“Revenue up, profit down – what’s really happening at Airtel?”

Bharti Airtel Q3 FY26 – Key Points - Revenue Growth: ₹53,982 crore (+19.6% YoY, +3.5% QoQ) - EBITDA: ₹31,144 crore (+25% YoY); margin at 57.7% - Net Profit: ₹6,631 crore (-55% YoY) due to higher costs - ARPU (India Mobile): ₹259 (+7.5% YoY) – steady improvement - Capex: ₹11,787 crore (+28% YoY) – heavy 5G & fiber investments - India Business: ₹39,226 crore revenue (+13.2% YoY) – homes & enterprise strong - Africa Business: +24.7% growth (constant currency) – subscriber momentum - Debt Position: Net debt-to-EBITDA improved to 1.47x (vs 1.98x last year) - Stock Reaction: Fell ~1.6% to ₹1,992 post-results 🔎 Investor Watchouts - Profit compression despite revenue growth - Rising spectrum & employee costs - Heavy capex may pressure free cash flow - Market cautious until tariff hikes/5G monetization visible 🚀 Strategic Outlook - Aggressive 5G rollout & infra expansion - Diversification via broadband, enterprise, digital services - Africa remains strong growth engine - Tariff hikes expected – key margin driver - Focus on debt reduction & monetization of Airtel Payments Bank, Nxtra Data