Bharti Airtel Equity Research: Valuing a 5G Narrative
Built a full DCF model on Bharti Airtel to test whether 5G optionality was already priced in.
Rohit Kumar Singh
Data Analyst at S&P Global
Overview
Rohit initiated this report during an early stage of his independent research practice, motivated by a specific question: was the market price of Bharti Airtel a fair reflection of its fundamentals, or was it pricing in a future that had not yet arrived?
The Story
Rohit initiated this report during an early stage of his independent research practice, motivated by a specific question: was the market price of Bharti Airtel a fair reflection of its fundamentals, or was it pricing in a future that had not yet arrived?
The telecom sector at the time had consolidated around two dominant players, Jio and Airtel. Airtel was also expanding internationally, and the 5G rollout was generating significant market excitement. Rohit wanted to understand whether that excitement was already embedded in the stock price.
He structured his analysis in phases: business model review, industry analysis, financial statement analysis, and then DCF model construction. He set his own revenue projections and margin assumptions, applying the standard principle that no company can grow faster than the broader economy in perpetuity.
His DCF output placed the intrinsic value of the stock below the prevailing market price. His conclusion was that the market was paying a meaningful premium for the 5G story, and that premium was not supported by his fundamental projections.
He published the report for educational purposes, noting that he is not a SEBI-registered analyst. The exercise sharpened his ability to separate market sentiment from valuation fundamentals.