Bajaj Auto hits record high; market-cap crosses Rs 90,000 crore

Bajaj Auto hit a record high of Rs 3,129, up 3.5% on BSE in intra-day trade to regain its status as the country’s most valued two-wheeler company in terms of market capitalisation (market-cap).

The stock surpassed its previous high of Rs 3,122 touched on September 9, 2016 in intra-day trade.

The market-cap of Bajaj Auto crossed Rs 90,000 crore mark today, after a sharp 7% rally in the last two trading sessions.

With a market-cap of Rs 90,225 crore, Bajaj Auto now stands ahead of Eicher Motors, maker of Royal Enfield motorcycles, which quoted market-cap of Rs 88,514 crore, at 11:54 AM, the BSE data showed. On July 31, 2017, Eicher Motors had surpassed the Bajaj Auto to become the most valued two-wheeler company in terms of market-cap.

Thus far in the September month, Bajaj Auto has outperformed the market by gaining 11% after the company reported 2.98% increase in total sales in the month of August, due to higher export sales. On comparison, Eicher Motors was up 3.5%, while the S&P BSE Sensex gained 2.4% during the period.

Bajaj Auto showed a minimal growth of 1.4% from 279,911 motorcycles sold in August 2016 to 283,861 motorcycles sold in August 2017. Domestic sales dropped to 171,664 units from 174,719 units sold in August 2016 reporting a decline of 1.7%. The company’s exports grew by 6.7% to 112,197 units as compared to 105,192 units exported in August 2016.

Going forward, analysts expect good monsoons should boost the demand for 2-wheelers especially in rural areas, which has remained muted over the years.

“Growing demand for scooters will be a key factor to growth of 2-wheelers in coming month. We also believe new product launches from HMSI, Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp and TVS should support sales volumes. Also on the onset of festive season in India we expect demand for 2-wheeler to improve in coming months,” analysts at KRChoksey said in recent report.

Bajaj Auto Limited