Jio Platforms made its much-awaited debut on the Indian stock markets at a 21% premium to its issue price — a considerable gain on a day when the market has largely remained subdued.It also dethroned Bharti Airtel to become the company with the second-highest market capitalisation in the Indian market at Rs 12.5 lakh crore. This is despite trailing the Sunil Bharti Mittal-led telecom rival on key metrics such as earnings and average revenue per user (ARPU), both of which are among the sector’s most important indicators.How did Jio overtake Airtel in market value despite trailing it on key financial metrics — and does its valuation leave room for further gains?Airtel leads on key metricsFor FY26, Jio reported consolidated revenue of Rs 1.5 lakh crore, much lower than Airtel’s Rs 2.1 lakh crore. The company’s net profit of Rs 30,064 crore for the period was slightly lower than Airtel’s Rs 30,113 crore.Despite the double-digit growth over the past couple of years, Jio’s ARPU of Rs 214 in FY26 was considerably lower than Airtel’s Rs 257.2, which has risen to over Rs 260 in recent quarters.ARPU is the average amount a telecom operator makes from each customer in a month, making it a benchmark for assessing a telecom company’s profitability and efficiency.In fact, a report by New Street Research estimates that Airtel earns Rs 9.6 per gigabyte (GB), nearly double that of the Rs 4.9/GB that Jio makes. Jio does have a larger Indian customer base of around 52.4 crore, compared to Jio’s 48.2 crore. However, Airtel holds a distinct advantage in the premium segment, which translates to higher revenues, and in turn leads to a higher ARPU.Story continues below this adThe secret behind Jio’s premium over Airtel is the former’s positioning. Unlike Airtel, which is known as a telecom conglomerate now offering satellite and other connectivity services, Jio has positioned itself as a technology company.During his speech at the listing-day ceremony at the National Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Jio Managing Director (MD) Akash Ambani emphasised the importance of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud, and digital services in the company’s aim to “once again lead the next wave of technological transformation, making the world’s most advanced technologies affordable, accessible, and meaningful for every Indian.”Also Read | Jio’s Rs 12.5 lakh crore debut: What it means for Ambani family wealthThe distinction in platforming may seem small on paper, but has wider implications. Tech companies mostly capture higher valuations in the market globally due to the promise of exponential returns when the technology matures or becomes more accessible.Walmart, for example, is among the highest revenue-generating companies in the world but has a much lower valuation of around $950 million than Nvidia’s $5.2 trillion, despite the latter earning a fraction of the retail chain’s annual revenue. In India, tech-first companies such as Zomato’s parent Eternal have much higher valuations than many cash-generating companies despite barely breaking even on an operational level without clear profits.Story continues below this adThe Jio Group holds key investments and commitments by global tech players such as Google and Meta, which can lead to cheaper access to newer technologies.“No doubt Airtel is a strong competitor, but Jio is not perceived as a telecom company. It is instead perceived as a tech company, or technology-led company. The (Reliance) group themselves calls it a technology company,” said Kranthi Bathini, Equity Strategist at WealthMills Securities.What next for Jio after its bumper debut?Most analysts and research firms have a positive outlook on Jio. “We believe JPL (Jio) could trade at a premium to Bharti’s India business over the near-term, driven by its market leadership, greater influence over industry tariffs, and low liquidity (free float of less than 3%),” according to Motilal Oswal.Also Read | Jio becomes India’s second-most valuable company: How its listing pushed Reliance past Tatas, AdanisNomura also expects it to perform well in the longer-term, with the tariff hike expected in November-December being a key near-term catalyst. The firm expects an industry-wide tariff hike of 15%, and said “we think that Jio deliberately held back the hike ahead of its IPO to protect subscriber momentum which got impacted in the last tariff hike. With the listing done, the incentive now shifts firmly toward earnings growth.”Story continues below this ad“Every INR 10 rise in ARPU drives a meaningful EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) uplift (3.7% for Jio),” the firm said.However, some are doubtful of the near-term performance of the stock. “It is good for the longer-term, but in the shorter run we might see consolidation at current levels after the strong debut. Everything is priced in, even the APRU hike, and the limited free float somewhat drove prices higher,” said Piyush Pandey, who tracks the telecom sector at Centrum Broking.