Hindustan Unilever share price is down 3% in trade today. The stock had risen about 3% in intra-day trade yesterday on October 22 soon after the results were announced. However, the street is now looking at the impact of the GST transition and prolonged monsoon that weighing on performance during the quarter. The GST transition and trade pipeline adjustments impacted volume growth by 2%. Nonetheless, most brokerages have a Buy rating with some tweak in target prices.
Motilal Oswal on HUL: New launches to drive growth
Motilal Oswal has reiterated its Buy rating with a target price of Rs 3,050 per share. This implies upside fo 17% from current levels. The leading domestic brokerage house highlighted that the company “plans to focus aggressively on volume acceleration, alongside new launches and the reactivation of its value proposition, which is expected to drive further growth from H2FY26 onwards.”
They expect supportive macroeconomic factors to act as a catalyst for boosting consumption. As a market leader in most staple categories, coupled with its strategic initiatives, Motilal Oswal sees HUL “well-positioned to benefit the most.” They believe the new leadership is “well-positioned to capitalise on its volume growth aspirations amid supportive macro drivers.”
The FMCG major has maintained the near-term EBITDA margin guidance between 22-23%, with a 50-60 bps expansion expected following the demerger, as the low-margin ice cream business will be excluded.
Nuvama on HUL: Near-term demand revival remains intact
Nuvama too has a Buy rating on HUL with a target price of Rs 3,200 per share. The target price has been revised slightly lower aftert “the GST-led transition led to 2% volume impact in Q2FY26.” Trade normalisation from November 2025 is expected to support HUL’s near-term recovery, as per Nuvama.
Outlining the big GST impact, Nuvama pointed out that HUL transitioned 40% of its portfolio to the 5% GST slab, revising prices across 1,200 SKUs and passing on the benefits. “While the shift caused temporary trade de-stocking and delayed buying (oral care, hair care, skin cleansing, packaged foods and ice cream)—improving consumer sentiment and premiumisation trends position HUL well for a near-term demand recovery,” they added.
