Bharti Airtel shares get an upgrade from Kotak to 'buy' for up to 26% upside

Shares of Bharti Airtel Ltd. declined on Thursday, April 2, even has brokerage firm Kotak Institutional Equities upgraded its rating on the stock, projecting an upside of 26.3% from its previous close.

The brokerage now has a "buy" rating on Bharti Airtel from its earlier rating of "add" with an unchanged price target of ₹2,250 per share.

Kotak Institutional Equities said Bharti Airtel's wireless business performance remains resilient with gradual market share gains and a likely average rate per user (ARPU) hike in the near-term.

The company also announced that it has crossed the 650 million customers milestone on Thursday.

It expects three focus areas — homes, enterprise and data centres — to witness accelerated capex spends and growth in the coming years.

Lower capex over financial year 2026-2028 (21-22% of revenue compared to 30% historically) would drive deleveraging and increase shareholder payouts, as per the Kotak note.



Kotak Institutional Equities believes the concerns around capital allocation in NBFC are overdone and the recent stock price correction makes risk-reward attractive with the stock trading at 8 times its enterprise value (EV)/earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) estimated for the financial year 2028.

Of the 31 analysts who have coverage on Bharti Airtel, 27 have a 'buy' rating, one has a 'hold' rating and three have a 'sell' rating.

Shares of Bharti Airtel are trading 1.5% lower on Thursday at ₹1,755.4. The stock is down 6.5% over the last 12 months.

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