Bharti Airtel on Tuesday reported consolidated revenues of ₹58,539 crore for the first quarter of FY27, up 18.4 per cent year-on-year and 5.7 per cent sequentially, beating analyst estimates by approximately 2-2.5 per cent. The stock was trading at ₹1,967.90 on the NSE on Wednesday morning, down 0.11 per cent, after opening higher at ₹2,020.Consolidated EBITDA came in at ₹33,599 crore, reflecting a margin of 57.4 per cent. Net income before exceptional items stood at ₹8,057 crore, up 35.5 per cent from ₹5,948 crore in Q1 FY26. Profit before tax rose 34.5 per cent year-on-year to ₹14,126 crore.India business revenues were ₹41,214 crore, up 9.7 per cent year-on-year and 4.2 per cent sequentially. India EBITDA margin stood at 60.1 per cent. Mobile ARPU improved to ₹264 from ₹250 a year ago, a 5.6 per cent increase. The company recorded its highest-ever quarterly postpaid net additions of 1 million, taking the postpaid base to 30 million. Smartphone data customers grew by 21.1 million year-on-year, now accounting for 80 per cent of the total mobile base. Mobile data consumption rose 36 per cent year-on-year to 34.4 GB per customer per month.The Homes segment posted 33.2 per cent year-on-year revenue growth, adding 473,000 customers during the quarter to reach a base of 14.7 million. Airtel Business grew revenues 12 per cent year-on-year. Africa operations delivered 21.1 per cent revenue growth in constant currency, with the customer base at 189 million. During the quarter, Airtel completed a share swap transaction raising its stake in Airtel Africa to over 79 per cent. Total consolidated customer base stood at 680.9 million across 15 countries.The consolidated net debt to EBITDA ratio improved to 1.17 from 1.70 a year ago. Capex for the quarter was ₹13,386 crore.Brokerages were broadly positive. Citi maintained a Buy with a target price of ₹2,190, noting India mobile revenue and EBITDA came in 1.5 per cent ahead of estimates and net debt declined 5 per cent sequentially. CLSA retained an Outperform rating with a target of ₹2,330, flagging consolidated free cash flow of ₹165 billion for the quarter. Macquarie (Outperform, target ₹2,220) and Jefferies (Accumulate, target ₹2,360) also cited better-than-expected ARPU and subscriber metrics as key positives. Jefferies projects 14 per cent and 28 per cent CAGRs in EBITDA and EPS respectively over FY27-29.During the quarter, Airtel also launched Postpaid Fast Lane, powered by 5G slicing technology, and announced Airtel Secure Workforce, a Zero Trust Architecture security platform for enterprises.Published on August 5, 2026