Analysts Turn Bullish on Jio IPO, See 15-20% Listing Upside

Mumbai: Analyst commentary following the announcement of Jio Platforms’ price band has been largely upbeat, with several reports giving the IPO a positive assessment. Market experts see the potential for a 15-20% listing gain, although the actual performance will depend on market conditions and investor demand.

In its IPO note dated October 16, Emkay Research gave the Jio IPO a ‘Subscribe’ rating. The brokerage said the price band appears reasonable considering Jio’s market leadership, pricing power, execution track record and multiple growth opportunities ahead.

‘Swastika Investmart’ has also given the Jio IPO a ‘Subscribe’ rating. According to its report, Jio is valued at around 33.3 times FY26 earnings at the upper end of the price band, compared with 40.7 times for Bharti Airtel. On this basis, Swastika sees Jio trading at roughly an 18% discount to Airtel.

On a different valuation basis, some market experts have pegged Jio at around 33.5 times earnings, compared with about 38.9 times for Bharti Airtel, implying a discount of roughly 14%. Analysts, however, note that some of Jio’s future growth is already reflected in the current valuation.

Another key positive is that Jio appears to be moving past the most capital-intensive phase of its 5G rollout. According to Emkay Research, capex declined from 48.8% of revenue in FY24 to 23.3% in FY26, while free cash flow stood at around ₹32,500 crore in FY26. The brokerage expects cash generation to strengthen further as the need for large-scale network investments moderates.

For the longer term, analysts are looking beyond Jio’s core mobility business. Home broadband, enterprise services, cloud, AI and monetisation of its technology stack in international markets are seen as the next set of growth drivers. Emkay also identifies home broadband as a major growth opportunity and sees potential for Jio’s in-house technology stack in overseas markets.

Jio’s standalone listing could also have implications for Reliance Industries. RIL shares rose around 3.4% on October 15 after Jio announced its IPO price band. The market is also watching the listing as a potential trigger for further value unlocking for RIL shareholders.