26 Aug Adani Ports, ICICI Bank, Titan among top picks as PL Capital eyes 12-month Nifty target of 27,609
The brokerage also backed structural plays such as Adani Ports & SEZ and financial heavyweight ICICI Bank, arguing that domestic demand, buoyed by tax cuts, lower inflation and easier credit, will drive the next leg of growth.
The brokerage’s latest India Strategy report values the Nifty at 19.1 times one-year forward earnings, in line with its 15-year average. With March 2027 earnings per share estimated at Rs 1,445, PL pegs its base-case target at 27,609, a modest increase from its prior 26,889 forecast.
Stock picks and sectoral bets
PL’s large-cap favorites include Adani Ports, Apollo Hospitals, Bharti Airtel, Britannia, Hindustan Aeronautics, ICICI Bank, ITC, Larsen & Toubro, Lupin, and Titan. In the mid-cap and small-cap space, it prefers Aster DM Healthcare, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, DOMS Industries, Eris Lifesciences, Ingersoll-Rand India, KEI Industries, Samhi Hotels, and Voltamp Transformers.
The brokerage has added Adani Ports to its model portfolio as a “structural play on Exim trade and India’s growth,” while also naming Britannia, L&T, DOMS Industries, Voltamp Transformers, and Eris Lifesciences among its high-conviction picks.
Earnings outlook
PL projects Nifty EPS at Rs 1,254 for FY26 and Rs 1,445 for FY27, implying a 13.2% compound annual growth rate over FY25–27. However, it has trimmed earnings estimates by 1.4% for FY26 and 0.4% for FY27, noting pressures from U.S. tariffs and fragile geopolitics.Sectorally, the brokerage remains overweight on banks, healthcare, consumer, telecom, autos, and capital goods, while underweighting IT services and commodities. Themes such as defense, infrastructure, electronics manufacturing services, hospitals, and power transmission remain intact but offer “limited re-rating potential,” the brokerage said.
Macro tailwinds
India’s near-term growth, according to PL, will hinge on domestic demand revival. The brokerage sees consumer spending benefiting from Rs 1 trillion in tax cuts, lower inflation, and rate cuts totaling 100 basis points already delivered by the Reserve Bank of India. The upcoming GST 2.0 reforms, which propose shifting most goods from 12% and 28% slabs to 5% and 18%, are expected to further boost consumption across autos, durables, processed foods, and pharmaceuticals.“Conditions seem ideal for pickup in domestic demand as the current festive season is expected to gain from benefits of tax cuts, lower inflation and normal monsoons,” said Amnish Aggarwal, head of research at Prabhudas Lilladher.
Still, the brokerage flagged risks from fragile geopolitics and punitive U.S. tariffs, which it said could shave 30–50 basis points off GDP growth in FY26. It warned that labor-intensive sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery, and marine exports are likely to face job losses and margin pressures, even as India seeks to diversify export markets.
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(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)