SBI Cards, Eicher Motors and Marico hit 52-week high; here’s why

As many as 35 stocks hit their 52-week on the NSE on Saturday, February 1, during the special trading session for Budget 2025.

Domestic markets were quite volatile today despite being a non-working day. NIFTY50 closed at 23,482, down 0.11% at the close, while SENSEX settled flat at 77,505.

The sectoral indices were trading mixed, with the NIFTY FMCG emerging as the top gainer by rising more than 4%. NIFTY Realty rallied 3.19%, while NIFTY Auto was up 2.18%. On the other hand, NIFTY IT and NIFTY Oil and Gas were the top losers with losses up to 1.58%. The volatility index, or India VIX, was nosedived 16.85% to 14.13.

Core sector companies, including railway stocks, saw a decline in their share value, with no major announcements on capital expenditure in the Union Budget 2025. On the other hand, the tax relief announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman boosted the sentiment for consumer durables and FMCG stocks.

The Finance Minister announced that individuals earning up to ₹12 lakh would be exempt from income tax. The government has also revised the tax slabs under the new regime to bring relief to the middle class. This move will likely boost consumer demand by leaving more disposable income in the hands of the taxpayers.

Marico (52-week high: ₹736)

Revenue jumped 15.36% YoY to ₹2,794 crore from ₹2,422 crore in Q3 of last financial year. The company's Q3 growth was aided by higher sales volume in the domestic and international markets.

SBI Cards (52-week high: ₹833)

SBI Cards and Payment Services shares rallied as much as 7.1% to hit a 52-week high of ₹833.5 apiece on the NSE. The stock settled at ₹829.6 apiece, up 6.6%, on the NSE, extending the gains for the fifth consecutive session as benchmark indices closed flat amid volatility on Budget day.

The pure-play credit card arm of the State Bank of India, earlier this week, reported a 30% year-on-year drop in consolidated net profit for the third quarter of the current fiscal (Q3FY23) at ₹383.2 crore compared to ₹549.1 crore in the year-ago period. The company’s revenue from operations remained nearly flat at ₹4,767 crore during the quarter ended December 2024 as against ₹4,742 crore in the same period a year ago.

Eicher Motors (52-week high: ₹5,423)

VEVC posted a 20.1% year-on-year jump in its sales volume for January 2025, at 8,489 units, compared to 7,066 units in the corresponding month last year. The company's domestic sales rose 21.1% YoY to 7,872 units versus 6,503 units in January 2024.

Exports surged 26.8% YoY to 450 units in the month under review from 355 units in the year-ago period.

Zensar Technologies ( 52-week high: ₹984)

The company released its Q3 earnings last week, reporting a 10% YoY jump in revenue to ₹1,325.6 crore as against ₹1,204.1 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal year. Net profit slipped about a percent YoY to ₹159.8 crore in Q3 from ₹161.7 crore a year ago.