Brokerage Views: Jefferies, Citi On Hero MotoCorp; CLSA On Indian IT And More

Brokerages have Hero MotoCorp, Indraprastha Gas Ltd. and KEC International Ltd. on their radars following the release of these companies' fourth-quarter earnings. CLSA has upgraded HCL Technologies Ltd.

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

CLSA On Indian IT

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.'s target price lowered to Rs 3,868.
Indian IT is in an earnings downgrade cycle. This will remain.
Multiple positive structural steps taken by HCLTech should support its multiple premium vs its history.
Highest upside is Tech Mahindra Ltd. and lowest for sell-rated LTIMindtree Ltd.
Hyperscalers' growth improved year-on-year compared to previous two quarters, due to Al-led demand
Most mentioned cost optimisation is in the past and a strong demand revival is ahead.
This demand may reach IT service companies in FY26.

CLSA Upgrades HCLTech

CLSA upgrades HCLTech from 'outperform' to 'buy' with a target price of Rs 1,524.
Multiple positive structural steps in four–five years.
Macro outlook and cost optimisation requirements favour HCLTech's business model.

Jefferies On Hero MotoCorp

Jefferies maintains 'buy' on Hero MotoCorp with a target price of Rs 5,650.
Poised for strong double-digit growth over the next three years.
Overall market share has slipped from 36% to 29%.
Any success in EV, premium bikes and scooters can enhance growth.
Sees 17% CAGR over FY24–26, its FY25 EPS of 4–5% above Street estimates.

Citi Research On Hero MotoCorp

Citi Research maintains 'buy' on Hero MotoCorp with target price of Rs 5,500.
Healthy realisations, margin trends and focus remains on premiumisation.
The first half of fiscal 2025 should see launches of Xoom 125 and Xoom 160cc premium scooters.

Emkay Research On Hero MotoCorp

Emkay retains 'buy' on Hero MotoCorp and hikes target price to Rs 6,000.
Management highlighted the return of first-time buyers in rural markets.
Efforts around product actions, upgrading/expanding distribution network, and scaling up the premium/EV portfolio to continue.

Also Read: Hero MotoCorp Clocks Highest Ever Annual Profit, Revenue In FY24

Jefferies On BSE

Jefferies maintains 'hold' on BSE Ltd. and hikes target price to Rs 3,100.
Operating Ebitda expanded 45% quarter-on-quarter.
Earnings miss due to SEBI fees.
Near-term margin face headwind from higher SEBI fees.
Medium-term outlook remains healthy and focus remains on business quality.
Earnings-per-share hike of 1–3% for FY25–27.

Also Read: BSE Q4 Results: Profit Rises 20.62%, Announces Dividend Of Rs 15

Citi Research On TVS Motor

Citi Research maintains 'sell' on TVS Motor with target price of Rs 1,550.
Slight operational beat in 4Q FY24 results; outlook is positive.
Expects healthy demand growth for the two-wheeler industry, with rise in scooterisation.
Multiple launches planned ahead in the two-wheeler and three-wheeler categories.
Demand improvement in Asia and Latin America, but African markets can see more long-drawn recovery.
Can find it difficult to maintain either market share or margins.

Citi Research On Indraprastha Gas

Citi Research maintains 'buy' on Indraprastha Gas and raises target price by 8% to Rs 550.
Lowers FY25–26 earnings estimates by 6–7%
Makes adjustments to volume and margin forecasts.
EV disruption risks are unlikely to be as bad as feared.

Emkay Research On Indraprastha Gas

Emkay maintains 'reduce' on Indraprastha Gas and raises target price by 3% to Rs 440.
Q4 Ebitda/net profit missed estimates by 17%/13%.
Miss due to lower realisation affecting gross margins, higher opex.
Management guides 4–5% year-on-year volume growth for Delhi.
DTC targets 100% conversion of buses to EVs by 2025
Dumpers, interstate buses, LNG trucks can support new GA volumes.
Raises FY25–26 earnings estimates by 6–8% each.

