Reliance Industries, Varun Beverages Replace IndiGo, Jubilant Foodworks In Morgan Stanley Focus List

Morgan Stanley has reshuffled its India Focus List, adding Reliance Industries Ltd. and Varun Beverages, while removing Interglobe Aviation Ltd. and Jubilant Foodworks Ltd. The brokerage continues to recommend large private financials, consumer, and industrial names, citing strong earnings visibility and structural tailwinds in these segments.

Morgan Stanley believes Reliance Industries is on the verge of a significant value unlock, estimated at $50 billion, through its aggressive expansion into New Energy and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The company plans to develop a multi-gigawatt GenAI data centre using NVIDIA’s Blackwell chips in collaboration with Google and Meta, representing a $15 billion investment by financial year 2027.

Despite the scale of its technology ambitions, the report argues that Reliance’s AI potential remains undervalued by the market. With China exiting nearly one-third of global polysilicon capacity, Reliance Industries is expected to become South Asia’s only fully integrated 20GW solar chain by 2027, positioning it as a leading non-China player in the global clean-tech reset.

In its traditional businesses, Reliance continues to benefit from tight refining margins in oil-to-chemicals, while retail and telecom operations are delivering robust growth, supported by FMCG traction and improving fixed wireless performance. Morgan Stanley’s energy analyst Mayank Maheshwari has raised the valuation of Reliance’s New Energy and AI ventures to $25 billion (from $19 billion earlier), projecting 11% EPS CAGR through FY28, with room for multiple expansion across verticals.

Morgan Stanley has also added Varun Beverages to its Focus List, citing the company’s consistent execution and growth potential in both domestic and international markets. The firm’s consumer analyst Sheela Rathi believes the worst of the growth slowdown—largely seasonal—has passed.

VBL’s decision to pause new market expansion and explore opportunities in the alcoholic beverages (alcobev) category is viewed as a strategic step toward total addressable market (TAM) expansion and a potential stock re-rating. The company’s proven ability to scale operations globally strengthens its investment case, the report added.

Morgan Stanley reiterated its preference for large private sector financials, consumer, and industrial stocks, highlighting sustained earnings momentum and macro resilience in India’s growth cycle.

Following the latest revision, the Focus List includes leading names such as Reliance Industries, Varun Beverages, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, UltraTech Cement, Trent, Maruti Suzuki, and Coforge.

“India remains a structural overweight within Asia Pacific, supported by strong domestic demand, ongoing industrial capex, and a deepening technology ecosystem,” Morgan Stanley said in its note dated October 31, 2025.