BHEL shares gain most since May 2021 with another potentially large order on the anvil

Shares of BHEL have gained as much as 12% on Monday, marking its biggest single-day surge since the 12.5% surge it saw on September 1 last year.

The stock is rising after the board of another state-run peer NTPC approved an investment worth ₹17,195.3 crore for the third phase of the Singrauli Super Thermal Power Project. This project is said to be of 2x800 MW.

But why is BHEL rising on NTPC's investment approval? That is because BHEL was the only bidder for the construction of the Singrauli plant.

In response to the exchange seeking clarification on the developments, BHEL said that it has not received any order from NTPC with regards to the Singrauli project.

However, it did mention that it had submitted a price bid on December 21 and that it is the only bidder for the NTPC tender. Although it did acknowledge that the submission of a bid does not result in the company automatically winning an order.

BHEL's order book at the end of the first half of financial year 2024 stood at ₹1.14 lakh crore, while order inflow till the first half was ₹33,000 crore.

Shares of the state-run capital goods company had crossed the ₹200 mark after reports had suggested that the company has been awarded the Talabira Power Project worth ₹19,422 crore.

The company officially disclosed on January 15 that it NLC India had awarded it the Talabira Project, although the size of the project was ₹15,000 crore.

Out of the 19 analysts that track BHEL, five of them have a "buy" recommendation, three say "hold," but 11 of them continue to maintain a "sell" or equivalent rating on the stock.

ICICI Securities, which has the highest price target on the street for BHEL at ₹300, believes that the company's order wins in financial year 2024 will cross ₹65,000 crore.

However, Jefferies, which has an underperform rating with a price target of ₹90 says that competitive pressure will impact margins and that it prefers to play this theme through other companies.

India's Mutual Funds though, have steadily increased their stake in BHEL from 1.5% in June 2022, that stake stood at 6.27% at the end of December 2023.

Shares of BHEL are now trading 13.1% higher at ₹267.1. This is the biggest single-day gain for the stock since May 2021. The stock has risen 256% over the last 12 months. Despite the surge, the stock remains 31% below its record high of ₹390.67, which it had it in 2007.