Stock Recommendations Today: ITC, Adani Power, Swiggy, Gujarat Gas On Brokerages' Radar

Jefferies on ITC

• Maintain "Buy" with a target price of Rs 550

• ITC comes out as a winner, with government leaving tobacco taxes unchanged

• GST rates are also likely to stay stable until Mar-26 until the Centre settles state dues

• Stable taxation improves earnings visibility for ITC

• Personal tax rate cuts/benefits will help consumption in general

• ITC should also be a natural beneficiary

MS on ITC

• Maintain "Overweight" with a target price of Rs 554

• No change, yet again, is a good change

• Budget allays one of the usual concerns of tobacco tax hikes

• This will be viewed as a reflection of future policy action

• Continue to believe in a moderate cigarette tax environment over the medium term

• ITC is well placed for sustainable growth with strong business fundamentals

• A re-rating play, in our view

• BCD on propane import remains the same 2.5% which is the new ceiling

• So there is no impact on the end mile consumer propane price

• This could result in a recovery in Gujarat Gas stock price as nothing has changed

• Initiate "Buy" with target price of Rs 660

• India’s second-largest thermal power generation company after NTPC

• Pure thermal play - estimate 1.7x capacity rise in FY25-30

• Land requirements and financing plans are in place

• Night peak deficit provides scope for merchant upside

• B/S leverage to reduce to 0.6x by 2030 vs 1.2x

• Expect 2.2x Ebitda rise over FY24-30E with capacity addition

• Close co-ordination with BHEL for equipment delivery and inhouse EPC are ensuring capex is on schedule

• Thermal capacity in an overall peak deficit scenario with merchant exposure is a positive

• Initiate "Buy" with a target price of Rs 500

• Pioneer of hyperlocal commerce with a steady addition of new businesses

• Food delivery: Expect steady growth with some catch-up on margins

• Quick commerce: Fast-paced growth backed by elevated store additions

• Believe that food delivery margin improvement will drive a 62% adjusted Ebitda CAGR for the segment over FY2025-28

Bernstein on Budget

• Budget —The $15bn question for the middle class

• The budget lacked the boldness or clear policy direction we would have liked

• Capital expenditure and social welfare for lower-income households have been deprioritised

• Is it a mid-course correction in policy stance or a sign of running out of ideas?

• The capex revision looks clearly to be an underpromise by the government

• 'Underweight' on industrials, and that stays

• Upgraded consumer staples to 'equal-weight' last month, anticipating the tax cuts

• Do not see any reason to upgrade that further as we see more benefits to discretionary

• Move discretionary ex-autos to 'equal-weight'

• Given the year-to-date correction in sector, move back to a modest 'overweight' on durables

• Have been positive about select stocks in QSR and retail; also like small cars in autos

• Financials and IT 'overweight' stays

• On equity markets, view remains unchanged with the shift in cautious stance last year in the second half to a more positive selective buy — as we see macro at the bottom

• On small and midcaps, we are less positive but selective

Bank Of America on Budget

• Finmin balances between growth and fiscal prudence

• Fiscal policy adopts a 'do no harm' approach to growth

• Fiscal stability means monetary support needs to grow

• Revenue assumptions broadly in line, but tax reduction may need reduced exemptions as well

• GDP growth partly hinges on capex spending execution

• Personal income tax cuts math needs some more scrutiny

HSBC on Budget

• India announced tax cuts to support consumption, held on to its capex thrust, and yet stuck to a fiscal consolidation path

• On the budget math, expenditure assumptions can be met with the pruning of schemes, but tax revenues could disappoint mildly

• Overall fiscal impulse will likely be negative

• Maintain a mildly bullish view on India government bonds

• USD-INR remains on an uptrend

JPMorgan on Budget

• Tax cut pushes consolidation pressures on the expenditure side

• Deficit consolidation achieved through expenditure compression and tax buoyancy will need watching

• Public capex has likely peaked

• Medium-term fiscal framework envisages continued fiscal consolidation

• Underwhelming growth in infrastructure-related capex in FY26

• Headline capex growth driven almost entirely by items unrelated to infra capex

• Defence capex growth to pick up in FY26 after a muted FY25

• Growth in defence capex is positive for the defence sector and should benefit Bharat Electronics

• Muted infrastructure capex growth in the budget though is sentiment negative for L&T

Goldman Sachs on Budget

• Budget announcements small positive, remain constructive

• Uptake in the new tax regime is already high

• Tax savings as the primary reason for buying life insurance products has been steadily falling in consumer preferences

• Demand trends have been healthy

• ULIP taxation on par with equity oriented funds; this should be net-net positive for the product category