Jhunjhunwala’s Titan stock bet sees EPS upgrades post Q1. What lies ahead?

reported a healthy set of quarterly results, especially on the Ebitda front, triggering a 3-4 per cent upgrade in estimates for FY23 earnings per share, and also upward revisions in the price targets, as analysts feel the Tata group company deserves premium valuations over its historical averages.

For

, Titan’s numbers were exceptional, with an estimate-beating margin of 13 per cent in the Jewellery segment being the key highlight.

Even after factoring in a one-off impact of 80–90 basis points, the brokerage said, the number was positive. Besides, the performance of the watches & eye care segment was impressive on both recovery and margin fronts, it said.

“Factoring in the margin outperformance, we are raising FY23E EPS by 4 per cent. We value Titan at 80 times 9MFY24E EPS (76 times FY24E) – a premium to its five-year average of 60 times – and this reflects its growth trajectory and potential scale-up in other verticals, i.e. watches & wearables and Caratlane,” it said while suggesting a target of Rs 3,119.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and his wife Rekha Jhunjhunwala held a 5.05 per cent stake in the June quarter, which was worth Rs 10,911.30 crore, as per Trendlyne.

Emkay Global said Titan reported an 8 per cent beat to its Ebitda estimates. “Ex-bullion sales, consolidated Ebitda margin at 13.2 per cent was 200 bps higher than pre-Covid levels, led by operating leverage, exit from loss-making ventures and 80 bps one-off,” it said.

Jewellery business, it said, also saw accelerated momentum, with a 3-year CAGR of 23 per cent in the June quarter against 15-20 per cent in H2FY22, led by an 8 per cent CAGR in buyers and rest through the gold price increase. Amid inflation concerns, Titan indicated satisfactory July performance and retained its 5-year outlook of 20 per cent CAGR.

“We raise FY24/25 EPS by 3-4 per cent, led by Q1 beat and upbeat commentary. Titan offers high-teens growth visibility and an improving RoIC profile (45 per cent by FY25E). We maintain Buy with a target of Rs 2,700 from Rs2,530 earlier, valuing Titan at a reduced multiple of 50 times due to a 3-month rollover. Faster traction in Taneira and International operations could offer potential upside,” Emkay said.

Robust performance in challenging times reaffirms the thesis of long-term market share gains for Titan, said ICICIdirect, which said the Titan group company has withstood challenges and emerged as a resilient player. “We believe Titan is a structural growth story and appears to be a key beneficiary of the unorganised to organised shift in the Indian jewellery market,” it said, saying it will come out with a detailed report soon.

First cuts by a few brokerages such as Prabhudas Lilladher and Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities also suggested a beat on numbers.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)



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