Just Dial shares locked in 10% upper circuit. Here's what's driving the stock

Just Dial shares got locked in the 10 per cent upper circuit on Monday, after the local search engine company reported a nearly four-fold jump in its quarterly net profit. At 12:40, the Just Dial stock was frozen with a gain of Rs 58.5 or 10 per cent at Rs 643.7 apiece on BSE.

Just Dial's net profit came in at Rs 75.3 crore for the October-December period, as against a net profit of Rs 19.4 crore for the corresponding period a year ago, according to a regulatory filing.

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Its revenue expanded 39.3 per cent on year to Rs 221.4 crore for the three-month period.

Just Dial's EBITDA margin -- a measure of profitability -- expanded by 900 basis points (bps) on a year-on-year basis.

The Mumbai-based company saw an increase of 9.8 per cent in its total traffic of unique visitors to 15.7 crore, out of which, 85.5 per cent originated on mobile platforms, 10.9 per cent on desktops and PCs, and 3.6 per cent on its voice platform, according to the company.

JM Financial Research Analyst Swapnil Potdukhe said the company's earnings beat estimates on the profit front owing to better-than-expected operating profit and treasury gains.

He highlighted that the company's cash collections rose to a 15-quarter high led by a strong ramp-up in its sales team.

Just Dial's cash collections increased 63 per cent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 245 crore.

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The margin expansion was aided by the company's strong operating leverage, Potdukhe pointed out.

JM Financial retained a 'hold' call on the stock with a target price of Rs 660 apiece, citing uncertainties related to investments in new initiatives such as JD Mart, JD Xperts, JD Shopping and JD Real Estate. It suggests investors to play the stock for the near term on strong results and inexpensive valuations.