Reliance Industries overtakes TCS as India's most-valued company

The behemoth headed by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani has just snatched back the tag of the country's most valued company in terms of market capitalisation. As of 1 pm today, the m-cap of Reliance Industries (RIL) stood at Rs  7,47,644.67 crore, overtaking Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which stood at Rs 7,39,967.87 crore.

The IT bellwether had first replaced RIL as the most valued firm more than five years ago. And, in the bargain, Ambani's net worth has also shot up, since he holds a 44.5 per cent stake in the company.

According to Bloomberg data, he is now worth $45.9 billion, $1.6 billion richer in less than three weeks. RIL's stock has been on a roll since yesterday, after the company reported its highest ever quarterly net profit.

The blue-chip scrip had jumped 2.4 per cent yesterday to touch a lifetime high of Rs 1,157.55 apiece on the BSE, and today it has set a new record, hitting a fresh peak of Rs 1181.35 in intraday



trade.

The stock is currently trading at Rs 1,179.90 per share, up 2.63 per cent. In comparison, TCS' shares are trading 0.72 per cent lower at Rs 1,931 apiece on the BSE.

To remind you, the oil-to-telecom conglomerate reported consolidated net profit of Rs 9,459 crore, or Rs 16 per share, in the April-June quarter, nearly 18 per cent higher than the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Revenue was up by 56.5 per cent at Rs 141,699 crore and gross refining margins (GRMs) stood at $10.5 per barrel, compared to $11.90 per barrel in the same quarter last year. The brokerages are bullish on RIL post the strong Q1 numbers.

Goldman Sachs has the highest target of Rs 1,400 on the scrip while Nomura India's Rs 1,220 is the lowest among major foreign brokerages. Other brokerages such as CLSA (Rs 1,365), Citi (Rs 1,300) and HSBC (Rs 1,300) also see further upside on the stock. So shareholders have plenty of reason to bring out the bubbly.