Brokerage firm Citi has cut its price target on Vodafone Idea Ltd. to ₹17 from ₹22 per share earlier but continued to maintain its “buy” recommendation on the telecom service provider.

Vodafone idea held an analyst call on Monday where it mentioned that it is likely to complete a ₹35,000 crore bank fund raise in the next seven to eight weeks and also remains hopeful of another tariff hike in the next 15 months.

Citi believes that the dismissal of the curative petition in the AGR case is definitely a setback for Vodafone Idea, the subsequent announcement of a network equipment deal by the company underscores that its investment plan remains unaffected.

Vodafone Idea on Sunday announced a $3.6 billion (nearly ₹30,000 crore) network equipment supply deal with Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung.
However, Macquarie has maintained its “underperform” rating on Vodafone Idea with a price target of ₹10, stating that the fundamental challenges that the company faces remain unresolved.

The brokerage also said that the management commentary of an tariff hike in 15 months is at least three months behind the consensus view. Equity dilution is part of the management’s business plan and that confirms the concerns that Macquarie has, the brokerage wrote in its note.

Motilal Oswal is of the view that the significant amount of cash required to service debt leaves limited upside opportunities for equity holders, despite the high operating leverage opportunity from any ARPU improvement source.

The brokerage is expecting the conversion of unpaid installments post-moratorium into equity to start by financial year 2026 – 2027. Motilal Oswal is “neutral” on Vodafone Idea with a price target of ₹12.

Out of the 22 analysts that have coverage on Vodafone Idea, 15 of them have a “sell” rating on the stock, three of them have a “hold”, while four of them have maintained a “buy” recommendation.

Despite gaining up to 7% on Monday, Vodafone Idea shares experienced selling pressure at higher levels, eventually closing the session 3.7% higher at ₹10.86, below its FPO price of ₹11.