It was a historic day for MRF shareholders as the stock, which has a face value of ₹10, hit the psychological ₹50,000-mark on the BSE on Wednesday. On the NSE, it rose further, to register a peak of ₹51,218.60.
The stock, however, closed at ₹49,734.45 on the BSE and at ₹49,753.35 on the NSE, still gaining over 6 per cent. MRF has outperformed the Sensex over the last year; the BSE S&P Sensex returned 10.45 per cent in that period, while the stock gained 20.93 per cent.
Over the last five years, MRF gave investors an astronomical 648 per cent return vis-a-vis the Sensex’s 72 per cent.
Fundamentally, MRF looks good and registered its highest-ever earnings per share of ₹1,157.5 in the previous quarter. “With favourable industry conditions such as benign crude oil and rubber prices, MRF is likely to benefit the most given its dominance in all segments as well as its leadership in the replacement market,” said Ramesh Chordia, an independent analyst based in Chennai.
But the major reason for the stock to climb is the limited number of shares available for trading; despite the stock ruling at historic levels, MRF commands a market cap of just ₹21,093 core, he added.