Investors and brokerages bullish on Bharti Airtel after tariff hikes

Mumbai: Brokerages have retained bullish views on Bharti Airtel after the telecom operator announced 20-25% tariff hikes over various prepaid offerings. The tariff hike and bullish commentary from brokerages lifted the stock by 2.35% to ₹759.50 on Tuesday.
"Assuming no churn and/or down-trading, the prepaid data hikes could boost Bharti Airtel's India mobile revenue by 14% while the entry tariff hike could boost revenue by another 5%," said CLSA, retaining a 'buy' rating with a target price of ₹863.

Maintaining a 'buy' rating with a target price of ₹815, IIFL Securities said Bharti's pre-paid tariff hikes are substantial but in line with expectations.

UBS said that while this is a positive step for Bharti, the risk-reward is balanced. The brokerage has a neutral rating on Bharti Airtel.


Jefferies has raised target price on Bharti Airtel to ₹925 from ₹850.

"Bharti's 20-25% hike in the prepaid tariffs reflects that its focus is moving towards boosting realisations as against gaining market share aggressively. We believe Reliance Jio may hike tariffs too as Bharti's 20-50% premium offers significant headroom for Reliance Jio to raise tariffs," said Jefferies.