A clutch of leading brokerages, including Jefferies, Motilal Oswal Financial, Nuvama Research, JM Financial, Nomura, have converged on a select set of Indian stocks with ‘Buy’ ratings and sizeable upside potential.
The common thread across these calls is improving earnings visibility, market share gains, margin expansion and technology-led efficiency. The picks span telecom, private banking, automobiles, consumer durables, financial services and hospitality, indicating confidence in earnings growth across core sectors of the economy.
IDFC First Bank
Jefferies
Jefferies maintains a ‘’Buy’’ rating on IDFC First Bank with a target price of Rs 100, suggesting a potential gain of 44%.
The brokerage firm notes that while a recent fraud incident involving Haryana State Government accounts at a single branch may impact fourth-quarter results, the bank remains well-capitalised.
The loss is estimated between Rs 490 – 590 Crore, but the firm believes the bank’s core profitability remains on an upward trajectory.The analysis points toward improving net interest margins and a consistent decline in credit costs as key drivers for the bank’s future valuation. Jefferies values the financial institution at 1.6x its estimated adjusted book value for March 2028, citing a positive outlook for overall asset quality.
Axis Securities
Axis Securities has maintained a ‘Buy’ rating on IDFC First Bank with a revised target price of Rs 87, implying a 24% upside.
The brokerage said a fraud incident at the Chandigarh branch, with an aggregate impact of Rs 590 crore, will weigh on near-term profitability and investor sentiment, potentially accounting for 28% of FY26E earnings and shaving off 16 bps from Tier I capital.
MAxis believes the issue appears confined to a single branch.
Eternal
Jefferies
Jefferies is betting big on Eternal and has given a ‘’Buy’’ rating to the stock and set a target price of Rs 480. This translates into an upside potential of 78%.
Despite this recent weakness, according to the brokerage report, the firm sees strong medium term growth drivers that could support a meaningful recovery ahead.
Nuvama Research
Nuvama has maintained a ‘Buy’ rating on Eternal with a revised target price of Rs 430, implying an upside of around 51%.
The brokerage highlighted that Blinkit and Hyperpure achieved adjusted EBITDA breakeven earlier than anticipated and revised FY26/27E EPS upward by 41% and 2.3%, respectively.
Nuvama continues to value the food delivery business at 40x adjusted EBITDA and quick commerce at 50x, rolling forward estimates to FY28
Suzlon Energy
JM Financial
JM Financial has set a ‘Buy’ rating for Suzlon Energy with a target price of Rs 64, suggesting a potential upside of 45.5%.
The brokerage analysis points to a strong recovery in the renewable energy sector, with the company benefiting from a healthy order book and a focus on deleveraging its balance sheet.
Analysts observe that the company is a primary player in the wind energy market and is well-placed to capitalise on the government’s push for sustainable power infrastructure. They expect the company to deliver significant returns over the next twelve months as its operational efficiency continues to improve.
Nuvama
Nuvama Research has a ‘’Buy’’ rating with a target price of Rs 55, implying a 15% upside. The brokerage said Q3FY26 execution stood at 617 MW, below estimates, with EBITDA margin of 17.4%.
Nuvama said Suzlon Energy is positioned to benefit from FDRE, RTC and hybrid tenders, supported by strong C&I exposure, while noting increasing competition from solar plus storage.
Bharti Airtel
Jefferies
Jefferies has assigned a ‘Buy’ rating on Bharti Airtel with a target price of Rs 2,575, implying a potential upside of around 35%.
The brokerage notes that Bharti and Jio continue to consolidate market dominance, with Bharti gaining 90 basis points of market share and driving higher average revenue per user through a better subscriber mix.
It expects sector revenues to reach $44 billion by FY28, supported by pricing power and premiumisation. “Bharti’s higher revenue growth suggests better pricing absorption among its customers and better subscriber quality,” said Jefferies.
JM Financial
JM Financial maintains a ‘Buy’ rating with a 12-month target price of Rs 2,455, indicating an upside of 22.9%.
The brokerage examined the company’s entry into the NBFC business through Airtel Money and noted that the planned equity infusion of Rs 14,000 crore remains modest relative to annual free cash flow of Rs 60,000 70,000 crore. It sees the strategy of building a loan book of over Rs 1 lakh crore using subscriber data analytics as ambitious but measured from a capital allocation standpoint.
“Investing into the NBFC business is non-core for the telecom business; hence, it may be considered slight negative from a capital allocation perspective,” JM Financial said.
ICICI Bank
Jefferies
Jefferies has set a target price of Rs 1,730 on ICICI Bank, implying a 25% upside from Rs 1,389. The brokerage pointed to a FY25 technology budget of Rs 4,700 crore, or 11% of operating expenses, as central to its digital push and competitive positioning.
Motilal Oswal Financial Services
Motilal Oswal Financial Services maintains a ‘Buy’ rating with a target price of Rs 1,750, indicating a 26% upside from Rs 1,394. The brokerage considers ICICI Bank among the most consistent private sector lenders, supported by strong return ratios and steady earnings delivery.
Aditya Birla Capital
Jefferies
Jefferies has set a target price of Rs 425 on Aditya Birla Capital, implying a 23% upside.. The brokerage sees strength in its diversified NBFC platform and improving scale across lending and insurance businesses.
Motilal Oswal Financial Services
Motilal Oswal Financial Services has a ‘Buy’ rating with a target price of Rs 415, indicating a 21% upside. The brokerage expects steady growth and improvement in return ratios as credit costs remain contained.
Lemon Tree Hotels
Motilal Oswal Financial Services
Motilal Oswal Financial Services has assigned a ‘Buy’ rating with a target price of Rs 200, implying a 71% upside from Rs 117, the highest among the consensus picks. The brokerage expects strong operating leverage from rising occupancy, improved pricing and a recovery in travel demand to drive earnings growth.
Nuvama Research
Nuvama Research has maintained a ‘Buy’ rating on Lemon Tree Hotels with a target price of Rs 178, implying an upside of 33%. The brokerage said the company delivered a resilient Q3FY26 performance despite a high renovation cycle and Rs 31.3 crore in one-time exceptional costs. It added that while overall performance remained strong, “Aurika Mumbai’s ARR stagnation was the only big concern,” noting that pricing at around Rs 11,000 has yet to scale despite healthy occupancy.
Conclusion
The convergence of ‘Buy’ ratings from multiple research houses on these names, with upside potential ranging from 15 71%, signals firm conviction in earnings growth across telecom, banking, automobiles, consumer durables and hospitality.
Disclaimer: This article provides factual analysis only and is not, and should not be construed as, an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell securities. Investors must conduct their own independent due diligence and seek advice from a SEBI-registered financial advisor.