Jio Q2 Preview: First results after listing tomorrow. What should investors expect?

Mukesh Ambani-led Jio Platforms will announce its first quarterly earnings as a listed company on Friday, October 30, just two days after making a blockbuster debut on Dalal Street. Brokerages expect strong subscriber additions and a modest improvement in average revenue per user (ARPU) to drive double-digit revenue growth in the September quarter.

Nomura expects Jio's revenue from operations to rise 11% year-on-year and 3% sequentially to Rs 40,400 crore in the second quarter of FY27, supported by healthy customer additions and improved subscriber monetisation.

The brokerage estimates EBITDA at Rs 22,050 crore, representing 17% growth year-on-year and 4% sequentially. Operating margins are expected to improve by around 30 basis points quarter-on-quarter to 54.6%.


Nomura has projected net income of Rs 7,610 crore, an increase of 18% year-on-year on its estimates.

Emkay Global also expects healthy growth, forecasting revenue expansion of 10.5% year-on-year and 2.8% quarter-on-quarter. The brokerage expects EBITDA and EBIT margins to improve by 20 basis points sequentially.

The results will be closely watched following Jio's record-breaking Rs 30,188 crore IPO, which attracted strong demand from institutional and retail investors.

Subscriber additions could drive growth

A key factor supporting Jio's earnings is its ability to attract new customers while increasing revenue from existing subscribers. Nomura sees the telecom company's subscriber base to increase by around 80 lakh during the September quarter, taking total subscribers to 54.13 crore from 53.33 crore at the end of June.

The brokerage expects ARPU to rise by around Rs 3 sequentially to Rs 219 per month. Emkay has a slightly higher subscriber growth estimate, projecting additions of around one crore customers during the quarter. It expects ARPU to improve by 1% sequentially.

Jio's ARPU stood at Rs 215.6 in the June quarter, compared with Rs 214 in the preceding quarter. The expected increase in ARPU reflects a gradual improvement in monetisation, supported by a growing subscriber base, higher data consumption and customer migration towards premium services.

Investors will also monitor the pace of 5G adoption, home broadband subscriber additions and the contribution of digital services to revenue growth.

How Jio performed in Q1

In the June quarter, Jio Platforms reported revenue from operations of Rs 39,173 crore, an increase of 11.8% year-on-year. EBITDA rose 15% to Rs 20,865 crore, while the operating margin expanded by 150 basis points to 53.3%.

The company reported consolidated profit after tax of Rs 7,764 crore, up 9.2% from the corresponding quarter last year. Jio's subscriber base reached 53.33 crore at the end of June, including 28.5 crore 5G subscribers.

First results after India's biggest IPO

Jio's September-quarter earnings will mark its first financial results announcement since listing on the BSE and NSE on October 28. Shares of the telecom and digital services company made their stock market debut at Rs 1,358, a premium of 21.36% over the IPO issue price of Rs 1,119.

The stock extended its gains during the session and closed at Rs 1,419, representing a 26.81% gain over the issue price. Its market cap reached Rs 13.05 lakh crore, making it India's second-most valuable listed company.

Jio's IPO surpassed Hyundai Motor India's Rs 27,870 crore offering to become the country's largest public issue. The offering was subscribed 22.19 times, with qualified institutional buyers bidding for 70.55 times their reserved portion. Public bids exceeded Rs 4.9 lakh crore.

Reliance Industries continues to hold a controlling stake in Jio following the listing.

What investors will watch

With Jio commanding a valuation exceeding Rs 13 lakh crore after its market debut, the September-quarter results will provide an early test of earnings expectations for its new public shareholders.

Beyond revenue and profit growth, investors will look for indications of future tariff increases, improvement in ARPU, subscriber additions and operating margins. The expansion of home broadband, enterprise technology, cloud computing and artificial intelligence services will also remain important areas of interest.

Disclosure: This article has been written by Podishetti Akash, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Podishetti Akash and his ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The Economic Times Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment. Brokerage disclosures here.