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Today's prices ask more of Bharti Airtel than of Larsen & Toubro.
At current prices, buyers of Bharti Airtel are assuming about 9% growth against 16% in its own record; for Larsen & Toubro it is 6% against 16%. That shows which share needs more to go right — not which is cheaper. How far each trades from its estimated fair value is in the full valuations.
- Valuation method: Bharti Airtel on discounted cash flow; Larsen & Toubro on estimate withheld.
- Size: Bharti Airtel is worth about 2.3 times Larsen & Toubro on the stock market.
- Record: Bharti Airtel has grown revenue faster: Bharti Airtel compounded at about 15% a year (FY2019–FY2026) and Larsen & Toubro at about 11% (FY2018–FY2026).
- What to watch: average revenue per user at Bharti Airtel; order inflow and backlog at Larsen & Toubro.
| Bharti Airtel | Larsen & Toubro | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ₹2,106 | ₹4,144 |
| Market cap | ₹13.14L Cr | ₹5.70L Cr |
| P/E | 42.4 | 31.9 |
| P/B | 8.82 | 5.22 |
| Fair value 🔒 sign in | ₹0,000 | ₹0,000 |
| Upside 🔒 sign in | +00% | +00% |
| Valued on | Discounted cash flow | Estimate withheld |
01Two businesses
What Airtel does — and why its profits jumped
Bharti Airtel is India's second-largest mobile operator. It also runs home broadband, a DTH television service, and Airtel Business, which sells connectivity and cloud services to companies. It consolidates Indus Towers, the tower company, and controls Airtel Africa, which operates in more than a dozen African countries and is listed in London.
Engineer, builder, IT house and lender
Larsen & Toubro is India's largest engineering and construction company. Its core business wins and delivers large projects — roads, metros, airports, water systems, power transmission, and oil and gas facilities in India and the Middle East. Its hi-tech manufacturing arm makes heavy equipment and defence systems.
02The records side by side
Bharti Airtel has grown revenue faster: Bharti Airtel compounded at about 15% a year (FY2019–FY2026) and Larsen & Toubro at about 11% (FY2018–FY2026). By revenue, Larsen & Toubro is about 1.4 times the size of Bharti Airtel. Bharti Airtel kept 16.0% of revenue as net profit in FY2026; Larsen & Toubro kept 6.6% of revenue as net profit in FY2026. Bharti Airtel reported a net loss in FY2020 and FY2021; Larsen & Toubro was profitable in every year shown.
Full ten-year tables and charts are on each company's page: Bharti Airtel · Larsen & Toubro.
03What each price assumes
Work backwards from each share price and you can see what buyers are taking for granted — the rate each company must sustain to justify what it costs, against what its own record supports.
04What decides each one's value
- Average revenue per userARPU is the number the whole valuation turns on. Airtel has led the industry on it, and further tariff increases flow almost directly into cash flow.
- Capex after 5GWith 5G largely rolled out, capex as a share of revenue should fall. How fast it falls decides how much free cash flow shareholders actually see.
- Order inflow and backlogMost of L&T's revenue for the next few years is already in its order book. The size and margin of new orders set future earnings.
- Execution marginsConstruction margins are thin, so cost overruns or commodity swings move profit by much more than they move revenue.
05What could go wrong
- Government leviesThe AGR ruling showed how quickly regulatory dues can swing reported profit. Licence fees and spectrum charges remain a live risk.
- Renewed price competitionA price war would reverse the tariff gains the current valuation leans on.
- A slowdown in public capexGovernment infrastructure spending is the biggest single source of domestic orders.
- Working capitalDelayed client payments tie up cash and can strain the balance sheet.
06Which is better value?
Sign in free to see which trades further below its worth
- ✓Both fair values per share — each on the method that fits the business
- ✓Every step of both workings — growth, margins and cost of capital, with sources
- ✓Bull, base and bear cases — for each company
- ✓Downloadable reports — the full write-up for each, yours to keep
08Questions people ask
Is Bharti Airtel or Larsen & Toubro better value?
That turns on how far each share trades from its estimated fair value. Both figures, with every step of the working, are in the full valuations, free to view once you sign in. On the public numbers, Bharti Airtel trades at 42.4 times earnings and 8.82 times book value, and Larsen & Toubro at 31.9 times earnings and 5.22 times book value — but multiples alone mislead when two businesses work differently, which is why each is valued on the method that fits it.
What is the difference between Bharti Airtel and Larsen & Toubro?
Bharti Airtel is India's second-largest mobile operator. Larsen & Toubro is India's largest engineering and construction company.
Are Bharti Airtel and Larsen & Toubro valued the same way?
No. Bharti Airtel is valued on discounted cash flow and Larsen & Toubro on estimate withheld, because forcing one model onto both would misstate at least one of them.
What does today's price assume for Bharti Airtel and Larsen & Toubro?
Worked backwards from the share price, Bharti Airtel needs about 9% growth and Larsen & Toubro about 6% growth, against 16% and 16% in their own records.