Why Force Motors Share Price is Rising

The BSE auto index is up over 21% in a little over two months. Individual stocks are up even more.

And this growth doesn’t look to be slowing down either, with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty riding on bullish sentiment.

Force Motors is one such auto company from the lot which has delivered substantial gains. Let’s find out the reasons driving the growth.

Why Force Motors share price is rising

#1 Strong Q4 show

Last week on Tuesday, shares of Force Motors were locked in the 20% upper circuit limit after the company reported its Q4 earnings.

The commercial vehicle maker posted a consolidated net profit of ₹1.5 billion (bn) for the quarter ended March 2023 as against a loss of ₹427 million (m) in the year ago quarter. The company had reported a loss of ₹155.7 m in the December quarter.

The company was back in the black as revenue surged 70% to ₹14.9 bn. It also reported an exceptional income as part of the government’s scheme.

Exceptional income of ₹3.1 bn was part of the Madhya Pradesh state government's Industrial Investment Promotion Assistance Scheme, 2010, recognised on the basis of sanction orders received.

The company’s operating margins improved on the back of price hikes taken besides some cooling down of key raw material prices like steel.

For the full year, the company achieved the highest ever revenue and EBITDA. It also crossed a turnover of ₹50 bn for the first time.

#2 Sectoral effect

For the past couple of months, robust auto sales have sent auto stocks piggybacking on the already bullish market.

The buoyancy could be attributed to both a positive market environment as well as an individual company’s improved performance during the March quarter.

In FY23, passenger vehicle sales rose 27% YoY. Sales grew to a record 3.9 m units. Leading auto companies are seeing strong demand in terms of enquiries and bookings.

Also, the auto sector’s fortunes are closely linked to the economy. We’ve already written a lot about the government’s continued focus on infrastructure spending.

#3 Improvement in market share

Force Motors is currently placed third in the two-wheeler maker space. As the company focusses on niche segments, it has maintained its market share. In fact, the company has increased its market share to over 16% in the electric 2-wheeler space.

It has raced past Hero MotoCorp in market cap gains. Hero MotoCorp is the largest 2-wheeler maker.

What next?

Market participants are now awaiting monthly sales numbers for May 2023.

The company lined up new models in the past one year and it turned out pretty well. The company is looking to do the same for the next few quarters.

Going forward, the company’s management has guided for strong demand at least till the festive period in October 2023.

From a valuation perspective, the swift rise in the price seems to have made the stock richly valued from a medium-term perspective. Both from the perspective of book value and earnings power.

How Force Motors share price has moved recently

On a YTD basis, Force Motors share price is up 39%.

In the past one year, it has gained 83%. In the past five days, the share price has gone up by 14%.

Force Motors has a 52-week high of ₹1,965 touched today and a 52-week low of ₹919 touched on 20 June 2022.

Have a look at the table below to compare Force Motors with its peers.

About Force Motors

Established in 1958, Force Motors is the flagship company of the Abhay Firodia group.

The company is a fully vertically integrated manufacturer of small and light commercial vehicles (CVs), multi-utility vehicles, and agricultural tractors.

Under the auto components division, the company assembles engines for Mercedes-Benz India and BMW India.

The primary brands in LCVs and multi-utility vehicles include Traveller, Trax, Gurkha, and Shaktiman, The brands in tractors are Balwan, Orchard, Abhiman, and Sanman.

The holding company of the group owns a 57.4% stake in Force Motors and has stakes in several Bajaj group of companies.

Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a stock recommendation and should not be treated as such.

This article is syndicated from Equitymaster.com