From ₹67 to ₹398: This lesser-known railway stock jumps 6-fold in one year

From Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the stocks of these railway heavyweights have been on the radar of investors. But a lesser-known railway-related stock, Jupiter Wagons, which made its market debut on June 30, 2022, has outperformed all these big players and delivered astonishing returns to its shareholders.

Jupiter Wagons, a private manufacturer of railway freight wagons, passenger coaches, high-speed brake systems, and railway and engineering equipment, has witnessed its share price soar by around 500% in the last 12 months, making it among the biggest gainers in the railway space. In comparison, RVNL and IRFC shares rallied 375% and 222%, respectively, in the last one year, while IRCTC dropped by 1% during the same period.

The share price of the Kolkata-headquartered company hit a fresh all-time high of ₹398.10 in intraday trade on September 5, rebounding 495% from its 52-week low of ₹66.90 touched on September 27, 2022.

With a market capitalisation of ₹15,766 crore, Jupiter Wagons has delivered 650% returns to its shareholders since its listing on the stock exchanges in June last year. In the calendar year 2023, the multibagger stock has zoomed 312%, while it jumped 307% in six month period. In the last one month, the counter has gained 79%, while it added 21.5% in a week.

On Tuesday, Jupiter Wagons shares ended 4.09% higher at ₹394.65 on the BSE, after touching an all-time high of ₹398.10 in intraday trade. The stock got a boost after its board approved the raising of up to ₹700 crore via qualified institutional placement (QIP), subject to shareholders’ approval.

The fundraising announcement comes merely a week after the company unveiled a plan to venture into the electric vehicle (EV) market by launching electric commercial vehicles in early 2024.

Earlier in June this year, the NCLT Bench in Kolkata approved the resolution plan submitted by Jupiter Wagons for the acquisition of a controlling stake in Stone India for ₹20.61 crore under the corporate insolvency resolution process.

For the April-June quarter of the current fiscal, Jupiter Wagons posted a multi-fold jump in its net profit at ₹63.60 crore compared to ₹13.41 crore in Q1FY23, driven by higher income. The total income jumped to ₹755.41 crore from ₹ 296.57 crore in the year-ago period, while EBITDA was ₹99.56 crore, reflecting 217% growth YoY. 

As on June 30, 2023, the company's order book was at ₹6,122.30 crore. The orders for freight wagons comprising volumes of 2,150 wagons aggregating to approximately ₹1,060 crore have been received from private parties during the quarter.

The company in its earnings report said that the demand scenario for wagons remained buoyant with a substantial order book of ₹1,06,000 lakh received from private customers during the first quarter of FY24. It expects the momentum to sustain in the near future. “Further, there is an impending global tender to be launched by the Indian Railways which is anticipated to be of substantial scale and incorporating a multi-year maintenance commitment. All indication that Indian Railways will also be procuring close to 40,000 additional conventional wagons very shortly,” it said.

Besides, Jupiter Wagons has made a strategic entry into the global markets by entering a long-term memorandum of understanding (MOU) with RITES, a prominent PSU associated with the Indian Railways, to explore opportunities in the international market for railway rolling stock projects. They have jointly engaged in two tenders in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The completion of these tenders, involving around 620 freight wagons, is currently in the final stages. JWL’s intention is to uphold the MOU with RITES and it expects an export order for roughly 1,000 freight wagons by the close of the calendar year 2024.

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