Info Edge shares jump 9%; ICICI Securities ups target price by 28%

“Given the improved growth and margin outlook across segments, we upgrade our FY22E-FY24E EBIT estimates by 23%-35%,” said the brokerage firm in a report.

Info Edge houses various portals including naukri.com, 99acres, shiksha, jeevansathi.com and quadrangle.

The brokerage firm expects strong traction in online realty led by low-interest rates and new launches along with a sharp pent-up increase in Jeevansathi’s paid listings as wedding restrictions ease and most of the deferred weddings come into the planning pipeline.

“The robust volume spike at 99 Acres/Jeevansathi should come along with EBITDA profitability surprising the street,” the brokerage firm added.

Given India Inc had been under-investing in hiring in the past five years, ICICI Securities foresees an employees’ market for at least 12-18 months with search platforms like Naukri benefitting.

At 1324 IST, shares of Info Edge were 7.5 percent higher at Rs 6,647.

“We have had Info Edge in some of our advisory portfolios in fairly large quantities for the last couple of years. The fact that naukri.com is such a powerful cash machine, and Sanjeev Bikhchandani and Hitesh Oberoi have done a superb job in taking naukri.com’s superb cash flows and reinvesting it in franchises like Zomato, Policy Bazaar, and so on,” said Saurabh Mukherjea, Founder, Marcellus Investment Managers.

“So Info Edge, we had in our portfolio, we think it's a high-class company and we hope to be invested in it for a long time to come,” Mukherjea added.