Bharti Airtel Gets Target Price Hike From Macquarie, Ranked Among Super Six List

Macquarie Equity Research has raised its one-year target price for Bharti Airtel Ltd. to Rs 2,050, reflecting a 14% upside potential from current levels. This move underscores Macquarie's continued bullish outlook on the Indian telecom giant, which now features prominently in their 'India Super 6s' list of core investment ideas.

"We lift our one-year price target by 14% to Rs 2,050 as we improve the odds of our bull-case scenario," Macquarie stated in its latest report. The brokerage firm highlighted Bharti Airtel's strong performance and favourable risk-reward profile as key reasons for the target price hike.

Macquarie's base case assumes an 11% increase in Average Revenue Per User to Rs 290 for FY27. "Our base case fair value improves to Rs 1,920, explained in equal parts by a higher mobile multiple and lower net debt," the report noted.

In a more optimistic scenario, Macquarie sees a blended ARPU of Rs 300 in FY27, resulting in a fair value of Rs 2,350. "Given the potential listing of peer Reliance Jio, we assign a 40% weight to this scenario," Macquarie added.

Conversely, in a bear case scenario, if ARPU increases are modest, the fair value could drop to Rs 1,450. "We assign a 10% weight to this scenario as we don't see sector multiples de-rating into an improving Return on Invested Capital trajectory," the report explained.

Macquarie also emphasised the positive outlook for the Indian telecom sector, citing effective industry tariff adjustments, higher free cash flow, and an improving ROIC outlook. "We re-affirm our fundamental positive view on the India telecom sector," the report stated.

The brokerage firm expects Bharti Airtel's share price to remain supported by bullish tariff expectations and strong earnings visibility. "In an 'expensive-on-high-expectations' broader India portfolio context, we note strong visibility for Bharti's earnings trajectory," Macquarie concluded.