Mumbai: Brokerage CLSA has maintained its ‘outperform’ rating on tyre maker MRF and increased its price target to ₹1,68,426. The target implies an upside of 21.7% from Thursday’s close of ₹1,38,355. The stock fell 1.4% on Thursday.
The brokerage’s analysts said in a note to clients that MRF’s fourth-quarter profitability was higher than consensus, led by gross margin (GM) expansion on the back of softening raw material costs and the trickling effect of price hikes taken in the third quarter.
“We expect GM to continue to expand on the back of softening raw materials costs, especially crude-based derivative materials, to be reflected more from the September quarter,” said the note. “Domestic natural rubber prices are yet to correct, we believe, and should add to margin expansion scope in the coming months.”
Shares of MRF moved up 23% in the past month, against the benchmark Nifty Midcap 50’s gains of 7.4% in this period.