Shares of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) have been surging since September 26 this year. The stock of the Indian Railways ticketing arm, which closed at Rs 664.5 on September 26 hit a high of Rs 734.50 today, translating into returns of 10.53 per cent during the period. The upside in the IRCTC stock can be attributed to the relief rally in the Indian equity market in line with global markets, partially recovering from their recent lows.
The stock of the Indian Railways’ subsidiary has surged over 9 per cent since the announcement of the firm’s Q1 earnings this year. The stock closed at Rs 673.1 on August 10 when the earnings were announced. It has gained 9.12 per cent till date considering the intraday high of Rs 734.50 today.
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The firm that provides ticketing, catering, and tourism services for the Indian Railways reported a 197.53 percent rise in profit to Rs 246 crore for the quarter ended June 30. It reported net profit of Rs 82.5 crore in the year-ago period (Q1 FY22). Revenue from operations rose 251 per cent to Rs 853 crore in Q1 this fiscal from Rs 243 crore in Q1 FY22. Total income rose to Rs 877 crore in Q1 FY23 as compared to Rs 258 crore in Q1 FY22.
In today’s trade, the IRCTC stock rose 2.16 per cent intraday to Rs 734.5 against the previous close of Rs 719 on BSE. IRCTC stock is trading higher than the 5-day, 20-day, 50-day, 100-day and 200-day moving averages. In a year, IRCTC shares have lost 18.22 per cent and declined 12.23 per cent in 2022. Total 1.04 lakh shares of the firm changed hands amounting to a turnover of Rs 7.59 crore on BSE.
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The market cap of the firm rose to Rs 58,380 crore. The stock hit its 52-week low of Rs 557 on July 6, 2022. Despite the recent up move of over 10 per cent, the stock is trading 44 per cent lower to its 52-week high of Rs 1,278.60 hit on October 19, 2021.
Here’s a look at what analysts said about the outlook of the IRCTC stock and target price if any.
Abhijeet from Tips2trade thinks the stock can go above Rs 800 in the upcoming weeks.
“Despite a monopolistic business model, strong financials including zero debt and a thriving travel and tourism demand post Covid, IRCTC stock has relatively underperformed this year as compared to the last due to a subdued investor sentiment created by global market volatility. Investors should buy only on close above Rs 740 on daily charts for a target Rs 790- Rs 825 in the coming weeks. Rs 702 will remain a strong support,” he said.
Tirthankar Das, Technical & Derivative Analyst, Retail, Ashika Stock Broking suggested investors to buy on dip with a stop loss of Rs 690.
“Share price of IRCTC is seen rebounding from the extreme oversold territory in weekly time frame from the key support zone of Rs 650-660. Past few months of price consolidation saw prices taking support at the lower band of the consolidation and there onward witnessed a decent pullback to scale past the short term 20DMA with volume on a rising path. Another observation worth noting is that on the oscillator front both in daily and weekly time frame price are trading closer to 55-60 level mark and is positively placed which could fuel the up move. The ADX (currently placed at 22) shows bullish strength, with +DMI above -DMI. Presence of Harmonic ‘White Swan Sea Pony’ since Mar’22 (coinciding with 61.8% retracement of the rally since Mar’20) also indicates that the bottom in the stock is thoroughly in place the same. Since the pattern is near partial completion as it trading above point C hence complete retracement of the entire pattern comes around Rs 840, followed by 123.6% retracement of the pattern comes around Rs 910. Hence, investors can accumulate the stock on dips to ride the next leg of up move with a stop loss of Rs 690,” added Das.
Manoj Dalmia, founder and director, Proficient Equities said, “IRCTC can be accumulated at current levels as it looks positive with a stop loss at Rs 689.30 for a target of Rs 807.95. Travelling will rise with festive season generating greater revenue opportunity.”
Ravi Singhal, CEO, GCL said, “The stock is trading between Rs 685 and Rs 740. Until either side of this range breaks, large movements are not possible. However, OFS is also due. So, buy on dips near Rs 700 for a target of Rs 740 and a stop loss of Rs 680.”