Vodafone Idea shares decline for 9 out of 10 sessions; an analyst sees another 17% downside

Vodafone India Ltd. shares are trading with losses on Thursday, March 6, after a day's breather. The stock has declined in nine out of the last 10 trading sessions.

Shares of Vodafone Idea had opened with gains of as much as 2.3% on Thursday but gave up gains soon after to trade with losses.

Brokerage firm HSBC maintained its "reduce" rating on Vodafone Idea, cutting its price target to ₹6.5 per share from ₹7.1 earlier, implying a potential downside of 17.3% from current levels.

On the telecom sector, the brokerage said free cash flow is set to surge for Bharti Airtel and Jio with rising mobile ARPU, growth in home broadband subscribers and more importantly the declining network capex intensity.

On the flip side, HSBC reiterated its "buy" rating on Bharti Airtel with a price target of ₹1,985, implying a potential upside of 22% from Wednesday's close.

A total of 21 analysts have coverage on Vodafone Idea — where only four of them have "buy" ratings, five say "hold", and 12 have a "sell" recommendation.

Vodafone Idea shares were trading 0.25% lower at ₹7.84 apiece at 10.45 am on Thursday, March 6. The stock is down 63% from its 2024-high of ₹19.18. The stock is down another 30% from its FPO price of ₹11.

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