Bharti Airtel shares rise 2% as Morgan Stanley increases target price, expects tariff hike in Q1FY27

The shares of Bharti Airtel rose nearly 2 percent in the early trading hours of December 16 after Morgan Stanley increased its target price, while maintaining its 'Overweight' call for the stock.

The shares of the company rose to Rs 2,103.50 per share in the early morning trading hours of Tuesday, emerging as the top gainer on Nifty 50 and Sensex.

Morgan Stanley on Bharti Airtel:

Morgan Stanley increased its target price for the shares of Bharti Airtel by 20 percent to Rs 2,435 apiece from the previous Rs 2,035 apiece. The latest target price implies an upside potential of nearly 18 percent from the stock's previous closing price.

The international brokerage said that it expects the Indian telecom industry's repair phase to continue in the near term. For Bharti Airtel, Morgan Stanley sees multiple levers driving average revenue per user (ARPU) growth to mid-single digits in the medium-term, supporting double-digit growth in India EBITDA.

It also expects return ratio profile to improve sustainably to over 20 percent. A tariff hike by the telecom major is expected in the first quarter of the next financial year (Q1 FY27), and the stock is likely to reflect this in the coming months, Morgan Stanley further said.

Bharti Airtel share price history:

Bharti Airtel shares have risen more than 12 percent in the past six months, and are up over 31 percent in 2025 so far. The stock however fell marginally over the past one month.

After hitting a 52-week low of Rs 1,559.50 per share in February this year, the stock gained more than 39 percent in less than nine months to hit a 52-week high of Rs 2,174.50 per share in November. The stock has so far fallen 3 percent since then.

Its P/E ratio stands at around 32, and it has a market capitalization of around Rs 11.95 lakh crore.