l&t shares: L&T shares rise 2% after 12% YoY jump in PAT. Should you buy, sell or hold?

Shares of Engineering and construction major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) jumped 2% on Thursday to its day’s high of Rs 3589.80 on BSE after the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,786 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2024.

The company’s revenue from operations increased 15% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 55,120 crore, led by robust execution witnessed in the projects and manufacturing (P&M) portfolio on the back of a large order book.

The company received orders worth Rs 70,936 crore at the group level in the first quarter, registering YoY growth of 8%, aided by the strong ordering momentum in the Middle East.

During the quarter, orders were received across multiple segments like offshore vertical of hydrocarbon business, renewables, transmission and distribution, roads, nuclear power, hydel and tunnel, ferrous metals, health, and the precision engineering sectors.

Here is what analysts from various brokerages say on the results:

Citi: Buy | Target price: Rs 4,396

Citi has maintained a buy call on L&T with a target price of Rs 4,396, stating that it remains the top pick.Q1 results were in line with Citi’s estimates. The order flow was decent in 1QFY25. The management reiterated a continuing focus on profitable execution and improving return ratios and L&T remains well-placed to benefit from growth in capex in India and the Middle East.Nuvama: Hold | Target price: Rs 4,040

Nuvama has retained its hold rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 4,040.

Nuvama believes that L&T faces headwinds of a large OB base, high mix of fixed price contracts exposed to commodity risk and execution/margin challenges. The company has barely beat Street’s Q1FY25 EBITDA and PAT estimate by 1% and 6% respectively as core revenue grew 18% YoY while OPM improved marginally to 7.6%. Core OI grew 8% YoY to Rs 54,400 crore on a high base, inching up backlog to Rs 4.9 lakh crore.

JM Financial: Buy| Target price: Rs 3,890

Domestic brokerage firm JM Financial has maintained a buy view on L&T with a target price of Rs 3,890.

L&T’s 1QFY25 PAT at Rs 2,790 crore was below JM Financial’s estimate of Rs 2,900 crore, led by lower other income and higher depreciation. The consolidated order inflows grew by 8% YoY to Rs 70,900 crore with an order backlog at Rs 4.9 lakh crore.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)