M&M rally fulfils Anand Mahindra's dream as stock hits all-time high

Mahindra and Mahindra has hit an all-time high and crossed the Rs 1,000 per share mark. The stock has rallied 22 percent in 2022 alone versus the Nifty Auto index, which has seen a modest gain of six percent in the same period.

The rally has been strong after the company announced its fourth-quarter results, which saw revenue jump 28 percent to Rs 17,124 crore.

The recent rally prompted Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra to hail the team to bounce back after slipping from its 2019 highs. He tweeted his gratitude, especially mentioning Anish Shah, the MD and CEO of the group and Rajesh Jejurikar, the executive director of the auto and farm sectors.

In a tweet, Mahindra recalled: "In 2019, M&M’s share price had fallen sharply from its all-time high of ₹984. In our annual leadership conference that year, I reminded our team of the late President (Abdul) Kalam’s advice when he inaugurated Mahindra Research valley: 'Take the Hill' he said, i.e, dare to dream."

M&M stock has rallied over 5 percent in the past week

The auto major, which has hit a market cap Rs 1.27 lakh crores, has seen brokerages raise their target price and earnings expectations.

Brokerages are enthused by the positive management commentary on improving rural market performance by the company. Reports say that the capital allocation strategy is working well and the next focus is on accelerating growth.

Moreover, there is a valuation comfort for the auto major as current valuations stand at 6.6X FY24 EV/EBITDA (enterprise value to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation ratio) versus peers at 10-13X EV/EBITDA. Also, as and when the commodity cost pressures start to ease, it will aid margins going forward.