India`s Mahindra & Mahindra jumps most in over three years on strong growth outlook
Shares of Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra rose as much as 8% to a record high on Friday, its biggest intraday jump in over three years, on a strong growth outlook after its fourth-quarter results beat expectations.
Mahindra's shares were trading 6.3% higher at 2,520 rupees, after seeing its biggest intraday percentage jump since April 2021.
On Thursday, Mahindra reported fourth-quarter results that surpassed analysts' expectations on steady sales of its sports utility vehicles (SUV).
The company said it will increase its monthly SUV capacity by about 50% by 2026, and spend 270 billion rupees over the next three years in auto investments.
New product launches and its present order book of 220,000 units are expected to drive double-digit volume growth in FY25, Investec analysts said in a note.
At least 16 out of 35 analysts raised the price target on the company after the results, with the median price target rising to 2,225 rupees from 1,900 rupees a month ago, as per LSEG data.
With the present order book, Mahindra could remain the fastest-growing passenger vehicle company in FY25, Morgan Stanley analysts said.
The company's capacity addition, capex plan and $1.44 billion investment into its electric vehicle (EV) unit also drove several brokerages to raise their earnings and revenue outlook for the next two fiscal years.
Despite the big spend, analysts expect Mahindra to generate strong free cash flow of 57-91 billion rupees per year over FY25-27, Jefferies said in a note.
The brokerage also raised its earnings per share estimates by 16-21% for the next two fiscal years.
Mahindra stock is up about 46% so far this year, and is the top performer in the auto index, which is up by 25%.