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Shares of Bharti Airtel hit yet another record of ₹1,711.70 on Thursday (September 19) and became the fourth Indian company to achieve the ₹10 lakh crore in market capitalisation. The combined valuation of its partly and fully paid-up shares surpassed the milestone as the company added ₹1 lakh crore to its valuation in just 18 sessions.
NSE The company which occupied 7th position in the market capitalisation league table at the beginning of the year, has beaten names like Hindustan Unilever, Infosys and ICICI Bank. The stock of Bharti Airtel rallied more than 3% in Thursday’s trade, taking the year-to-date gains to 62%. In comparison, the benchmark Nifty has gained 17% during the same period.
According to Jefferies, the company has highlighted opportunities in the mid/premium segment of both business-to-consumer (B2C) and B2B markets and articulated its strategy to grow in these segments. The foreign brokerage, which has a "Buy" rating on the stock with a target price of ₹1,970 expects improvement in cash flow generation on the back of healthy growth and moderation in capex. "We see ₹300 ARPU in the mobile segment and expanding share of the non-mobile segment as the immediate goal posts," Jefferies wrote in an investor note.
Also Read: Dixon Technologies shares head towards the ₹14,000 mark; Can it split its stock again? Sitting pretty at the top is the country’s largest company Reliance Industries Ltd . While Reliance Industries boasts a market capitalisation of close to ₹20 lakh crore, software giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) commands a market valuation of ₹15.6 lakh crore.
The largest private lender HDFC Bank comes third with a market capitalisation of ₹13 lakh crore. In FY24, Bharti Airtel achieved the milestone of a total of 350 million customers and 250 million data customers. Further, the company generated an operating free cash flow of ₹39,564 crore during the year.
At the end of March 2024, its consolidated net debt excluding lease obligations for the company stood at ₹1.4 lakh crore compared to ₹1.5 lakh crore in the previous year.
The dividend payout from the company also doubled in FY24 with the full paid-up shareholders receiving ₹8 per share, whereas ₹2 for partly paid-up equity shares. Each carries a face value of ₹5. Also Read: Bharti Airtel net profit more than doubles to ₹4,160 crore, beats Street estimates.
