Shares of Bharti Airtel rose 6% intraday on Friday to hit an all-time high of Rs 808.85 ahead of the launch of 5G services in India on Saturday, October 1.

Shares of the telecom service provider rose for a fourth straight day. It has risen 12% in the past month, while the S&P BSE Sensex has lost 4%. The stock surpassed its previous high of Rs 797 on September 21, 2022.

On September 22, Singtel’s entity Pastel Ltd sold its 1.58% stake in Bharti Airtel for Rs 7,261 crore in an open market transaction. Data showed that Bharti Telecom acquired the stake, the promoter of Bharti Airtel. Following the transaction, Bharti Telecom’s stake in Bharti Airtel increased from 43.01% to 44.59%.

Shareholding pattern data shows that as of June 30, 2022, Bharti Airtel’s promoters, Bharti Telecom and Indian Continent Investment Limited, held a combined 41.89% of the company’s shares.

Apart from this, analysts at Prabhudas Lilladhar have issued a “buy” call on Bharti Airtel with a target price of Rs 1,032.

Analysts believe the telecommunications major has a compelling role to play in the multiple growth opportunities of the emerging digital economy, given its strong brand presence in the mobile, enterprise, home services, DTH and Africa.

In addition, JPMorgan analysts believe that Bharti Airtel is one of the main beneficiaries of the consolidation in the Indian wireless market. Analysts say it is strong enough to defend its market share from Reliance Jio in the face of tough competition as capital spending is focused on 4G networks and upgrades.