Bharti Airtel Jumps 10% After Impressive Q2 Performance

On Wednesday shares of Bharti Airtel rose over 10 percent to Rs 488 on NSE, a day after the company reported its financial results for the September-ended quarter.

On Tuesday, the telecom operator reported a sharp improvement in its net loss to Rs 763 crore for the September ended quarter from Rs 23,405 crore in the same period last year. It also recorded its highest ever quarterly revenue of Rs 25,785 crore, 22 percent higher than the same quarter last year.

It reported ARPU (average revenue per user), an important performance matric for telecom operators at Rs 162 for the September ended quarter, when compared to Rs 154 in the previous quarter and Rs 128 a year ago.

Most brokerages have turned bullish on the stock after its results. Goldman Sachs has a "buy" call on Bharti Airtel with a target price of Rs 635 per share. It said that the company's execution continues to be near-flawless.

Citi also has a "buy" call on the stock with a target at Rs 690 per share, while BofAML (Bank of America Merrill Lynch) has a price target of Rs 640 on positive risk-reward. It added that strong business momentum for Bharti Airtel continues.

CLSA has a 'buy' call on the stock with a target at Rs 715 per share. The brokerage said that the company's revenue and EBITDA were led by strong India mobile data traction.