Bharti Airtel's $2.2 bln investment to boost diversification of portfolio, analysts say

Bharti Airtel

24/02/2026 04:39

** Bharti Airtel BRTI.NS invests $2.2 billion in its financial arm over the next few years to step up its push into digital lending

** CITI ("Buy," PT: 2,380 rupees) says the capital infusion is a natural adjacency to develop BRTI's next growth engine and diversify its portfolio

** Brokerage adds that it does not expect the foray to materially weigh on BRTI's cash flows, considering its upcoming rights issue payment and free cash flow generation

** Morgan Stanley ("Overweight," PT: 2,450 rupees) says BRTI has seen "reasonable success" in operating its loan service platform over the last 2 years, and the new capital infusion is a step to diversify further into financial services

** Adds, while current investments will increase overall capex intensity, it will also build additional revenue streams with potential value creation

** BRTI down 3.2% on the day

       ** Avg rating of 29 analysts on BRTI at "Buy"; median PT is 2,375 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, stock down 8.2% vs Nifty 50's .NSEI 2.4% drop

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

((Kashish.tandon@thomsonreuters.com))