Brokerage Views: Citi On Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, Nuvama On GAIL, Coal India And More

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Ambuja Cements Ltd. and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. are among the top coverages for brokerages on Thursday following the release of their quarterly earnings.

The brokerages have also given their views on Infosys Ltd. as the technology major is being investigated by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence for alleged evasion of integrated goods and services tax amounting to Rs 32,403 crore.

Maruti Suzuki's net profit beat estimates to jump 47% to 3,649.9 crore, while the Adani Group-owned Ambuja Cements cement manufacturer posted a profit of Rs 571 crore in the quarter ended June.

NDTV Profit tracks what the brokerages are putting out on stocks and sectors. Here are all the top calls from analysts that you need to know about on Thursday.

Emkay On Maruti Suzuki

Emkay Global maintains a 'reduce' rating and raises the target price to Rs 12,000 per share from the earlier Rs 11,200 apiece, implying a potential downside of 8% from the previous close.
Logged a strong first quarter, with margins at 12.7% versus 11.6% consensus estimates.
Led by the normalisation of a one-off in Q4, favourable raw-material costs.
Cost efficiencies partially offset by higher discounts.
Muted industry-growth guidance was maintained amid a high base.
Rural is outperforming but small-car recovery remains elusive for now.
Remain cautious on passenger vehicles as underlying metrics are weakening.
Moderating retail, higher inventory/discounts, and falling orderbook support argument.

Bernstein On Maruti Suzuki

Bernstein Research maintains its 'outperform' rating with a target price of 14,400 per share, an upside of 10% from the previous close.
First-quarter results had impressive margin gains.
Increasing CNG mix from 28% to 33% likely helped margins
Inventory levels at 37 days, much lower than 62 days for the industry.
Countering the slowdown in entry level cars with the launch of Swift and Dream series.
The broad plan outlined presence in CNG, hybrids, ethanol and EVs eventually.

Citi On Maruti Suzuki

The brokerage retains 'buy' and raises the target price to Rs 15,500 per share from Rs 15,100 apiece earlier. This implies an upside of 15% from the previous close.
First-quarter results were driven by strong margin expansion despite escalated discounts.
Pent-up demand translating into volume uptick after soft Q1.
Cost reduction, favourable commodity prices, and forex trends have supported Q1 margin.
The company is making customer-focused efforts to boost volume/market share.
Rural demand is witnessing stronger growth compared to urban demand.
Expects overall industry volumes to see modest YoY growth in FY25.
Better mix and cost-reduction initiatives result in slight increase in earnings estimates.

Also Read: Stocks To Watch: Tata Steel, Infosys, Tata Motors, ITC, Coal India, Bank Of Baroda, IDBI Bank, Ceigall India

Citi On Infosys

The brokerage maintains a 'neutral' rating with a target price of Rs 1,850 per share, a downside of 1.1% from the previous close.
Company believes that the GST is not applicable on expenses incurred by overseas branch offices.
Company has mentioned in its press release that it is all compliant with the GST regulations.

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Citi On Coal India

Citi maintains a 'Neutral' on Coal India and raised the target to Rs 540 per share, a 3.3% upside from the previous close.
First quarter ebitda came in 3% ahead of estimates.
Higher volumes, lower costs offset impact of weaker blended realizations.
E-auction realizations were Rs 2,440 per tonne, down 4% sequentially.
E-auction coal accounted for 12% of volumes versus 11% in Q4, 9% last year.
Expect e-auction prices to correct as company plans to increase e-auction share to 35% in Q2 and Q3.

Nuvama On GAIL (India)

Nuvama downgraded the stock to 'reduce' with a target price of Rs 213 per share, an 11.6% downside from the previous close.
Downgrade rating due to the stock's lofty valuations.
Natural-gas marketing Ebitda doubled on movement of cargo to high-margin domestic markets.
Elevated natural gas marketing earnings are unsustainable.
Valuations have outpaced expected growth, making risk-reward unattractive.
Raises FY25/26 Ebitda estimates by 10%/1%, respectively.

Nuvama On Ambuja Cements

Nuvama downgraded Ambuja Cements to 'hold' and cut the target price to Rs 722 apiece, a 6% upside from the previous close.
Volumes impacted by elections, heatwaves and early rainfall in certain regions.
Realisation down 7% year-on-year due to weak pricing environment.
Board approved the setup of 14 cement grinding units with a combined capacity of 28 million tonnes per annum.
Upside on stock capped on weak pricing environment.

Citi on Zee Entertainment Enterprises

The brokerage maintains a 'sell' rating with a target price of Rs 137 per share, a downside of 6.8% from the previous close.
Revenue driven by strong growth in subscription.
Partially offset by weak advertising revenues.
Viewership share declined 40 basis points QoQ to 16.4%.
This was impacted by cricket and general elections.
Will monitor any material increase in ad revenue and extent of benefit to Zee.
Remains concerned on the potential impact of the cost-saving measure.

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