With a 40.84% rise in its share price, Bharti Airtel’s market cap soared Rs 3.10 lakh crore in fiscal 2025, emerging as the top wealth creator. Many brokerages remain bullish on the stock and have recently given it a buy rating. Driven by tariff adjustments in the Indian wireless segment, Bharti’s free cash flow generation has improved significantly over the past few years, according to a report by Motilal Oswal.
“With high-cost debt largely repaid and leverage under control, we believe capital allocation remains the key monitorable and will likely be the biggest driver for Bharti’s stock price performance over the medium term,” the report further stated.
Another brokerage firm, CLSA, has named Bharti Airtel as its top pick in the telecom sector.
HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank ranked second and third, respectively. While HDFC Bank’s market cap rose by Rs 2.99 lakh crore, ICICI Bank’s gained Rs 1.83 lakh crore. Bajaj Finance (up by Rs 1.06 lakh crore) and M&M (Rs 92,642 crore) secured the fourth and fifth positions.
The benchmark indices returned up to 5.3%, while the broader indices rose up to 8% during the last fiscal.
But there were many at the other end of the spectrum too. Reliance Industries was the top loser in FY25, with its market cap eroding Rs 2.89 lakh crore as its share price fell 14.3% during the fiscal year. Adani Green, Tata Motors, TCS, and Adani Enterprises were among the other top market cap losers, shedding up to Rs 1.40 lakh crore.
The total market cap at the BSE surged by Rs 25.9 lakh crore, or 6.7%, to Rs 412.9 lakh crore during fiscal 2025—significantly lower than the previous year’s increase of Rs 128.7 lakh crore, or 49.9%.
Sectorally, healthcare, financial services, commodities, metals, and private banks were the top gainers, rising up to 18.2% in fiscal 2025. On the other hand, PSU banks, energy, oil and gas, realty, and utilities were the top losers, declining by up to 10.6%.
Out of over 3,600 actively traded stocks, 1,763 stocks posted positive returns, while 1,839 ended in the red.
Among BSE 100 index constituents, Vedanta, Divi’s Laboratories, Bajaj Holdings, Bharat Electronics, and InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) were the top gainers, rising by up to 70.84%. Meanwhile, IndusInd Bank, Adani Green, Jio Financial Services, Tata Motors, and Adani Enterprises were the top losers, declining by up to 58.25% during the last fiscal. Financial Express