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.
Why Morgan Stanley Added Reliance Industries?
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.
Why Morgan Stanley Added Varun Beverages?
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.
Financials, Consumers, Industrials Favoured By Morgan Stanley
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.
-
High US Salaries, No Green Card Certainty: The Financial Calculation Facing Indian H-1B Families
The suspension of PERM processing at eight technology employers does not cancel existing H-1B visas. What it does is force a question many Indian families have been avoiding: is the US salary worth tying your career and family plans to one employer?
-
Swiggy vs Eternal: Food Delivery's Two Rivals Are No Longer In The Same Race
Eternal is building a private AI assistant, dark.ai. Swiggy is still working out how to make Instamart pay, with an operating loss of Rs 895 crore in the July-September quarter while Blinkit stayed profitable.
-
Where You Live Shapes How You Get To Work | The Reason Why
Two-wheelers are the most popular way to get to work in India, accounting for nearly 43% of workplace commutes.
-
Unhedged Position: Can India See An Indonesia-Style Time Correction?
The Nifty is trading below levels it first clocked in 2024. Is there, then, as I have suggested in the headline, potential that the current time correction drags on painfully for the next three-five, even ten years?
-
Navigating Friction And Energy Realities: An Analysis Of Marco Rubio's October Visit To India
Occurring at a critical juncture marked by stalled trade negotiations and escalating geopolitical pressures over global energy supplies, the visit offers a profound window into modern US-India relations.
-
India Exports Capital. Why Not Export Trusteeship?
The big question, then, is whether India can build an institution that global borrowers, investors, banks, and lawyers can trust, even without an Indian connection.
-
France's Economy & Politics Are In Crisis | The Reason Why
Let's look at how the French economy and politics evolved under Nicolas Sarkozy, Franois Hollande and Emmanuel Macron.
-
You May Inherit The Business. You Must Earn Its Credibility.
Succession tests the founder's ability to share authority as much as it tests the next generation's readiness to assume it.
-
Signing Deals Is One Thing; Making Them Work Is Another | The Week In Whys
Sometimes, things don't turn out as planned. Indian companies have lost some bids to rivals, some projects won't produce until 2030.
-
FOMC Wall, PERM Suspension, Hospital Stocks | Talking Points This Week
A PERM suspension would directly affect green-card sponsorship rather than H-1B visas, so the near-term earnings impact could remain relatively limited. The key question is whether this marks a new phase in US scrutiny of Indian IT.
