Jindal Steel share price plunges 8%; should you buy on dips?

Jindal Steel share price plunged over 8 per cent on Thursday after the private steel maker reported widening of its consolidated loss at Rs 424.69 crore for the quarter ended on March 31, 2018 due to higher expenses and finance cost. It had posted a consolidated loss of Rs 100.01 crore in the year-ago period. 

Reacting to its Q4 earnings, the stock of the company tanked as much as 8.14 per cent to Rs 240.30 on the BSE. 

For the entire fiscal year, the steel maker posted a consolidated loss of Rs 1,615.50 crore against that of Rs 2,537.52 crore in the previous year.

Brokerage Kotak Securities sees limited upside on the stock as steel prices are expected to peak out and correct going forward. It also said that the stock valuations are expensive. 

"We expect steel prices to peak out soon and soften as seasonal demand in China drops with the approaching summer slowdown. We believe while volumes in steel operations will improve from 4QFY18 levels, the steel price correction will leave limited upside in steel earnings from here, save for potentially good 1QFY19 earnings, again due to higher steel prices," said Jindal Steel in a results review report.

"The valuations are expensive at 7.5X/6.5X FY2019/2020E EBITDA," it added. 

However, brokerage Motilal Oswal Securities reiterated buy on the stock. "Strong growth in steel production during the quarter adds credibility to expectation of a 30 per cent CAGR in steel production over FY18-20. JSPL is riding on
tailwind of a strong steel cycle, which is getting reflected in margin expansion," it said.

"Stock trades at attractive valuation of 6.4x FY20E EV/EBITDA. We value the stock at Rs 349 based on SOTP. Re-iterate Buy," MOSL added.