Airtel dips 1.2% post-results as Citi flags ₹299 plan reversal; analysts hold

SENSEX 80,843.91

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NIFTY 24,927.75

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CRUDEOIL 8,444.00

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GOLD 143,726.00

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SILVER 186,730.00

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SENSEX 80,843.91

 -155.49

NIFTY 24,927.75

 -58.65

NIFTY 24,927.75

 -58.65

CRUDEOIL 8,444.00

 -110.00

CRUDEOIL 8,444.00

 -110.00

GOLD 143,726.00

+ 1,174.00

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Despite the subscriber miss, brokerages remain constructive on the stock

By Anupama Ghosh

Updated - November 09, 2026 at 11:58 AM.

FILE PHOTO: Net subscriber additions fell sharply from 3.3 million to 0.7 million | Photo Credit: ADNAN ABIDI

Shares of Bharti Airtel fell 1.24 per cent to ₹2,059.60 on the NSE by mid-morning on Monday after the telecom major reported its second-quarter results. The stock opened at ₹2,086, touched a low of ₹2,044.10, and was trading with a slight sell bias, with 51 per cent of orders on the sell side as of 11.40 am. Total traded volume stood at 21.66 lakh shares, with a traded value of ₹445 crore.

The decline comes despite a broadly healthy set of Q2 FY27 numbers. A Citi note issued ahead of trading flagged a key overhang: Bharti has quietly reinstated its ₹299 prepaid recharge plan, just three months after withdrawing it in August 2026. While the relaunched plan offers 1 GB of data per day versus the earlier 1.5 GB, the reversal signals that the unilateral tariff tightening failed to hold, as peers did not follow. Citi, which maintained a Buy with a target price of ₹2,390, noted that churn climbed from 2.6 per cent to 2.9 per cent quarter-on-quarter, with net subscriber additions falling sharply from 3.3 million to 0.7 million. The brokerage said the episode underscores that pricing discipline in the prepaid smartphone segment is difficult to sustain without industry-wide participation.

Despite the subscriber miss, brokerages remain constructive on the stock. Motilal Oswal reiterated Buy with a sum-of-the-parts target of ₹2,395, citing Africa’s outperformance and industry-leading ARPU. Elara Securities maintained Buy with a higher target of ₹2,523, rolling forward valuations to H1FY29 estimates. Both houses highlighted ARPU expansion as the key earnings driver, with Bharti’s mobile ARPU rising to ₹271 in Q2 from ₹256 a year ago.

On the results, consolidated revenue rose 16.7 per cent year-on-year to ₹60,878 crore, while EBITDA grew 17.8 per cent to ₹35,240 crore, with margins at 57.9 per cent. Net income before exceptional items came in at ₹9,015 crore, up 32.7 per cent year-on-year. The stock’s 52-week range is ₹1,726.30 to ₹2,174.50.

Published on November 9, 2026

Companies to follow

• Bharti Airtel Ltd

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