Why RIL stock tanked 3% even after beating Street with Q4 nos

NEW DELHI: Shares of Reliance Industries (RIL) fell almost 3 per cent in morning trade on Monday, the first session since the company reported March quarter profit in line with estimated on Thursday.

The retail vertical and telecom subsidiary Jio supported RIL post 9.79 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in consolidated profit at Rs 10,362 crore. However, standalone profit slipped 1.62 per cent year-on-year to Rs 8,556 crore.

This was the first time in 17 quarters that the company saw a decline in standalone profit. The performance of RIL’s core refining business was not up to the mark, but better petchem margins offset that dent.

The RIL stock traded 1.95 per cent down at Rs 1,355 on BSE at 10 am.

Analysts said the stock may come under pressure as the better-than-expected March quarter profit number was already baked in the stock price.

Post quarterly numbers, brokerage Motilal Oswal Securities has maintained its neutral stance on the stock, with a target price of Rs 1,431, which is 3 per cent up from Thursday’s closing price.

“RIL’s earnings were broadly in line with expectations. The stock reaction may be subdued as it has already run up quite a bit,” said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities.

Some market participants said lower average revenue per user (Arpu) of RIL’s telecom business Jio disappointed them. Arpu, a key performance parameter, fell for the fifth straight quarter to Rs 126.2 from Rs 131.7 in the previous quarter, leading to lower revenue generation.

ET reported this morning that Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) is betting big on the rural markets to drive customer addition, but a steady drop in Arpu may come at a cost, as subscribers in smaller towns tend to be low-value customers who do not bring in high revenues.

YES Securities, maintained a buy rating on RIL with a price target of Rs 1,835. It said going forward RIL’s performance will depend on the implementation of International Maritime Organisation norms. On the other hand, Jio’s demerger of fibre and tower assets would help reduce debt burden, the brokerage said.

Nomura has retained a ‘buy’ rating on the stock post earnings with a target price of Rs 1,400 and said the numbers were largely in line with estimates.

JM Financial maintained a ‘buy’ rating on the stock with a revised price target of Rs 1,400.