Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) shares climbed about 2% in early trading on Wednesday, reaching Rs 2,061.90. The rise followed a 6.99% drop the previous day, when the stock closed at Rs 2,022.7 after the company released its June‑quarter earnings.
At 09:18 a.m., the Sensex was up 729 points to 77,495, while the Nifty 50 gained 204 points to 24,190. HUL has fallen 13% so far this year, a steeper decline than the 8.3% drop seen in the Nifty 50.
Brokerages remain upbeat about the FMCG giant. They point to steady business momentum, faster volume growth and attractive valuations, even as commodity inflation keeps margins under pressure.
HSBC upgraded HUL to a ‘Buy’ rating and set a target price of Rs 2,450. This implies a potential upside of roughly 21% from Tuesday’s closing price. The bank cited better performance in Home Care and Beauty & Wellbeing, along with volume‑driven growth, as reasons for the upgrade.
Motilal Oswal also kept its ‘Buy’ recommendation and raised its target to Rs 2,500. The brokerage noted that HUL has returned to double‑digit revenue growth for the first time in 12 quarters, driven by 5% underlying volume growth. It also highlighted new product launches, premiumisation of the portfolio and organisational changes under the ‘Unified India’ strategy.
In the June quarter, HUL’s consolidated net profit fell 3% year‑on‑year to Rs 2,673 crore, missing the market expectation of Rs 2,814 crore. Revenue rose 10% to Rs 17,341 crore, the fastest growth in 13 quarters. EBITDA stood at Rs 3,947 crore with a margin of 23%. Domestic volume growth of 5% was below the 6‑7% analysts had anticipated.
Despite geopolitical and commodity‑inflation risks, HUL plans to use hedges, cost‑saving measures and calibrated pricing to manage pressure. Management remains optimistic about delivering stronger performance in FY27 than in FY26.