bajaj group market cap: Bajaj Group fifth Indian conglomerate to cross Rs 10 lakh crore market cap

The surge in market cap was on the back of robust share price performance of three group companies Bajaj Hindustan, Bajaj Auto, and Maharashtra Scooters.

While shares of Bajaj Auto and Bajaj Hindustan jumped 71% and 93% this year, respectively, Maharashtra Scooters was up 74% on a year-to-date basis.

The conglomerate’s flagship company Bajaj Finance rose 12% so far this year, while shares of Bajaj Finserv have risen 9%.

Bajaj Finance is leading with the highest market cap of 4.57 lakh crore among the group firms, followed by Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Auto.

Among the other group firms, Bajaj Consumer stock increased 35%, and Hercules Hoists surged 69%. Bajaj Electricals is the sole company from the group to trade in negative this year at -17% returns.

Group stock talkAnalysts are quite bullish on Bajaj Finance, which has shown strong loan book growth in the recent quarters, driven by a higher-yielding consumer durable loan book, rural financing, etc.

Strong new customer acquisition and fast-growing cross-sell base franchise along with stable margins and asset quality were also factors that bode well for the company.

Jefferies is expecting over 30% upside from current levels with a target price of Rs 9,470. The brokerage expects loan growth to be around 29% over FY23-26E and NIMs of 10% in the same period.

In the recent second quarter, Bajaj Finance reported 28% year-on-year growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,551 crore, while net interest income increased 26% year-on-year to Rs 8,845 crore.

In contrast to Bajaj Finance, analysts are quite negative on Bajaj Auto, another flagship company of the group. UBS has a sell rating on the auto stock with a target of Rs 5600. The brokerage said the electric-three wheeler transition will dilute the margins and market share.

The global investment bank is of the view that the market is overly confident about Bajaj Auto’s e-3W market share and looted margins.

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