Shares of Graphite India Ltd. surged as much as 18.4% to ₹870 in Wednesday's session, moving closer to their eight-year high, after GrafTech International announced a minimum 30% increase in graphite electrode prices. The stock has now gained around 32% in 2026, sharply outperforming the Nifty 50, which is down about 10% over the same period. The latest rally was supported by heavy trading volumes, with 16.06 lakh shares traded on the counter compared to the average daily volumes of 74,152 shares in the past one month. The company's market capitalisation stood at around ₹16,700 crore, with the stock emerging as the biggest gainer in the BSE's 'A' group and ranking among the most actively traded stocks on both NSE and BSE. However, shares saw profit booking in Thursday's trade, trading up to 1% lower at ₹838.50 on the NSE, down 0.73% from the previous session's high.
Graphite India reported robust first quarter earnings last month, with net profit increasing by 28.4% year-on-year to ₹172 crore in Q1 FY27 compared with ₹133 crore in the year-ago quarter. As reported by CNBC TV18, the company's revenue from operations increased 26.6% to ₹842 crore from ₹665 crore in the previous fiscal. The company's EBITDA rose 24.9% to ₹241 crore during the quarter, while the board had earlier recommended a final dividend of ₹7 per equity share for FY26. However, the latest quarter showed even stronger performance with EBITDA increasing to ₹144 crore from ₹43 crore in the June quarter last year, while the operating margin expanded sharply to 17.1% from 6.4% in the year-ago period. This represents a significant improvement from the previous quarter's performance, with the company demonstrating strong operational efficiency and revenue growth across its graphite electrode and specialty products segments.
The latest rally builds on Graphite India's strong response to GrafTech International's stock surge of 15% on Wall Street overnight, with shares jumping after the company announced a minimum 30% increase in graphite electrode prices to restore electrode pricing to sustainable levels. According to CNBC TV18, GrafTech International shares jumped after the company announced a minimum 30% increase in graphite electrode prices to restore electrode pricing to sustainable levels. This announcement comes after GrafTech's recent announcement of 51,000-tonne capacity reduction in the graphite electrode market. The price increase is effective immediately for all open commercial negotiations, following an earlier pricing action announced in March when graphite electrode prices were raised by a minimum of $600 to $1,200 per metric ton. Meanwhile, HEG Advanced Materials shares also rallied, rising 5% to hit the upper circuit at ₹271.50, with the stock trading at ₹270 at 12:55 pm. The gains came against a weak broader market, with the Sensex down 606 points and Nifty 50 falling 149.5 points during morning trade.
According to Prasenjit Paul, Fund Manager and Wealth & Research Analyst at Paul Asset, higher electrode prices could meaningfully improve Graphite India's earnings, but GrafTech's 30% hike does not automatically mean a similar increase for the company. "The actual benefit depends on prices secured on new orders and renewals, and how input costs move," he said. "There is a fundamental reason for the optimism, as better pricing can improve earnings, but the market is already anticipating some of that benefit. I would look for stronger order pricing and operating margins before calling the entire rally justified." Paul noted that the development showed producers were pushing for better prices, rather than demand having suddenly strengthened. "The real test of pricing power is whether customers accept the increase without a meaningful drop in order volumes," he added. On the technical front, Virat Jagad, Senior Technical Research Analyst at Bonanza, said Graphite India had seen a bullish breakout above the horizontal resistance at ₹800 on strong volume expansion. "Look for a retest entry near ₹800-810, keeping a stop loss below ₹770 to limit risk. Initial target sits at ₹920-950, with potential expansion towards ₹1,000," he said, adding that the stock was trading well above its key moving averages while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) had moved above 70, indicating strong momentum.
Graphite India Limited, founded in 1967 and headquartered in Kolkata, is a leading manufacturer of graphite electrodes, carbon and specialty graphite products. The company operates six manufacturing plants in India and has a wholly owned subsidiary in Germany. Its graphite electrodes are primarily used in electric arc furnaces for steelmaking, where they conduct high electrical currents to generate the heat required to melt steel scrap. As reported by NDTV Profit, the company has attracted investor attention amid improving demand trends and recent price hikes announced by global peers. Currently, Graphite India remains the only listed entity in this space, as HEG's Graphite Electrodes business is set to be listed on exchanges next month following the company's demerger. The company has a manufacturing capacity of 80,000 tonnes per annum, making it the largest Indian producer of graphite electrodes. Analysts believe GrafTech's latest pricing move is a positive read-through for the graphite electrode businesses of Graphite India and HEG, with experts viewing the global price increase as a potential early sign of a turnaround in the electrode pricing cycle.
