Stock Recommendations Today: Britannia, Pidilite, MCX On Brokerages' Radar

Citi expects profitability expansion in Britannia Industries to be driven by lower commodity costs. JPMorgan expects Pidilite Industries' positive demand outlook as being aided by macro tailwinds, though near-term weather disruptions remain a risk.

NDTV Profit tracks what analysts are saying about various stocks and sectors. Here are the analyst calls to keep an eye out for on Tuesday:

• Retains 'buy' call and revises target price to Rs 6,500, as compared to Rs 6,200 earlier.

• Marginally raises fiscals 2026 to 2028 earnings estimates for Britannia by 0-1%.

• The brokerage tweaks margin assumptions higher.

• Citi expects profitability expansion driven by lower commodity costs.

• Maintains 'overweight' with a target price of Rs 3,300.

• Positive demand outlook aided by macro tailwinds though near-term weather disruptions remain a risk.

• Aims to deliver double-digit underlying volume growth with value growth.

• Construction vertical remains a bright spot benefiting multiple portfolios, across tile adhesives, floor coatings, waterproofing, epoxy grouts, etc.

• Core adhesives (Fevicol) continue to grow, aided by premiumisation and Go-to-Market initiatives.

• Benign raw material prices should help to maintain the Ebitda margin at the upper end of the 20-24%.

• The brokerage has paused rating under-review, with its previous target price standing at Rs 7,000.

• Options volume could be higher in India similar to pattern seen in equity and commodity derivatives.

• Pricing could be based on either per unit basis or turnover.

• European power spot volume on EEX was about 880 TWh and derivatives volume was about 8,439 TWh (10x).

• Derivatives market has registered 63% growth in 2024.

• JPMorgan remains 'overweight' on Coforge with a target price of Rs. 2,080.

• Confident about industry-leading growth while sharply expanding margins.

• Management was bullish with no signs of any of the macro concerns plaguing peers.

• It expects the financial year 2026 to be of robust growth and achieve 14% earnings before interest and tax margins ahead of its financial year 2027 timeline.

• Company is witnessing healthy demand across industries.

• Coforge remains a top information technology pick.

• Citi maintains 'neutral' on Ajax Engineering with a revised target price of Rs 690, implying a downside of 11%.

• Cuts profit after tax for the financial years 2026 and March 2027 by 8.5% and 8.1%, respectively, on lower self-loading concrete mixer revenues.

• Estimates reduced due to higher costs based on trends in the quarter ending March 2025 and management commentary.

• Estimates a 14% revenue compound annual growth rate over the financial years 2024 to 2027 compared to 16% and 14% for ACE and BEML, respectively.

• Price-to-earnings ratio at approximately 24 times for Sept. 2026 limits upside for the stock.

• Citi remains a buyer of the oil marketing companies at current levels.

• Believe a price cut may not be an imminent eventuality.

• Preliminary estimates for the quarter ending June suggest strong quarter-on-quarter growth for HPCL and BPCL.

• Earnings outlook for the financial year 2026 for oil marketing companies looks robust, led by higher marketing margins, better gross refining margins, and lower liquefied petroleum gas losses.

HSBC

• SBI Life target price revised to Rs 1,950 from Rs 1,800 earlier, with an upside of 10%.

• HDFC Life target price revised to Rs 870 from Rs 830 earlier, indicating a potential upside of 14%.

• ICICI Prudential Life target price revised to Rs 720 from Rs 675 earlier, with an upside potential of 13%.

• Expect 13-14% growth on annualised premium equivalent.

• Slowdown in linked products is playing out.

• HDFC Life has the lowest exposure to linked products, while SBI Life has the highest.

• Margins have been impacted in the financial year 2025.

• Expect margins to remain range bound.

• There is further scope for the sector to deliver returns despite recent outperformance.

• Target prices and estimates have been revised.

JPMorgan

• SBI Life: Group annualised premium equivalent supports growth.

• Total annualised premium equivalent grew 13% year-on-year.

• HDFC Life: Annualised premium equivalent growth of 19% year-on-year.

• Growth supported by both individual and group segments.

• Unit-linked insurance plan growth expected to be strong.

• ICICI Prudential: Weak retail annualised premium equivalent led to weak growth.

• Expect potential downward revision to consensus estimates.

• Life Insurance Corporation of India: Steady recovery in individual segment with lower loss of market share.

• Have a 'buy' call on Bharti Airtel with a target price of Rs 2,100, indicating an upside of 12%.

• Have a 'buy' call on Reliance with a target price of Rs 1,590, indicating an upside of 10%.

• Airtel and Jio market share gains have further upside.

• Structural growth drivers for Airtel and Jio remain intact.

• Expect tariff hikes and subscriber migration to higher data packs.

• Good quarter but earnings per share cuts continue.

• CLSA India universe profit before tax grew 7.7% year-on-year versus expectation of 3.6% year-on-year.

• Strong performance from metals, pharma, capital goods, cement, and financials.

• Consumption names posted a seven-quarter high in profit before tax growth.

• International companies showed a more visible pick-up in pace of growth.

• Nifty’s consensus earnings per share was lowered by 3.7% and 2.5% for the financial years ending March 2026 and March 2027, respectively, during the quarter.

• Earnings estimates for the financial years ending March 2026 and March 2027 are below consensus for Bharti, Reliance, banks, select materials, and autos.

• Cross-section of earnings growth and valuation chart shows Reliance, Apollo Hospitals, and select financial stocks as favorably placed.

Key earnings changes for FY26:

Top upgrades:

• Bharat Petroleum: +16%

• Hindustan Petroleum: +13%

• Macrotech Developers: +12%

Top downgrades:

• Dish TV: -207%

• Sterlite Tech: -58%

• IndusInd Bank: -50%

Key earnings changes for FY27:

Top upgrades:

• PayTM: +24%

• Tata Steel: +19%

• Shree Cement: +17%

Top downgrades:

• Dish TV: -50%

• IndusInd Bank: -40%

• Sterlite Tech: -38%

Rating upgrades:

• Tech Mahindra: 'Outperform' to 'High conviction outperform'

• HDFC Bank, Amber Enterprises, GAIL: 'Hold' to 'Outperform'

• Ashok Leyland: 'Underperform' to 'hold'

Rating downgrades by CLSA:

• 'Outperform' to 'hold': IndusInd Bank, DB Corp, Kaynes, Astral, Kotak Bank, Hero MotoCorp, ACC, Cholamandalam Investment & Finance

• 'Hold' to 'underperform: CreditAccess Grameen, SBI Cards, Godrej Consumer