Top Gainers & Losers: Prospects brighten for SBI shares ahead of Q3 earnings, 32% upside seen; M&M, Bajaj Finance poised for gains too, say brokerages

Indian markets closed in the green on Tuesday after briefly being in negative territory. The Economic Survey 2022-23 tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ahead of Budget 2023 gave impetus to the otherwise volatile markets which ended positive. This was second successive positive closing led by auto, metal, and PSU bank stocks.

The BSE Sensex ended up 50 points or 0.08 per cent at 59,549.90 while the broader market Nifty50 inched up 13 points or 0.07 per cent to finish at 17,662.15. The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices as Nifty Mid Cap and Small Cap closed between 1.5-3 per cent higher on Tuesday.

Here are some of the blue-chip stocks that saw big moves on January 31:

Stata Bank of India (SBI)

SBI share price closed as a top Nifty and Sensex gainer, up almost 3.5 per cent to Rs 556.95 per share on the NSE. India’s largest state-run lender will announce its October-December results for the financial year 2022-23 (Q3FY23) on February 3, 2023.

SBI is likely to report robust earnings for Q3FY23 as Zee Business estimates the public sector lender’s profit may grow by 58.9 per cent year-on-year to Rs 13,400 crore and net interest income (NII) may come around Rs 37,300 crore, up 21.5 per cent growth YoY in the December quarter.

Motilal Oswal is bullish on the overall banking sector and maintains a ‘buy' rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 735 apiece, implying a 32 per cent upside on Tuesday’s closing.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M)

M&M share price jumped nearly 3.5 per cent to end as top Sensex gainer at Rs 1377 per share on the BSE. Motilal Oswal has a ‘buy’ rating on the auto major with a target price of Rs 1,500 per share. This translates into a 9 per cent upside from Tuesday’s closing price.

The Nifty Auto index was among the top performing sectors and gained as the Economic Survey 2022-23 remains gung-ho about EVs' prospects in India. “ India's electric vehicles (EV) market is expected to grow to one crore units annual sales by 2030 and create 5 crore direct and indirect jobs,” the annual document noted. Economic Survey is released a day before the announcement of Union Budget. 

As of December 2022, India became the third-largest automobile market, surpassing Japan and Germany in terms of sales, a survey tabled in Parliament on Tuesday mentioned.

Bajaj Finance

Bajaj Finance share price declined by over 2 per cent to conclude as a top Nifty laggard at Rs 5,884.00 per share on the BSE. The stock was a top gainer on Monday on good Q3 results.

ICICI Direct Research believes the long-range strategy to reach 4-5 per cent of retail credit in India is believable considering the management’s proven track record on meeting guidance.

The brokerage maintains a ‘buy’ rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 7250 per share, which implies a 23 per cent upside.