Railway stocks rally: Ircon International leads with 15% surge; check details

Ircon International shares are in the spotlight today. Shares of the railway infrastructure company rose over 15% in today’s trading session to a day high of ₹223.11 apiece on the NSE.

The positive move in the stock came after the company recently secured a new order worth ₹1,068.34 crore from East Central Railway for the construction of a new broad-gauge rail bridge.

Most of the railway stocks saw buying today, including shares of Titagarh Rail Systems, Railtel Corporation, RVNL and Concor rose between 3% and 11%. As per experts, investors are returning to railway stocks amid the expectation of higher capital expenditure by the government.

Besides this, strong Q4 GDP numbers, as the domestic economy touched a four-quarter high of 7.4%, also supported optimism of capex spending.

Meanwhile, other railway stocks like Railtel reported strong Q4 earnings. Its net profit surged 46.3% year-on-year (YoY) to ₹113.4 crore, while its revenue from operations zoomed 57% YoY to ₹1,308 crore. IRCTC reported a 26% year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit to ₹358 crore. Its revenue during the quarter rose to ₹1,269 crore from ₹1,152 crore a year earlier. The results were aided by a one-time gain of ₹45.68 crore.

In the March quarter, Ircon International reported subdued earnings. Its Q4 net profit declined 14.1% YoY to ₹212 crore, while its revenue stood at ₹3,412 crore, down 9.9% YoY. For the entire fiscal year, revenue was down 12.7% to 10,760 crore, while net profit was at ₹728 crore, down 21.7% YoY.

So far this year, Ircon International have given a marginal return of 2.7% to its investors. However, the stock rose by over 25.4% in 2024 and by 186% in 2023.