Zomato shares jump over 7% ahead of investor meeting

Shares of Zomato climbed by 7.72 percent in morning trade on Friday, after investors rallied behind the news of an upcoming investor meeting as well as the stock being picked up by Christopher Wood, the Global Head of Equity Strategy of American multinational investment bank Jefferies Group, for his India long-only portfolio. Zomato has a weightage of 4 percent in Wood’s portfolio, with the investment being initiated last week.

Shares of the food-delivery app zoomed to hit a high of Rs 73.20 a piece on the NSE around 9:30 AM on Friday. Shares were up 7.72 percent over the previous close. The stock was trading 4.42 percent higher at Rs 70.90 apiece on the NSE at 12:48 PM.

The stock has gained over 12 percent in the past one month and 30 percent in the last three months.

The company’s recent financial earnings had given more confidence to investors as Zomato increased its revenue and pared down its loses for the financial quarter ending in March 2023. The company’s revenue for Q4FY23 stood at Rs 2,056 crore, witnessing an increase of 69.63 percent year-on-year from Rs 1,212 crore posted as revenue in Q4FY22 and an increase of 5.54 percent quarter-on-quarter from Rs 1,948 crore posted in Q3FY23. The company’s losses also reduced to Rs 188 crore in Q4FY23 from Rs 347 crore in Q3FY23 and Rs 360 crore in Q4FY22.

A strong financial report also meant that several brokerages updated their calls on Zomato to ‘Buy’, including Goldman Sachs, Jeffries and Emkay. Jeffries, in particular, set a target price of Rs 100 for the stock. Buoyed by the performance and changes, the stock has risen by over 11 percent in the past month-long period. However, the stock has still underperformed the wider market in the past year-long period and is still trading under its issue price of Rs 76.