Shares of Bharti Airtel advanced over 8 percent on Thursday, while the BSE Sensex and NSE's Nifty 50 were trading nearly 0.7 percent higher. Bharti Airtel' stock price opened at Rs 323 per share and hit an intraday high of Rs 351.15 per share on the NSE, up 8.3 percent from its previous close.

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Brokerages remained positive on the telecom operator despite widening losses in the June quarter. The stock has gained around 16 percent in 2019, despite volatility in markets and multiple headwinds. In comparison, the benchmark indices have turned negative for the year.

For Q1, the telecom operator reported a worse-than-expected quarterly loss of Rs 2,866 crore as compared to a profit of Rs 97.3 crore a year ago. The loss widened as the company lost more customers and spent more to upgrade its 4G network during the quarter. Revenue for Q1 rose 4.7 percent YoY to Rs 20,738 crore.

However, brokerages remained positive on the stock. CLSA has a 'buy' call on Airtel, while Morgan Stanley was equal-weight on the stock. Recently BofAML also upgraded the stock to 'buy'.

CLSA has a 'buy' call on the stock but has cut its target to Rs 390 per share from Rs 415 earlier. According to CLSA, Q1 results are a mixed bag, with its Indian operations led by mobile. India mobile revenue growth highlight of results, led by a 5 percent rise in ARPU, it added.

Morgan Stanley is 'equal-weight' on the stock with a target of Rs 360 per share. Indian wireless revenue and adjusted EBITDA largely in-line with estimates, it said, adding that 4G subscriber addition momentum was robust with 8.4 million additions in Q1.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML) upgraded Bharti Airtel's rating to 'buy' from 'neutral' and raised the stock's target price to Rs 400 per share from Rs 360 earlier. According to the brokerage, post the recent rights offering/Africa IPO, they expect Bharti’s balance sheet to be strengthened and consider it to be in a good position to improve its momentum in the core cellular business. They also find Airtel well-positioned to capitalize on any weakness at Vodafone Idea (VIL) as it focuses on integrating its networks post-merger and expect its market share to remain stable at 30-31 percent from FY20 to FY24.

JM Financial was also positive on the stock. According to the brokerage, Bharti delivered a strong all-round performance in 1QFY20 led by India mobile and DTH.

"Adjusted net loss of Rs 1530 crore was higher than the forecast, because of higher depreciation and FX/derivative losses. Reported Q1 loss was Rs 2950 crore, due to a large exceptional charge of Rs 1590 crore comprising incremental provision towards indemnities given to pre-IPO investors in Africa and IPO expenses. The company delivered a 2.3 percent QoQ growth in mobile revenues, diverging further from Vodafone India and surpassing it to become the second-best telco. Growth was driven entirely by ARPU, fuelled by smartphone upgrades and ARPU up-trading. Q1 should help Bharti stock price reverse some of its recent losses," the brokerage added.

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First Published:Aug 2, 2019 11:21 AM IST