Vodafone Idea Shares: Should You Buy, Sell Or Hold? Brokerages Weigh In Amid AGR Relief Talks

After an eventful Wednesday that saw Vodafone shares moving from a 52-week high to hitting a lower circuit, brokerages have come up with fresh notes on the cash-strapped telecom company, highlighting potential challenges even after reports of relief from the Cabinet on its AGR-linked dues.

In their latest report, both Emkay and Axis Capital have maintained a bearish call on Vodafone Idea, with the former pointing out severe flaws associated with the stock despite multiple relief packages.

Emkay has maintained a 'sell' rating on the counter, with an unchanged target price of Rs 6., implying significant downside even from current levels.

The brokerage firm highlighted that the reported Cabinet relief on Vodafone Idea - a five-year-interest-free moratorium - was far below the street estimate of at least a 50% waiver on AGR dues.

Emkay further highlighted that VI has Rs 1.2 lakh crore worth of deferred payment obligations toward spectrum, with significant scheduled payments between FY26 and FY44.

Moreover, the firm's current Ebitda is insufficient to meet the capex or the spectrum debt repayment requirement.

Keeping these factors in mind, Emkay believes Vodafone Idea would require additional relief or funding to alleviate such challenges.

Axis Capital, on the other hand, has maintained a 'reduce' rating with an unchanged target price of Rs 9.45.

Much like Emkay, Axis Cap has also highlighted that the reported relief package from the government is much lower than what the market is expecting.

However, the brokerage firm believes the package offers Vi some breathing room to incur capital expenditures.

Balance sheet of Vodafone Idea, though, remains bloated, with its business firmly below competitors such as Jio and Bharti Airtel, when it comes to capex.

Axis Cap further believes the moratorium is positive for Indus Towers as it increases visibility on VIL’s ability to make regular vendor payments and also incur some capex.