Paytm shares fall 2% as Macquarie further cuts target price

NEW DELHI – Amid a rally in headline indices, shares of Paytm dropped 1.8 per cent on Thursday as Macquarie further slashed the target price of One97 Communications, which runs Paytm, to Rs 450 from Rs 700 while retaining an underperform rating.

The fintech company’s share price fell to a low of Rs 622.65 as against Rs 634.05 at the previous close on the National Stock Exchange.

At the same time, the BSE Sensex and the Nifty50 were up 1.5 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively.

Macquarie’s Suresh Ganapathy cut his price estimate to Rs 450 from Rs 700, citing lower valuations for fintech companies globally while keeping earnings and revenue estimates for the firm unchanged.

Paytm, which has had a troubled run since its much-touted listing last year, saw its share price falling to a fresh 52-week low on Tuesday, losing as much as 9 per cent during the day, even as the company provided a strong business update for the ongoing fourth quarter of FY22. The overhang of recent restrictions posed by RBI on its payments bank was what continued to weigh on sentiment.

Paytm stock has wiped out Rs 1 lakh crore of investors' wealth since listing. The company's market cap which stood at nearly Rs 1.4 lakh crore at the time of its debut, is hovering around Rs 40,000 crore. The scrip has declined 71 per cent from its issue price of Rs 2,150.

The average 12-month price target among nine analysts covering Paytm is Rs 1,203, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.