CLSA has set Bharti Airtel's highest-ever price target at ₹2,765, representing a 34% upside potential from the stock's last closing level. According to reports from CNBC TV18, this target comes after the company delivered strong Q2FY27 results that exceeded brokerage estimates. Citi maintains a 'Buy' rating with a price target of ₹2,230, while 31 out of 33 analysts tracking the stock have 'Buy' ratings, with only two analysts maintaining 'Sell' ratings.
On a consolidated basis, Bharti Airtel reported a 31% year-on-year increase in net profit to ₹8,888 crore from ₹6,792 crore, with revenue growth of 17% YoY to ₹60,878 crore. As reported by CNBC TV18, EBITDA margin expanded 50 basis points sequentially to 57.9% from 57.4%, while EBITDA reached ₹35,240 crore, up 18% year-on-year from ₹33,599 crore. Revenue grew 4% sequentially from ₹58,539 crore in the previous quarter. Before exceptional items, net profit rose 32.7% to ₹9,015 crore, with the September quarter including a ₹180 crore charge towards Airtel Money IPO-related costs.
The India mobile business demonstrated robust performance with revenue increasing 9.4% year-on-year to ₹42,308 crore and 2.7% sequentially. According to CNBC TV18, ARPU improved 5.9% to ₹271 from ₹264 in the previous quarter, reflecting the company's focus on premiumisation and higher-value subscribers. During the quarter, Bharti Airtel added 1.2 crore customers, bringing the total customer base to 69.3 crore across 15 countries as of September 30. Postpaid customers rose by 1.2 million to 31.2 million, which the company calls its strongest quarter, and smartphone data customers increased by 2.9 million to 304.6 million, representing 81% of the base. Mobile EBITDA margin improved to 61.0% from 60.3% year-on-year.
The enterprise business delivered strong results with Airtel Business revenue growing 11.4% year-on-year to ₹5,878 crore and EBITDA margin at 43.0%. As reported by CNBC TV18, homes broadband revenue rose 25.3% to ₹2,336 crore, though ARPU fell to ₹509 from ₹523 in June. Digital TV revenue increased 2.4% to ₹771 crore but the business lost 0.44 million customers, ending with 15.6 million subscribers. Africa revenue rose 37.6% in rupees to ₹18,817 crore, with customers growing 11.6% to 193.9 million and data revenue up 28.8% in constant currency. Airtel Africa's EBITDA margin widened to 50.5% from 49.1%, while the company bought back $66 million of shares during the quarter, taking total buyback to $109 million.
Shares of Bharti Airtel settled 0.52% higher at ₹2,056.90 on Thursday, as reported by CNBC TV18. The stock is down around 3% so far in 2026. Gopal Vittal, Executive Vice Chairman, highlighted that "Our new growth engines continue to gain momentum. Our investment in a strategic land parcel during the quarter marks another important step towards realising our ambition of building 1 GW of data centre capacity." He added that the company continues to maintain a strong balance sheet, anchored by robust cash generation and disciplined capital allocation. Capital expenditure was ₹12,467 crore, with ₹9,908 crore in India, while net debt including lease obligations rose to ₹1,66,581 crore from ₹1,57,240 crore in June.
