Bharti Airtel vs Maruti Q4 FY26

Bharti Airtel reported a strong Q4 FY26 with consolidated revenue of ₹55,400 crore, up 2.6% sequentially. India EBITDA margin improved 20 bps to 52%, driven by portfolio premiumization and cost controls. Mobile ARPU was ₹257, up only ₹3 sequentially due to West Asia crisis impact on roaming and unlimited data plans. The company added 4.7 million mobile customers and 1.1 million home broadband subscribers. Management highlighted a broken pricing architecture and sees large headroom for ARPU growth via postpaid expansion and consumption upgrades. Capex for FY26 India (ex-passive) was ₹31,000 crore, with operating free cash flow of ₹41,500 crore. New growth bets in data centers, financial services (NBFC approval), and Airtel Cloud are progressing. Key risk: rising handset and chipset prices could slow smartphone upgrades and home broadband additions.

Guidance read

Capex to remain in ballpark of FY26 levels: Management expects India capex (ex-passive) to be around ₹31,000 crore for FY27, similar to FY26, with focus on fiber, edge data centers, and homes. Progressive dividend policy: Dividend increased 50% to ₹24 per share for FY26; management committed to progressive increases. Financial services NBFC launch: Airtel Money received RBI approval to operate as NBFC; commercial launch underway with ₹20,000 crore allocation over 5 years. Data center capacity target: Ambition to build 1 GW data center capacity over the next few years; Nextera raised $1 billion from marquee investors.

Risk read

Key risks include Handset price increases may slow upgrades — Rising handset and chipset prices could dampen feature phone to smartphone upgrades, impacting ARPU growth.; Unlimited data plans distort pricing architecture — Management acknowledged that unlimited 5G plans cap ARPU and make it difficult to raise prices without competitive response.; Regulatory provision uncertainty — A regulatory charge was booked in Q4; management did not provide specifics, raising concerns about potential future liabilities.; Chipset supply constraints for FWA — Rising memory and chipset prices have made FWA more expensive than fiber, potentially slowing home broadband growth..

Promise ledger

Scorecard data is being built as historical quarters are processed.

Maruti Suzuki reported a record Q4 FY26 with 676,209 units sold (+11.8% YoY) and net sales of ₹50,100 crore (+28.8% YoY). Operating profit (EBIT) hit an all-time high of ₹4,400 crore (+30.4% YoY), but PAT fell 6.9% to ₹3,600 crore due to a ₹750 crore mark-to-market hit on bond yields. The GST cut in small cars drove a sharp demand recovery, with first-time buyers rising to 51% of sales. Management guided for ~10% domestic volume growth in FY27, supported by 500,000 units of new capacity (Kharkhoda Phase II and Hansalpur Line 4). Key risks include commodity cost headwinds (~80 bps in Q4) and geopolitical uncertainty in West Asia. The company remains confident in margin recovery once temporary pressures subside.

Guidance read

Domestic volume growth of ~10% in FY27: Management expects Maruti's domestic sales to grow by about 10% year-on-year in FY27, driven by new capacity and strong demand. Additional 500,000 units annual capacity in FY27: Kharkhoda Phase II (commissioned April 2026) and Hansalpur Line 4 (operational within FY27) each add 250,000 units, totaling 500,000 units of new capacity. CapEx of ₹14,000 crore for FY27: Capital expenditure for FY27 is planned at ₹14,000 crore, primarily for the two new plants. Target to enable 1 lakh charging points by 2030: Maruti aims to facilitate a network of over 100,000 charging points across India by 2030, in partnership with dealers and charge point operators.

Risk read

Key risks include Commodity and energy cost headwinds — Q4 saw 80 bps margin impact from adverse commodity prices; West Asia tensions could sustain or worsen cost pressures.; Mark-to-market volatility on investment surplus — Bond yield hardening caused a ₹750 crore MTM hit in Q4; further interest rate moves could impact other income.; Geopolitical disruption to supply chains — West Asia conflict and rare earth supply issues pose risks to energy, raw materials, and logistics, potentially affecting production continuity.; Uncertainty in export demand due to global macro — Management declined to give export guidance, citing unpredictable war impact; exports could face headwinds if global demand weakens..

Promise ledger

Of 2 tracked promises, management 0 met, 0 close, 2 missed.