Up to 250% jump in Q3 profit! What analysts say on Bharti Airtel shares ahead of Q3 results?

Bharti Airtel is the only Nifty constituent, which is expected to report more than doubling of December quarter profits. While the telecom operator is yet to announce date for its quarterly earnings, an average price target on the stock at Rs 959.11, as suggested by publicly available data with Trendlyne, hints a 19 per cent potential upside ahead for the stock. 

Analysts largely see over 200 per cent jump in profit for Bharti Airtel on a 19-20 per cent rise in sales. Average revenue per user (ARPU) is expected to improve sequentially while the telecom operator is also likely to add some 15 lakh subscriber for the quarter. Investors would keenly be watching out for the commentary, if any, on the progress on the 5G rollout, capex intensity, 4G subscriber additions, traction in home broadband and other new initiatives.

Nuvama Institutional Equities sees Bharti's core PAT at Rs 2,897 crore, up 249 per cent YoY. It sees revenues rising 19 per cent YoY to Rs 35,757 crore.

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Motilal Oswal Securities, which has a target of Rs 1,010 on Bharti Airtel, is expecting the telecom operator to report a 225.80 per cent YoY growth in net profit at Rs 2,630.20 crore for the December quarter on a 19.2 per cent YoY rise in sales at  Rs 35,586 crore. It expect a 3 per cent revenue growth sequentially, led by a 2.5 per cent increase in ARPU and subscriber addition of 1 per cent.

It sees Ebitda margin to improve 90 bps sequentially, led by SUC savings. Ebitda is expected to grow 5 per cent sequentially, the brokerage which has a target of Rs 1,010 on the stock said.

Prabhudas Lilladher sees adjusted PAT at Rs 2,252.70 crore, up 166 per cent. It sees sales rising 15.8 per cent YoY to Rs 34,583 crore.  Margin is seen coming at 51.6 per cent against 51 per cent in September and 49.2 per cent in the year-ago quarter. This brokerage has a target of Rs 1,039 on the telecom stock.

"For Q3, we have factored subscribers to grow 15 lakh to 32.78 crore, coupled with ARPU increase of 3.5 per cent QoQ to Rs 196. Airtel Africa business is expected to see revenue growth of 5.1 per cent QoQ, and we have factored in 4.5 per cent QoQ revenue growth for the enterprise segment along with 30bps Ebitda margin improvement," Prabhudas Lilladher said.

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