shares fell sharply on Friday, declining 3.79 per cent to ₹2,503 by mid-morning trade, despite most brokerages maintaining their positive stance on the major following its second-quarter results. The stock traded between ₹2,584 and ₹2,474.50, with over 9.47 lakh shares changing hands worth ₹237.79 crore.
Jefferies maintained its Buy rating with the highest target price of ₹3,050, while Macquarie and Nomura also remained bullish with targets of ₹3,000 and ₹2,900 respectively. JP Morgan retained its Overweight rating but cut the target to ₹2,750. However, CLSA stood out with an Underperform rating and the lowest target of ₹1,966, while Morgan Stanley assigned an Equal Weight with a ₹2,335 target.
The company’s second-quarter performance showed 2 per cent year-on-year sales growth with flat underlying volume growth, impacted by transition effects. EBITDA margins came in at 23.2 per cent, beating estimates by 3-4 per cent. New CEO Priya Nair has outlined four strategic pillars focusing on volume-led growth and portfolio modernisation.
Analysts remain optimistic about recovery in the second half, expecting improved channel restocking from November and favourable winter demand. The planned demerger of the low-margin ice-cream business in the third quarter is expected to boost EBITDA margins by 50-60 basis points. At current levels, the stock trades at 56.5 times next twelve months earnings.