Voda Idea, Airtel, Indus Towers, Nazara, Naukri: telecom & internet stocks to buy— targets

Telecom companies reported a stable performance in Q4FY26, helped by premiumisation, rising data usage and continued network investments, Centrum Broking said. It said the sector outlook remains positive as 5G subscribers grow, fixed wireless access-led broadband expands and users move to higher-paying plans. 

Centrum added that Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are placed to drive monetisation through converged offerings and higher data usage, while Indus Towers should gain from continued network densification. It said growth across internet platforms remained selective in Q4FY26.

It noted steady performance in recruitment, real estate, trust services and parts of enterprise technology, while some segments continued to see muted additions or seasonal weakness. Bharti Airtel added 47 lakh wireless subscribers in the quarter to take its base to 37.3 crore, while growth was supported by premiumisation, customer upgrades and strong traction in home broadband, enterprise and Africa operations, according to Centrum.

Airtel's ARPU fell sequentially because of fewer days in the quarter. Reliance Jio added about 9 million customers to reach 524 million, with growth driven by 5G adoption and strong home broadband additions led by JioAirFiber. Centrum said Jio also saw a marginal rise in ARPU and continued to gain subscriber market share. Vodafone Idea expanded its 5G footprint and increased broadband sites and 4G coverage.

Its customer base was largely stable, falling by 0.1 million quarter-on-quarter to 192.8 million, while ARPU rose 1.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to Rs 174 a month. Its AGR dues declined by Rs 55,600 crore from the previous quarter.

Indus Towers posted a steady Q4FY26 performance with 4,890 tower additions and stable tenancy of 1.62 times, reflecting healthy demand from telecom operators, Centrum said. It added that the company could benefit from ongoing 5G rollout, network densification, improving customer health and its Africa expansion.

Tata Communications reported 9.4 per cent year-on-year (YoY) revenue growth, supported by its digital portfolio and enterprise connectivity business, while an improving digital mix, operational efficiencies and a healthy order pipeline supported profitability and growth visibility.

Among internet and platform companies, Info Edge reported 5.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter revenue growth, helped by recruitment and real estate, with margin expansion despite subdued hiring demand in IT and BPM. IndiaMART posted 0.7 per cent growth, backed by improving enquiry quality, stable monetisation and retention in Gold and Platinum segments.

Nazara's revenue declined 2 per cent on weak seasonality. CE Info Systems reported 1 per cent on a yearly basis growth, while eMudhra's revenue rose 2.9 per cent sequentially on strong trust services. Centrum said premiumisation, AI-led product moves, IoT scaling, product innovation and global expansion continue to support the medium-term outlook across these companies.

The brokerage named Bharti Airtel (Target Price: Rs 2,431) and Indus Towers (Target Price: Rs 523) as its top picks in telecom, and Info Edge (Target Price: Rs 1,521 ) and eMudhra (Target Price: Rs 700) as its preferred names in its internet, platform and new-age coverage. All these stocks have a 'buy' rating. It also has a 'buy' rating on IndiaMart InterMesh with a target price of Rs 2,570.

It has given a 'neutral' tag for Vodafone Idea (Target Price: Rs 13), Tata Communications (Target Price: Rs 1,668), Nazara Technologies (Target Price: Rs 284) and CE Info Systems (Target Price: Rs 965).