Shares of three capital goods firms Thermax Ltd., CESC Ltd. and KEC International Ltd. gained up to 7% on Friday, October 9, following upgrades from brokerage firm Kotak Institutional Equities. According to reports from CNBC TV18, Kotak upgraded Thermax to 'buy' with a target price of ₹4,000 per share, indicating an upside of 27.5% from its previous close. The brokerage also upgraded CESC and KEC International to 'add' ratings, boosting shares across all three companies. Latest trading data shows Thermax shares rose 6.3% to ₹3,337 on the NSE, with the stock trading at around ₹3,138.1 at the previous close, as reported by NDTV Profit.
Kotak Securities upgraded Thermax to 'buy' citing significant growth opportunities in the company's emerging businesses, particularly hydrogen, data centre cooling, and compressed biogas. According to NDTV Profit, the brokerage expects Thermax's end-to-end hydrogen offering to start contributing to revenue from FY28. The US data centre opportunity is significantly larger than Thermax's existing cooling business, with rising demand for data centre infrastructure creating room for the company to expand its presence. The compressed biogas business is expected to benefit from government incentives that could revive investments in the sector. Despite the upgrade, Kotak trimmed its target price to ₹4,000 from ₹4,250, reflecting the potential of these emerging businesses to support growth over the coming years.
Kotak upgraded Info Edge to 'buy' with a target price of ₹1,400 per share, as reported by Moneycontrol. The brokerage noted that Info Edge's recruitment segment reported billings growth of 12.6% in the second quarter of FY2027, though performance was affected by one-off deferrals in renewals. This led Kotak to maintain its expectation of 14-15% billings growth for FY2027, compared with 14.9% growth in the first half of the fiscal. The brokerage also highlighted an acceleration in billings growth at 99acres to 21.2% and expects profitability in the segment to improve steadily. Additional support comes from JPMorgan maintaining an 'overweight' rating with a target price of ₹1,500 per share, while Citi has maintained a 'Buy' recommendation with an upside potential of up to 27%.
Kotak upgraded KEC International to 'add' with a target price of ₹400 per share, indicating an upside of 14.4% from its previous closing price, as reported by CNBC TV18. The brokerage noted that KEC's stock has corrected over 60% in the past year, driven by weak margin performance in non-transmission and distribution segments, slower execution in the water segment due to delayed payments, and a seven-month debarment from participating in PGCIL tenders. Despite the upgrade, Kotak has cut KEC International's Earnings Per Share estimates for financial year 2027-2029 by 6% to 26% respectively. Shares gained 4.7% to hit an intraday high of ₹366.4, having declined 10% in the past month and 52% this year so far.
The stock has been under pressure for a month, delivering around 7.6% returns in 2026 so far, while the benchmark index Nifty Energy remained muted with 0.5% gains. During the past 52 weeks, Thermax traded within the range of ₹2,742.7 and ₹5,277.8 apiece, and it is currently trading at a price-to-earnings multiple of 63.3 times. The company's market capitalisation stood at ₹39,721.94 crore on the NSE. The latest trading data shows the stock maintaining its upward momentum, reflecting investor confidence in the company's emerging business prospects and growth potential across multiple sectors.
