Bharti Airtel Positives Gets a BUY Call From CLSA and Jefferies

Bharti Airtel’s Q3FY23 performance has resulted in a BUY call from two Brokers, Jefferies and CLSA. While Jefferies has upgraded Airtel to BUY, CLSA has reiterated a BUY call on Bharti Airtel. Coupled with disruptive practices and competition, the last few years were challenging for any Telco in India. However, the one telco that withstood all the bad weather is none other than Bharti Airtel.

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Also Read: Airtel Launches 5G in 125 Cities at Once: Details

Bharti Airtel has the highest VLR percentage today than any other Indian telco. Moreover, with a 6.02 Million Active Wireless Subscriber base addition in December, Airtel stands the highest in Active subscriber additions among the telcos.

Why Jefferies Upgraded Airtel to BUY Call

Jefferies believes that Bharti’s market share gains among 4G subscribers, tariff hikes which Airtel is strategically implementing, should help Bharti Airtel drive 13% of mobile ARPUs over FY23-25. Also, Airtel is aggressively rolling out its 5G Network based on its data science, where the telco sees demand for 5G and smartphone growth. According to Jefferies, 5G rollouts of Airtel will accelerate market share gains. As a result, Jefferies says Airtel stock offers a 16% upside potential and has upgraded Bharti to BUY.

Also Read: How Tariff Hikes Can Help Improve the Telecom Industry

Duopoly: Jefferies also highlighted the state of Vodafone Idea. Even if Vi was able to secure funding, the broker believes that it is unlikely that Vi matches the Capex plans of Airtel. Furthermore, Jefferies believes VIL will likely witness accelerated market share losses as 5G deployments of Airtel progress, and 5G becomes a mainstream Network, of which the initial signs are already visible.