SYS vs TRG vs AIRLINK vs PTC: Best Tech Stock 2026

Systems Limited (SYS), TRG Pakistan (TRG), Air Link Communication (AIRLINK) and Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTC, known as PTCL) are four technology and telecom stocks in the KSE-100 index. Prices are PSX closing prices on 29 October 2026.

Their financial years differ. Systems and PTCL use the calendar year, so their latest results cover the nine months to 30 September 2026 (9M 2026). Air Link and TRG end their year on 30 June, so their latest results are for the quarter to 30 September 2026 (Q1 FY27). Earnings are trailing twelve months (TTM): the last full year, minus the same period a year earlier, plus the latest period.

Earnings and book values are consolidated (group) figures. PTCL's market value counts all 5.1 billion shares, including the 1.33 billion B shares that are not listed. Book values for TRG, Air Link and PTCL are from S&P Global data at the latest date it reports; Systems' is from its September 2026 accounts.

The PSX groups these four together, but they are different businesses, and the right measure differs for each:

• Systems Limited sells IT services abroad and earns most of its revenue in foreign currency. Its profit is steady enough for P/E and growth to work.
• Air Link distributes and assembles mobile phones and other devices, a low-margin trading business that uses a lot of borrowed working capital. P/E works, but check debt too.
• PTCL runs fixed-line, broadband and, through its mobile subsidiary, the merged Ufone and Telenor network. Telecom companies spend heavily on networks and borrow to do it, so analysts use EV/EBITDA (enterprise value to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), which counts debt.
• TRG Pakistan is a holding company. Its profit is its share of the results of TRG International, which owns stakes in the outsourcing company Ibex and the AI company Afiniti, so it swings with their values. Book value is the more useful measure.

Our guide to how to value stocks in Pakistan explains when each method fits. On P/E alone, only Systems sits inside the 10 to 18 times range our technology sector guide uses as a benchmark; Air Link is below it and PTCL far above.

Systems Limited grew, but margins narrowed. Revenue rose 33.2% and profit 14.4%, yet EPS rose only 9.4% because about 55 million new shares were issued for the Confiz merger. Gross margin fell to 25.3% from 27.0%, and a stronger rupee caused an exchange loss of Rs 254.8 million. On its own (standalone) accounts, Systems' EPS fell 20.3% to Rs 3.26.

Air Link's company and group results moved in opposite directions. Air Link on its own grew revenue 14.5% and profit to Rs 1.99 billion from Rs 0.61 billion, but the group, which includes its manufacturing subsidiary Select Technologies, saw revenue fall 6.5% and profit fall 35.7%. Over the full FY26, group revenue fell 14.0% to Rs 89.8 billion while EPS rose 31.1% to Rs 15.75 on wider margins. Our guide to reading PSX annual reports explains standalone and consolidated accounts.

TRG's profit depends on TRG International. Its Q1 FY27 profit came mainly from a higher value of its stake in TRG International, but it was well below the Rs 6.87 billion of a year earlier, and FY26 ended with a Rs 6.78 billion loss after a Rs 9.11 billion share of losses from that stake.

PTCL completed its purchase of all of Telenor Pakistan and Orion Towers on 31 December 2025, and Telenor Pakistan was merged into its mobile company, Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (Ufone), with effect from July 2026. The group now has more than 76 million mobile customers.

That explains the jump in the numbers. Group revenue rose 61.6% to Rs 304.4 billion in 9M 2026 and gross profit 63.4% to Rs 101.9 billion, and the group made a Rs 4.73 billion profit against an Rs 11.18 billion loss a year earlier. PTCL itself, without its subsidiaries, earned Rs 2.96 billion against a Rs 1.22 billion loss. So the 62% growth reflects the enlarged business, not organic growth alone.

Two cautions. First, almost all the nine-month profit came in the first half: third-quarter EPS was Rs 0.01, as finance costs and other expenses reached Rs 47.3 billion in nine months. Second, the group's borrowings were Rs 397 billion at 30 June 2026 against Rs 78 billion of cash and short-term investments, and these figures include its microfinance bank. That debt is why PTCL looks expensive at 38 times earnings and 5.7 times book, but cheaper on EV/EBITDA: about 5.1 times, using S&P Global's trailing EBITDA of Rs 108 billion.

TRG Pakistan's only operating asset is its stake in TRG International (TRGIL). At 31 March 2026, S&P Global data shows long-term investments of Rs 40.8 billion, about Rs 75 a share, and shareholders' equity of Rs 59.79 a share, with no borrowings reported. At Rs 53.08 the share trades at 0.89 times that book value.

TRGIL's results move with the market value of its Ibex shares and with revaluations of its stake in Afiniti, so TRG's earnings swing widely. Its quarterly EPS went from Rs 12.59 in Q1 FY26 to a loss of Rs 16.44 in Q3 FY26 and back to a profit of Rs 5.05 in Q1 FY27. TRG's filing notes Ibex's guidance for its 2027 financial year of 11% to 12% revenue growth.

A discount to book can reflect a holding company's costs, the difficulty of turning the stake into cash, and uncertainty over Afiniti's value. TRG has not paid a dividend since 2021.

None of these is an income stock. At 29 October prices, Rs 100,000 in Systems would have earned about Rs 1,560 in dividends over the last year after the 15% withholding tax for filers, and the same in Air Link about Rs 1,480. Systems keeps most of its profit to fund growth and acquisitions, and Air Link's Rs 2.00 was its only dividend for FY26. Neither declared a dividend with its latest results.

Debt matters more now that the State Bank of Pakistan has raised its policy rate to 12% from 27 October 2026. Air Link and PTCL carry the most borrowing relative to their equity, so higher rates cost them the most.

We ranked the four companies from 1 (best) to 4 on six measures, with equal weight. A lower total is better. TRG ranks last on P/E and ROE because it made a loss over the last twelve months, and TRG and PTCL share third place on dividend yield because neither paid one.

• Quality and growth: Systems Limited. Net cash, steady growth and the highest yield. The risks are narrowing margins, a stronger rupee and acquisitions that must keep earning their value.
• Value on earnings: Air Link. The lowest P/E and highest ROE. The risks are falling group profit in Q1 FY27, thin trading margins and borrowings of about 1.5 times its equity.
• Turnaround: PTCL. Back in profit after the Telenor deal, at about 5.1 times EV/EBITDA. The risks are very high debt, a third quarter that barely broke even and the cost of merging two networks.
• Discount to book: TRG Pakistan. The lowest P/B and no borrowings. The risks are that its earnings depend on one investment whose value swings with Ibex's share price and Afiniti's prospects, and that it pays no dividend.

For a growing exporter like Systems Limited, a discounted cash flow model can show what growth the price already assumes; a holding company like TRG is better judged on what its stake is worth. You can test your assumptions in our DCF calculator.

This comparison is educational and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stock. Prices change daily, and we update these figures after each quarterly result.