Defence stocks rose in early trade on Friday, extending their four-day winning streak. Shares of Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd., Paras Defence and Space Technologies Ltd. and Cochin Shipyard Ltd. led the pack, after Jefferies' latest note indicated bullish sentiment on the sector.
The NSE Nifty India Defence was also leading the sectoral rally, trading 3.67% higher as of 9:40 a.m.
Jefferies' top picks in the space include Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., and Data Patterns, followed by Bharat Electronics Ltd. The brokerage sees a pipeline-backed double-digit compound growth in earnings per share in the medium-term horizon for defence counters, alongside healthy returns on equity and capital employed.
Jefferies further reviewed the defence stocks' performance for the final quarter of fiscal 2025, stating that Hindustan Aeronautic's margins for the final quarter of fiscal 2025 surpassed estimates and offset the weakness in revenue.
Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd.'s profit after tax and Ebitda were both up two times over street expectations, said the brokerage. Paras Defence and Space Technologies Ltd. also surpassed Dalal Street expectations in terms of revenue and Ebitda rise, it noted.
Recently, defence stocks had crossed Rs 1 lakh crore in market capitalisation since the Pahalgam attack on April 22. The gain was led by HAL, followed by Bharat Electronics and Bharat Dynamics Ltd.
Defence Stocks Share Price Today
Among the defence stocks, Garden Reach saw the highest intraday gain, surging as high as 8.39%. As of 09:37 a.m., the stock was trading 8.20% higher at Rs 2,444 apiece. Cochin Shipyard followed closely with a 7.43% increase, hitting Rs 1,946.70.
Paras Defence also performed well, rising by 6.26% to Rs 1,609.30. Bharat Dynamics climbed 5.60% to Rs 1,907.60, while Data Patterns increased by 5.44% to Rs 2,767.90.
Zen Technologies saw a 4.82% rise, reaching Rs 1,791.80. Other notable gains included Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd. up 4.01%, Ideaforge Technologies Ltd., which was up 3.17% and MTAR Technologies Ltd., which rose 2.87%.
The benchmark NSE Nifty 50 was 0.23% lower as of 09:41 a.m.
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