Bharti Airtel shares decline even as analyst sees 27% upside on Africa mobile business IPO

Shares of Bharti Airtel Ltd. declined on Friday, June 5, even as brokerage firm CLSA was positive on the stock.

CLSA has an "outperform" rating with a price target of ₹2,310 per share on Bharti Airtel, an upside of nearly 27% from its previous close.

It noted that the IPO for the company's Africa mobile money business — Airtel Money — is scheduled for the second half of 2026.

It said, as per unconfirmed reports, Airtel Money could raise $1.5 to $2 billion at a potential valuation of $10 billion, up four-fold from 2021, implying around 60% of Airtel Africa's market cap.

Airtel Money's revenue in the financial year 2026 increased 36% to $1.4 billion, while its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was up 31% at $689 million from last year.

CLSA said Airtel Money penetration is low at 29% of Airtel Africa's own mobile subscribers of 184 million as Nigeria has yet to ramp up. Hence, the strong growth is likely to continue.

The Airtel Money business contributes around 20% of the region and Africa accounts for 25% of Bharti Airtel's consolidated operations, the brokerage added.

It said it values Bharti Airtel's 62% stake in Africa at a market cap of 6% of 2,310 target price. It does not separately value Airtel Money.

Bharti Airtel reported its fourth quarter earnings last month. Its consolidated net profit increased 10.5% to ₹7,325 crore from ₹6,630 crore in the previous quarter. A CNBC-TV18 poll had forecast net profit of ₹7,404 crore.

Its revenue of ₹55,383 crore was up 2.6% from the prior quarter's ₹53,981 crore and was in-line with Street estimates of ₹55,380 crore.

The company's EBITDA increased 2.3% sequentially to ₹31,492 crore from ₹30,782 crore. It was also close to estimates of ₹31,576 crore.

Its margins were flat sequentially at 57% and in-line with Street estimates.

The company's board also recommended a final dividend of ₹24 per share for the financial year 2026.

Of the 30 analysts who have coverage on the stock, 27 have a "buy" rating and three have a "sell" rating.

Shares of Bharti Airtel Ltd. were trading 0.9% lower at ₹1,802.1 apiece at 11.30 am on Friday. The stock has declined 14.6% this year, so far.

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