Right Chemistry! These 5 chemical stocks with “hold” reco can rally up to 37% despite Chinese headwinds

One change for making higher provision for unsecured loans and we see all the NBFC stocks tumbling. But four weeks later what is the situation, no one on the street is even talking about it and stocks have crossed the level when the announcement was made. The fact is that some regulatory measures are indicators of overall growth potential which the regulator is just trying to moderate in order to avoid overheating of some segment of industry. The other question is that an industry like NBFC which is bound to grow given the fact that capital was, is and will remain a scarce commodity, which are the benchmark which one should use to take exposure with a long term perspective.

While the mid and small cap saw sharp corrections on Monday, the fact is speciality chemical space has been in a very different kind of correction for the last two years. In the last five years many segments of the chemical and specialty chemical sector had been coming into focus. They stay in the limelight for some time, then as too much money chases them which makes their valuations move up sharply and then a long phase of correction after which strong players are able to move upward much faster. While they come under the broad umbrella word of “Chemical sector” the fact is that each specialty chemical company is literally an industry itself with its own operating matrix of supply chain and demand. We look at the 6 stocks, including 4 stocks where analysts have “hold” recommendation at a time when chinese headwinds are blowing.

With stable oil prices and energy costs, the operating matrix of the cement sector is favourable at this point of time. The only headwind would be any sharp and sustainable increase in oil prices. We take a look at what analysts are saying across cement companies. ET screener powered by Refinitiv’s Stock Report Plus applies different algorithms & filters to all BSE and NSE stocks, and lists down stocks which fulfill the various criteria as specified into the algorithms & filters.

In the last four years of bull run, among the PSU space, defence was the first sector to see a re-rating, infact it was the sector which led back the resurgence of the PSU space which was then followed by railways and then NBFCs which are lending to particular sectors. Now the fact that the defence stocks have run up sharply and sitting with gains, questions are bound to come on whether they have priced all the positives or not. A part of the answers lies in looking at how the stock behaved in recent times and whether the macro operating picture of the sector has changed or not. On the price front, in the corrective move of March, after initial correction due to profit booking, some of the defence stocks have once again moved upward and are quoting close to all time high, indicating demand for the paper from this sector. On the fundamental front, the operating matrix is better and probably it is one of the sectors where the continuation in policy making will have the biggest positive impact.

Cement has been a sector where most of the analysts have been caught off guards. The stocks have done well and a large number of analysts have been sticking to their stands that pricing and capacity utilization is an issue. What they probably ignored was the fact that any industry which has been facing headwinds for a long time tends to sort the issues and few players are able to make a comeback as consolidation takes place. Pretty much what we have seen in power.

At a time when everything on the street appears good and green, there is a case of being selective. The reason, if it is in a raging bull market, the street never stays in this all good and green mode forever.when the street starts to become selective, it is stocks where there are some improvement in the business operating matrix tend to weather the storm better. So as an investor, one needs to look at every sector and company and their operating and valuation matrix separately. These selected stocks depict a strong upward trajectory in their overall average score which is based on five key pillars i.e. earnings, fundamentals, relative valuation, risk and price momentum. This implies that there has been a significant improvement in their market outlook in the given time frame.

In the last two months, there have been phases where the nifty has witnessed a short correction which lasted for anywhere between two to four days. The only difference is that unlike the past when such correction took place, this time when corrections are taking place mid-cap segment also participated. This is indicative of profit booking happening at the broader market level. At this point of time, one cannot rule out volatility which can bring more damage to stock prices in the mid-cap segment. In such times, if one is taking fresh exposure to equity, ensure that there is some level of quality as far as the business and fundamentals are concerned. These selected stocks depict a strong upward trajectory in their overall average score which is based on five key pillars i.e. earnings, fundamentals, relative valuation, risk and price momentum. This implies that there has been a significant improvement in their market outlook in the given time frame.

After facing rising input costs and supply chain disruption, the Macro environment in which auto ancillaries companies operate have turned favourable after a long period of time. Sometimes it is LCV and HCV which drives the demand, at other point time, better four and two wheeler numbers are pushing the demand up for auto ancillary companies, some of which are changing their business model to stay relevant in times of EV. We take a look at companies where analysts are projecting further upside in the next 12 months. The list is based on upside estimated by the analysts, with the highest potential stock coming on the top of the list.

Capital good companies had faced tough times for many years. Given the fact that hardly any capacity buildup was taking place in any industry, a number had to change their product portfolio and had to live with very low margins. But all the efforts have now started to show some results. Given the performance of the stock, a large majority of these stocks have hold recommendations from the analysts.