Bharti Airtel shares surge after strong Q1 results; should you buy, hold or sell?

Bharti Airtel Shares Today:  Shares of Bharti Airtel edged higher in early trade on Wednesday after the telecom major reported a strong set of numbers for the June quarter, driven by solid mobile revenue growth, improved operating metrics, and controlled capital expenditure.

The company posted a 43 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 5,948 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2025 — marking its fifth consecutive quarter of profit growth. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 49,463 crore, up 28 per cent compared to Rs 38,506 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

At 9:20 a.m., Bharti Airtel’s stock was trading at Rs 1,959.10 on the NSE, up 1.4 per cent from the previous close.

Much of the momentum this quarter came from its India mobile business, where performance was buoyed by higher subscriber additions and increased data consumption. Airtel’s smartphone user base rose by 21.3 million year-on-year and 3.9 million sequentially, now comprising 77 per cent of its total mobile user base. The company also added 0.7 million postpaid subscribers during the quarter, taking the total to 26.6 million.

Data consumption continued to rise, with per-user average monthly data usage climbing to 26.9 GB — a 21.6 per cent increase from the year-ago period.

On the infrastructure front, Airtel added around 1,800 towers and 7,500 broadband sites during the quarter, and over the past year, it has deployed 15,400 towers and laid 43,700 kilometres of fibre to expand coverage and improve network quality.

Brokerages views on Bharti Airtel

Macquarie maintained its ‘Outperform’ rating on the stock, setting a target of Rs 2,050. The firm highlighted the strong ARPU gains, capex control, and record free cash flow as key positives, noting that free cash flow delivery was better than expected.

Citi echoed a similar view, reiterating a ‘Buy’ rating with a target price of Rs 2,250. Analysts noted steady performance across segments, reduced capex, and encouraging trends in the homes broadband business.

Some market participants are eyeing short-term opportunities in the futures segment. Analysts at Zee Business suggest buying Bharti Airtel futures in the Rs 1,900–1,920 range, with targets of Rs 1,940, Rs 1,955, and Rs 1,975, and a stop loss at Rs 1,885.