ITC, Godfrey Phillips and VST Industries share price jump up to 12% on Friday; here is why

Shares of a cigarette maker, ITC, Godfrey Phillips and VST Industries rallied over 5% on Friday afternoon, after the media reports claimed that the cigarette makers have passed on the price increase to customers and the new rates would be applied soon.

Following the buzz around the price hike, ITC shares jumped over 5% on Friday afternoon, with a massive spurt in volumes. The share price traded 5% higher at ₹325 apiece with volume of over 68 lakh shares. Similarly, shares of Godfrey Phillips rose nearly 11% on Friday afternoon at ₹2,188 apiece on the NSE. Lastly, the VST Industries share price also jumped up to 6% with strong volumes.

According to the CNBC TV-18 report, the cigarette makers have increased their prices by 15%-20% across categories. Under the new tax structure for cigarettes, the rates have been revised upwards to ₹2,050 to ₹8,500 per 1000 sticks in addition to 40% GST. Following the announcement in December, the shares of cigarette makers witnessed massive selling pressure. The shares of ITC have since then corrected nearly 21% till 05th Feb. Godfrey Phillips share price has fallen over 28%, and VST Industries has fallen nearly 12%.

Investors cheered the passing of the tax hike on the customers. However, no such confirmation of a price hike has been received by the companies. In the recent quarterly earnings, VST Industries posted 1.2% rise in revenue and 12% jump in net profit for Q3FY26. Similarly, Godfrey Phillips also reported 15% YoY jump in revenue and 8% YoY jump in net profit for the quarter ending December 2025.