Bharti Airtel Limited

Communication Services — Telecom Services · NSE

₹1,905.00+₹51.00 (+2.75%)

DalalBaazaar Score

70 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Moderate

Driven by moderate debt load, short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, with both sales and profits growing well. Short-term liquidity is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 8:28 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

The 60-second version of Bharti Airtel Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Bharti Airtel Limited operates as a telecommunications company in India and internationally.

IndustryTelecom Services

SectorCommunication Services

Employees28,743

Annual revenue₹2.11 L Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹2.11 L Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹13 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹56 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 28,743 employees supports ₹7.34 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹7.34 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are VODAFONE IDEA LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

Compared side by side in Peers ↓

What is its competitive advantage?Some evidence

ROCE of 16.7% is above what capital typically costs, which suggests some pricing power, though not yet the sustained, wide gap that marks a durable advantage.

What is the outlook?

31 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 12.6% and earnings to grow about 31.1% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+12.6%

Est. earnings growth+31.1%

Analysts31

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +52% while net margin moved +111% relative to itself. What this cannot tell you is which products, customers or geographies did the work — that lives in the segment disclosures of the annual report.

Revenue effect+52%

Margin effect+111%

DalalBaazaar Score

70/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Debt/Equity of 1.00x is on the heavy side
✗ Current ratio of 0.57 — short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets
✓ Free cash flow is positive — the business funds its own capex
• Interest cover of 3.5x is adequate

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

74/ 100

Good

How good the business is, ignoring the share price entirely.

Valuation

65/ 100

Fair

What you are being asked to pay, ignoring how good the business is.

A reasonable business at a reasonable price — neither the quality nor the valuation stands out in either direction.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

39.8x

3Y Median

70.8x

40 monthly readings · mean 78.8x · range 31.8x–157.0x

🟢Current valuation is approximately 44% below its 3y median of 70.8x. Cheaper than its own history, which is worth a reason too: the market may be pricing in something the backward-looking numbers do not show.

vs. its own history

Cheap

70.8x median over 40 months · -44%

vs. sector peers

Not enough peers with a usable P/E

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

EV/EBITDA

11.5x

PEG

0.84

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well6

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 49.0% to 56.2% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 14% over 3 years.
Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 95% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 10.8% to 17.9%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 9.5% to 16.7%.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

Nothing stands out as clearly deteriorating on the years of data available.

Red Flags

3 items require attention · 1 high · 2 watch

🔴Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 133% against revenue up 52% — stock may not be moving.
🟡Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 100% against revenue up 52% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Short-term liquidity is tightFinancial
Current ratio of 0.57 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 49.0% to 56.2%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 44% below its own median multiple. If the business performs as it has and simply re-rates back to normal, that gap is return on its own.
Earnings have proved durable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years. Consistency lowers the risk that any single bad year is structural rather than cyclical.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 100% against revenue up 52%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Earnings are hard to forecast
Profit has swung sharply from year to year, so any single year — good or bad — is a weak guide to the next. Cyclical earnings deserve lower multiples for that reason.

🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today

1Revenue growth stays above 11% a year✓ 14.9% CAGR
Latest reported year was 18.4%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 54%✓ 56.2%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Interest cover stays above 3x✓ 3.5x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹75,515 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 1.6x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.

Investment Checklist

9 / 12 checks passed

✓ Strong return on equity (ROE ≥ 15%)
✓ Strong return on capital employed (ROCE ≥ 15%)
✓ Healthy net margin (≥ 10%)
✓ Generates positive free cash flow
✗ Manageable leverage (Debt/Equity < 1.0)
✗ Adequate short-term liquidity (Current Ratio ≥ 1.0)
✓ Revenue growing year-over-year
✓ Profit growing year-over-year
✓ Not trading at an extreme valuation (P/E < 40x)
✓ Not buying right at the 52-week high
✓ Analyst consensus isn't majority-sell
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

7 good · 3 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹11.88 L Cr

Large Cap

Large, widely-covered business — typically the steadiest of the bands

P/E (Trailing)

39.8x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

7.34x

Rich

Steep premium to book — needs high, durable returns to justify

EPS (TTM)

₹47.84

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

20.2%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

16.7%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

1.00x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

18.4%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

35.1%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

1.26%

Modest

Small cash return — most of the return has to come from the price

Free Cash Flow

₹63,057 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

23.2x

Improving

Below the trailing multiple — the street expects earnings to grow into the price

ROA

8.2%

Good

Assets are working hard

Operating Margin

32.6%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

13.1%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

0.57

Tight

Tight short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.01

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

40%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

1808.4 / 1860.3

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

67.4

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹1.39 L Cr	₹1.50 L Cr	₹1.73 L Cr	₹2.11 L Cr	+14.9%
EBITDA	₹68,152 Cr	₹76,926 Cr	₹94,402 Cr	₹1.19 L Cr	+20.3%
EBITDA Margin	49.0%	51.3%	54.6%	56.2%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹8,346 Cr	₹7,467 Cr	₹33,556 Cr	₹26,695 Cr	+47.3%
EPS	₹14.57	₹12.8	₹56.04	₹44.37	+44.9%
ROE	10.8%	9.1%	29.5%	17.9%	—
ROCE	9.5%	9.4%	16.8%	16.7%	—
Total Debt	₹2.26 L Cr	₹2.16 L Cr	₹2.14 L Cr	₹1.95 L Cr	-4.7%
Free Cash Flow	₹38,786 Cr	₹38,847 Cr	₹58,652 Cr	₹75,515 Cr	+24.9%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 14.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 20.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 49.0% to 56.2% over 3 years (+7.3 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 47.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 44.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 10.8% to 17.9% over 3 years (+7.1 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 9.5% to 16.7% over 3 years (+7.2 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 4.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 24.9% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹5.52 L Cr

Total Liabilities

₹3.56 L Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹13,722 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹1.22 L Cr

Capex

-₹46,714 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

35.7%

Insider Holding

53.1%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

05 Nov 2026

Dividend Rate

₹24

Ex-Dividend Date

24 Jul 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

32 Buy · 0 Hold · 2 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹2,317.62

+21.7% vs CMP

Target Range

₹1,785 – ₹2,750

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
VODAFONE IDEA LIMITED	3.6x	—

Recent News

6 general

Bharti Airtel jumps 4%, sees sharpest intraday gain in 3 months; here's why

Business Standard, 15 Oct

Jio IPO: Why Bharti Airtel share price is rising ahead of Rs 30,213 crore offer

Business Today, 16 Oct

India's Reliance, Airtel rally as Jio Platforms IPO recasts valuations

Reuters, 15 Oct

Airtel launches ₹185, ₹203, ₹206 voice-only prepaid plans ahead of TRAI's Oct 21 deadline

CNBC TV18, 18 Oct

Airtel launches voice-only prepaid plans after govt mandate, prices start at Rs 185

India Today, 18 Oct

Jio Platforms IPO: How does it stack up against Bharti Airtel on valuation, revenue and profitability?

Moneycontrol.com, 14 Oct

Watch Items

Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongBusiness Quality · Growth · Profitability · Risk

MiddlingFinancial Health · Valuation

Points for each in the Score ↑

Good business at a fair price

A sound business at a reasonable valuation. Suitable for a long-term holding, with the valuation and the direction of margins worth watching rather than the business itself. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

All 5 tripwires holding · see Key things to watch ↑