Why one stock brokerage is bullish on Reliance Industries and Infosys

India’s stocks didn’t have a good start in the first half of the year, but stock brokerage Kotak Securities remains bullish on two stocks.

Reliance Industries, an energy and telecommunications conglomerate, has been making a lot of small acquisitions and is “very aggressive” in converting companies into digital businesses, said Shrikant Chouhan, executive vice president and head of equity research at Kotak Securities.

“Telecom and digital will contribute a lot in the near future,” he told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Monday, adding that the company is taking steps in the right direction.

“We are expecting the stock to move towards at least 2,850 or 3,000 [rupee] in the next, maybe couple of weeks,” he said.

That represents up to 20% upside from Reliance Industries share price of 2,492.65 rupee at Monday’s close.

“Broadly, we are of the view that Reliance Industries is going to do well,” Chouhan said.

The company’s shares are up around 5% since the start of the year. India’s Nifty 50 index and S&P BSE Sensex are both down nearly 9% over the same period.

Kotak Securities also likes Infosys, which has fallen more than 20% since the beginning of 2022.

Chouhan said the information technology company is “doing extremely well in terms of meeting the orders” from its clients for their services.

Revenue from contracts with their customers is down, but the company is going to be supported by growth in the platforms it developed, he said.

IT companies have come under pressure, but Infosys is trying to recover, Chouhan said.

“We are of the view that they’re going to be well because they are professional and they have seen these cycles many times in the past,” he added.

Disclosures: Kotak Securities has financial interest in Infosys.