Kamal Ghorui
Morgan Stanley has an overweight rating on Reliance Industries (RIL) with the target price at Rs 1,803. Analysts said RIL has pivoted every decade in its nearly 48 years of listed history. Its vision to invest $110 billion in AI, related energy supply and the digital ecosystem over seven years is the next major shift in capital allocation. RIL’s proposed AI investment is as large as its telecom/consumer investment in 2014-21. With $14bn-15bn annual OCF and existing investment commitments, $4- 5bn/annum may be funded via asset monetisation (that is telecom fiber) for FCF breakeven. Estimate Intelligence business will deliver 12%+ post tax return on capital employed (ROCE), that is 2x above its consumer/telco investments over the past decade. Analysts see RIL’s $110bn includes investments in multi-GW data centers, 10GW of related renewable energy infrastructure, energy storage and also AI chips. RIL will start 120MW of capacity in 2H26 and similar to global peers, believe it will scale up over five years.Investec has initiated a buy on JSW Cement with the target price at Rs 146. Analysts said the company stands out as a rare combination of superior execution, cost leadership, and disciplined growth (hallmarks of the broader JSW group) amongst Indian cement players. With an attractive capacity pipeline, a structurally advantaged operating model, and deep group synergies still only partially unlocked, JSWC is positioned to scale into India’s top fine cement players by FY30. JSWC also leads the sector on blended cement and ESG.Motilal Oswal Financial Services has initiated a buy on Lenskart with the target price at Rs 600. Analysts said the company has built strong moats in a difficult-to-scale category. They also feel the near-term free cash flow (FCF) generation is impeded by upfront capex on the upcoming Hyderabad facility. And they expect FCF to improve beyond FY28. Although they said Lenskart’s valuation is at a premium to other leading retailers, the same is justifiable.Macquarie has an underperform rating on United Spirits (USL) with the target price at Rs 1,350. Analysts said Pernod India saw sales growth of about 5% in Oct-Dec 2025 quarter (Q3FY26). They also pointed out that United Spirits saw a 10% sales growth in this 6-month period ending Dec ’25 against 8% seen for Pernod India. While like marginal market share gains seen in Dec quarter, inflationary headwinds for bulk scotch prices and muted outlook on volume growth due to Maharashtra tax hikes makes us cautious.HSBC has a hold rating on ITC with the target price at Rs 360. Analysts said their market checks suggested ITC has hiked prices by 20-30% to offset higher taxes, but only on a part of its portfolio for now. They said while the downside is limited, there is a lack of upside triggers.(Disclaimer: Recommendations and views on the stock market, other asset classes or personal finance management tips given by experts are their own. These opinions do not represent the views of The Times of India)
