Technical analyst Salil Sharma has maintained 'buy' rating on Idea Cellular Limited stock with a target of Rs 74.50.

According to analyst, the investors can buy the stock with a stop loss of Rs 69.50.

The stock of the company, on January 24, closed at Rs 69.30 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 79.90 and a low of Rs 49.80 on BSE.

Current EPS & P/E ratio stood at 2.70 and 26.67 respectively.

Aditya Birla-owned Idea Cellular has overwhelmed stockowners with a better-than-projected Q3 numbers as it appended new subscribers and the decline in call rates was detained.

The telecom company has posted an increase of 43% in the net profit for the three month period ended December 2010.

Chief executive Sanjeev Aga said, "We are seeing continued seasonality, that is why the December quarter is strong and the July quarter weak."

The company said that its net profit during the third quarter (October-December) surged to Rs 243 crore as compared to Rs 170 crore during the same period of 2009.

Revenue suring the third quarter stood at Rs 3,956 crore, up around 26% from a year ago.

Regardless of an increase in the subscriber base to around 82 million, the company's average monthly income per user grew by a rupee to 168 in the third quarter.

The telecom giant also stated that it would roll out third generation (3G) wireless services in its 11 telecom sections by the coming months.

At present, the company is making discussions with other operators for tie-ups to offer 3G beyond its licensed segments.