Bharti Airtel shares rise despite 34% drop in Q4 net profit
Strong India mobile revenue and margin expansion boost investor sentiment
Morgan Stanley sees 37.5% upside on Airtel with ₹2,450 target price
Shares of Bharti Airtel rose more than 2.5% on Thursday to hit an intraday high of ₹1,834.60 on the NSE, even as the telecom major reported a sharp 34% year-on-year (YoY) decline in consolidated net profit for the March quarter.
The stock reaction reflected investor focus on stronger operational performance, revenue growth and a positive long-term outlook rather than headline profit numbers.
1 May 2026
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Bharti Airtel reported a consolidated net profit of ₹7,325 crore for Q4 FY26, lower than the year-ago period. However, revenue from operations rose 16% YoY to ₹55,383 crore, supported by continued momentum in India operations and resilient performance in Africa.
Revenue from India operations, including passive infrastructure services, increased 8% YoY to ₹39,566 crore, while the Africa business delivered 1.1% constant currency growth on a quarter-on-quarter basis.
Strong Operating Performance
The telecom operator also reported healthy improvement in profitability metrics.
Consolidated EBITDA rose 17% YoY to ₹32,038 crore, while EBITDA margin expanded by 60 basis points to 57.8%. India EBITDA stood at ₹23,965 crore, with margins improving further to 60.6%.
Investors appeared encouraged by continued growth in Airtel's core telecom business, particularly rising smartphone adoption and premiumisation trends.
India mobile revenue increased 8% YoY, supported by higher smartphone penetration and customer upgrades. Airtel added 5.8 million smartphone users and 0.8 million postpaid subscribers during the quarter.
Average revenue per user (ARPU), a closely watched telecom metric, stood at ₹257.
Home Services Drive Growth
Another key positive for investors was Airtel's home services segment, which continued to witness strong growth.
According to brokerage estimates, home services revenue jumped 37.3% year-on-year, driven by expansion across broadband, WiFi and IPTV services.
Analysts believe the business is becoming an increasingly important growth engine for the company as digital consumption expands across households.
Global brokerage Morgan Stanley retained its "Overweight" rating on Bharti Airtel and maintained a target price of ₹2,450 per share, implying an upside potential of around 37.5% from current levels.
The brokerage cited stronger-than-expected India mobile revenues and better EBITDA performance in the March quarter.
Analysts also pointed to improving business quality and stronger execution across segments.
Balance Sheet Strengthens
The company continued to improve its financial position during the quarter.
Capex stood at ₹16,066 crore as Airtel accelerated investments in 5G network densification, fibre deployment, connected homes, data centres and enterprise services.
Meanwhile, the consolidated net debt-to-EBITDA ratio improved significantly to 1.29 times from 1.86 times a year ago.
Net debt excluding lease obligations stood at 0.79 times EBITDA, indicating continued strengthening of the balance sheet.
Strategic Partnerships and Dividend Announcement
During the quarter, Airtel also announced multiple strategic initiatives.
The company partnered with Google to strengthen spam protection and Rich Communication Services messaging capabilities for Indian users. It also launched an AI and Cyber Threat Research Centre in collaboration with Zscaler to improve cybersecurity capabilities and accelerate AI adoption.
Bharti Airtel also announced a final dividend of ₹24 per fully paid-up equity share of face value ₹5 each and ₹6 per partly paid-up equity share where call money remains unpaid.