Also Read: Indraprastha Gas Q4 Results: Profit Falls 8.9%, But Beats Estimates

Nuvama Institutional Equities On KEC International

Nuvama downgrades KEC International from a 'buy' to a 'hold', with a target price Rs 829.
Ebitda margin undershot at 6.3% vs 7% guidance.
Profit after tax miss was 20% to Street estimates.
Sales of Rs 400–500 crore deferred to FY25, part of the reason for the miss.
Sales deferred due to delay in supply and Red Sea issues.
Positive on long-term prospects but all good news factored.

Nuvama On Gujarat State Petronet

Nuvama upgrades Gujarat State Petronet to 'hold' with a target price of Rs 288.
Q4 Ebitda missed brokerage estimates by 4%.
Volumes up 33% year-on-year on higher refinery offtake, strong demand, lower spot LNG prices.
Tariff revision of 47% to erode profitability.
Expects volume growth to sustain in FY25.
Company has the strongest potential growth among pipeline companies—2x volumes in four–five years.
Key beneficiary of additional LNG imports to bridge India demand-supply gap.

Citi Research On Larsen & Toubro

Citi maintains 'buy' on Larsen & Toubro with a price target of Rs 4,396.
Consolidated Q4 revenue/Ebitda/PAT growth were broadly in line with estimates.
A 10% order-inflow growth guidance on strong base is a confidence booster
FY25 management guidance for flat margins in projects and manufacturing was a bit underwhelming.
Retains as top pick given growth in capex in India and the Middle East.

Nomura On India Defence Sector

Nomura initiates 'buy' on Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. and Bharat Electronics Ltd.
Sees significant opportunity of $138 billion over FY24–32 in India's defence sector.
Expects defence's capex share to increase to 37% of total budget in FY30.
Expects momentum to continue with defence exports averaging at Rs 300 billion over FY24–32.

Citi Research On India Pharmaceutical Sector

Volumes coming back and the market may turn unfavourable again.
Underlying structure of the US generic market is getting worse.
Volumes from India/China picking up again.
US-based players are still holding up, contrary to perception of large-scale exits.
Market fragmentation is increasing.
India’s volume share reached 65%, alarming from competition and regulatory standpoint
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Aurobindo Pharma and Lupin expected to be most impacted once pricing trends turn unfavourable.
Increasing volumes and competition from India are key reasons behind continued erosion in US generic pricing.

Nuvama On Bharat Forge

Nuvama retains 'reduce' rating Bharat Forge at a target price of Rs 1,160.
Defence order book up from Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 5,200 crore.
Core segments like tractors and oil & gas to register weak performance.
Raises FY25/26 earnings per share by 3%/8%.

Nomura On Gujarat Gas

Nomura maintains 'reduce' on Gujarat Gas and cuts target to Rs 470.
Q4 results below estimates, impacted by lower-than-expected margins.
Expression of interest for ceramic customers will enable volume recovery.
Expects margins to be impacted as firm provides parity with propane.
Retains FY25–26 estimates.

Citi Research On Voltas

Citi maintains 'buy' on Voltas with a target price of Rs 1,628.
Voltas continues to maintain AC industry leadership with decent margin.
International projects business continued to disappoint due to collection delays.
Project business EBIT margin guidance is 4–5%.
Voltas-Beko is slowly gaining market share in other consumer durable categories.

Motilal Oswal On Kajaria Ceramics

Motilal reiterates 'buy' on Kajaria Ceramics with a target price of Rs 1,500.
Outlines a three-year mission; aims for strong growth across key segments.
Ebitda declined 2% year-on-year to Rs 170 crore versus an estimate of Rs 210 crore due to weak realisations.
Guided the Ebitda margin to hover in the range of 15–17%.
Cuts the EPS estimates by 3%/6% for FY25/26.
Should benefit from expected recovery in demand in FY25 and reduction in gas prices.

Kotak Institutional Equities On Larsen & Toubro

Kotak maintains 'sell' on Larsen & Toubro, with a price target of Rs 3,000.
L&T's expectation of a meaningful decline in overseas ordering is not a major surprise.
Continues to build in low single-digit growth in overall ordering vs 10% guidance.
Difficult for L&T to hold on to the over 20% hit rate in order growth for FY25.

Also Read: Stock Market Today: Nifty, Sensex Log Worst Fall In Over Three Months As HDFC Bank, L&T Fall