2,035, meaning a substantial over 49 per cent.
 
JP Morgan on Bharti Airtel 

The brokerage continues with its ‘overweight’ call with the target at Rs 1,970.

 Citi on Bharti Airtel 

Citi has continued with its ‘buy’ call with the target at Rs 1,920. The company’s 4Q was relatively subdued in comparison to the recent quarter with India mobile growth slowing to 1.3 per cent qoq on seasonality.

 India & consolidated net debt rose 4 per cent qoq, primarily due to increase in India capex & due to cash outgo towards 5 per cent stake increase in Airtel Africa, it added.