BENGALURU (Nov 2): Reliance Industries jumped as much as 7% on Monday and was set for its best day since January 2024, as a stronger-than-expected quarter fuelled optimism that momentum in its oil and telecom businesses can drive earnings growth despite continued weakness in retail.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance posted a 40.6% surge in September-quarter net profit to 255.48 billion rupees (US$2.69 billion), beating analysts' estimate of 214.19 billion rupees, helped by stronger refining and petrochemical margins.
The results highlighted the growing earnings contribution from Reliance's oil-to-chemicals and telecom businesses, while also improving visibility on newer growth areas such as energy, even as retail profitability remained under pressure, analysts said.
The stock was trading 6.8% higheras of 10:24am IST and was the top gainer on the Nifty 50, which rose 1.2%.
The robust earnings growth came as a relief for the oil-to-telecom conglomerate, whose shares are down more than 21% so far in 2026 in what is expected to be their worst annual performance since 2011. In comparison, the Nifty is down 11% year-to-date.
"The market has accepted the results well, which is reflected in the stock's move. Moreover, the gains also come after Reliance's stock has been trading around the lower limit and valuations now seem comfortable," said Deven Choksey, managing director of DRChoksey Finserv.
Jefferies said O2C (oil-to-chemicals) "hit the bullseye," with record crude processing, nimble sourcing and a shift towards higher-value fuel exports helping Reliance benefit from a favourable refining environment, prompting it to raise earnings forecasts.
Emkay Global said a sharp recovery in O2C and stronger profitability at Jio drove the earnings beat, while Macquarie called the quarter a "record O2C surge" and pointed to continued subscriber additions and margin expansion at Jio Platforms.
The telecom firm posted a nearly 14% rise in quarterly profit in its first earnings since a record-breaking debut last week, with its shares climbing as much as 3.1% on Monday.
Citi said the strong results could support Reliance's stock in the near term, although sustained outperformance would likely require a recovery in retail profitability and better visibility on monetisation from new energy investments.
Retail remained the weak spot, with investments in quick commerce, store rationalisation and cost pressures weighing on earnings, though Reliance reiterated plans to scale up its online grocery delivery service JioMart and its dark-store network.
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