Brokerage Views: Goldman Sachs On India Telecom, Vodafone Idea In Focus, Citi On Pharma And More

Goldman Sachs offers a mixed outlook on the Indian Telecom sector. Vodafone Idea remains in focus, with Citi holding a 'buy' rating, Nuvama maintaining a 'hold.'

Citi remains bearish on India pharmaceuticals, rating both Lupin Ltd. and Zydus Lifesciences Ltd. at 'sell.'

NDTV Profit tracks what brokerages are putting out on stocks and sectors. Here are all the top calls from analysts you need to know about on Friday.

Goldman Sachs On India Telecom

Vodafone Idea:

Maintains 'sell' rating with a target price of Rs 2.5 on the stock, indicating a potential downside of 76%.
Has annual dues of $3.3 billion from fiscal 2026, rising to $5 bn from fiscal 2027.
AGR dues event increases probability of more tariff hikes for Vodafone.
It also increases possibility of more market share gain by Bharti Airtel and Jio.
Expect cashflow to be negative for Vodafone Idea until fiscal 2031.
Estimate ARPU to rise by 150% to Rs 270 to be cashflow neutral.

Bharti Airtel:

Maintains a 'buy' rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 1,700, indicating a potential upside of 1.7%.
Estimate elevated investments to translate into share gains.
This would be aided by tariff hikes in the second half of 2025.
Has annual dues of $1 billion from fiscal 2026, rising to $2 billion from fiscal 2027.
Can easily meet from cash flows.

Indus Towers:

Maintain a 'sell' rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 350, implying a potential downside of 11%.
Near term looks strong, limited visibility to long term growth.
This is because of estimated share loss of Vodafone idea.

Also Read: Vodafone To Suffer Most From Supreme Court's Verdict On AGR Re-Computation, Say Experts

Nuvama On Vodafone Idea

Maintain a 'hold' rating with the target price cut to Rs 11.5 from Rs 16.5 earlier, indicating a potential upside of over 10%
Big problem, even after its FPO and tariff hikes, is highly stretched balance sheet.
Needed capital infusion, tariff hikes and liabilities waiver to survive.
First two conditions have been met.
Liabilities waiver now appears to be off the table.
Adjusting the target price for the entire liability of Rs 700 billion of AGR dues.
Rejection of curative plea might impede Rs 250 billion debt raise that company was targeting.
Sharp 20% correction in stock price largely captures value of incremental liability.
Focus now remains on: pace of subscriber loss, tariff hike impact and capex velocity.

Also Read: Vodafone Idea's AGR Setback: Here's A Look At Mutual Funds' Exposure To Stock

Citi On Vodafone Idea

Maintain a 'buy' rating on the stock with the target price reduced to Rs 17 from Rs 22 earlier.
Reduction in target EV/Ebitda multiple from 12 times to 11 times.
Do not believe the ability to continue with planned network investments will be impacted.

Nomura On Vodafone Idea

Upgraded rating to 'buy' with a target price of Rs 15, implying a potential upside of 44.5%.
Likely to use the option of converting debt to equity.
Have total dues of Rs 430 billion to government starting fiscal 2026.
Will be able to convert Rs 120 billion of dues into equity.
Will be able to manage to repay remaining of Rs 170 billion through Ebitda generation.
Growth will now be lead by tariff hikes and 5G monetisation.
Expect its Ebitda to record a 15% CAGR over fiscals 2024 to 2027.
Believe worst has passed following conclusion of AG dues case.
Sharp decline in recent weeks offers an opportunity to buy the stock.

Also Read: Vodafone Idea 'Headed To Bankruptcy', Says Capitalmind's Deepak Shenoy

Citi On Pharmaceuticals

Maintain a 'sell' rating on Lupin with a target price of Rs 1,700, implying a potential downside of 21.7%.
Also maintain a 'sell' rating on Zydus Lifescience with a target price of Rs 900, indicating a potential downside of 14.7%.
US Appeals vacates district court judgement in gMyrbetriq.
Companies had launched generic version of Myrbetriq in US in April 2024 'At Risk.'
Myrbetriq contributed meaningfully in the numbers for the first quarter of fiscal 2025 for both companies.
gMyrbetriq contributed $40-50 million sales and over 15% of Ebitda in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 for Zydus.
$120 and $40 million of sales in Zydus' fiscal 2025 and 2026 consensus estimates.
For Lupin, likely contributed 7%-10% of Ebitda and $15 million of sales.

Investec On Mankind Pharma

Rates as 'buy' with target price of Rs 3,300 per share; indicating a potential upside of 37.7%.
Outperforms IPM, supported by more than 16,000 sales force and popular brands like Manforce and PregaNews.
BSV adds research and development strength in women's health and IVF, enhancing MNKI's specialty offerings.
Believe BSV has potential to drive growth for longer periods.
Acquiring BSV at five times sales and 18 times Ebitda align with MNKI’s goals.
BSV could reach $1 billion sales and more than 35% Ebitda margin by fiscal 2032.
Investec forecasts 18% Ebitda CAGR from fiscals 2024 to 2027.

Also Read: Lupin Joins Hands With Japan's Takeda To Sell Vonoprazan In India