Why Airtel Shares Are Upbeat Even As Profits Fell 30% In Q4

Airtel‘s share price was up on Wednesday morning going up over 2% to hit an intraday high of ₹1,313.

What Happened: The telecom major reported a net profit of ₹2,071.6 crore for the quarter, marking an around 30% decline from the ₹3,006 crore posted in the same quarter last year. The company also disclosed a one-time exceptional loss of ₹2,455 crore. Revenue from operations for the March quarter stood at ₹37,599 crore, reflecting a 4.4% increase from the ₹36,009 crore reported in the same quarter last year. However, this figure fell short of street estimates, which were around ₹38,200 crore.

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Analyst Reactions: Brokerage remained bullish on the stock despite the earnings miss. Morgan Stanley maintained its “buy” rating for the stock with a price target of ₹1,330. The brokerage said that the company’s India business revenue and EBITDA beat its estimates. The analyst said that the beat was thanks to better customer additions and improvement in average revenue per user.

Jefferies also maintained its “buy” rating for the stock raising the price target to ₹1,590 from ₹1,300. The research firm said that the company’s subscriber additions surprised it positively.

BofA Securities also maintained its “neutral” with a price target of ₹1,430. The brokerage said that the company’s revenue excluding Africa was in line with its estimates. The analysts however said that EBITDA was lower than estimates.

Price Action: Airtel’s share price was up 1.50% to trade at ₹1,303.55 as the markets opened on Wednesday.

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