KUALA LUMPUR (July 21): Maxis Bhd (KL:MAXIS) is expected to post stronger results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026 (2QFY2026), thanks to revenue growth and cost optimisation efforts, according to CIMB Securities.

"Following strong 1QFY2026 core net profit growth (up 15% quarter-on-quarter, up 12% year-on-year), we expect Maxis to post another solid set of results for 2QFY2026F (on Aug 14)," the house said in a note on Tuesday.

For the full financial year (FY2026), the house projected Maxis' core net profit is likely to grow by a decent 4% y-o-y, before easing to a manageable 3% y-o-y in FY2027 after including a full year share of Digital Nasional Bhd's (DNB) net loss. 

Despite that, growth is expected to rebound to 6% y-o-y by FY2028.

DNB has had its shares transferred to telecommunications companies (telcos) including Maxis, following the government's decision to transition DNB into an industry-owned entity. 

"We think the Ministry of Finance (MOF) will likely complete the DNB share transfer by end 3Q2026/early 4Q2026. Thus, we now factor in a three-month impact (versus previous six-month assumption) to Maxis from equity accounting for DNB’s net loss in FY2026."

At the DNB level, CIMB Securities assumes net losses of RM700 million/RM500 million/RM300 million in FY2026/FY2027/FY2028 respectively. 

CIMB maintained its 'buy' recommendation over the stock, pairing it with an unchanged discounted cash flow (DCF)-based target price of RM4.35 per share.

While sanguine on its outlook, the research house additionally stated that market repairs, rising dividends per share and abating concerns on DNB could potentially lead to a rerating down the line.

Currently, AskEdge data shows Maxis trading at a price-earnings ratio of 17.6 times, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) margins trailing closely behind peers such as Axiata Group Bhd (KL:AXIATA) and CelcomDigi Bhd (KL:CDB) in the past 12 months.

Meanwhile on Bloomberg, of the 22 analysts covering Maxis, most remained conservative with 13 'hold' ratings and the remaining nine recommending 'buy'. 

The average target price hovers at RM4.00 per share, with pricing hovering around Maxis shares having risen one sen during market open on Tuesday to RM3.61 a share, placing the company at a value of RM28.3 billion.