Naukri surges around 8% to 52-week high on robust Q4 update; Nomura sees further upside

Shares of Info Edge surged 7.8 percent to hit a 52-week high of Rs 6,164.45 on NSE after the parent firm of online job portal Naukri reported robust Q4 performance.

Its standalone billings grew 5.48 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 2,495.9 crore in FY24. In terms of segment, Info Edge’s recruitment solution segment, which includes Naukri and iimjobs, posted Rs 1,883.2 crore as standalone billing, rising 1.81 percent YoY.

In a regulatory filing, Info Edge said the “information for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2024, is being released ahead of the official announcement of the financial results for the said period”.

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According to analysts at Nomura, the strong recovery in Naukri billings suggest a possible bottoming-out of IT hiring. The company’s management is fairly optimistic about the slowdown in IT hiring to have bottomed out, given near-peak utilisation levels among large IT services companies.

According to Naukri, around 85 percent of companies are considering starting campus hiring in FY25 and strong deal wins. The Naukri jobspeak index, too, reported a strong rebound in February with month-on-month growth of 13.2 percent.

With strong performance in the March quarter and a possible bottoming-out of IT hiring, Nomura expects Info Edge to report year-on-year billings growth of 15 percent in FY25 compared to a flattish number in FY24. The brokerage maintains a ‘buy’ rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 6,210.

Downside risks include a slow recovery in the recruitment classified vertical and poor performance of its listed investments, it said.

Also Read | Buy Info Edge; target of Rs 6993: ICICI Securities

At 10.02 am, Naukri shares were trading 7.5 percent higher at Rs 6,105 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). So far this year, the stock has risen nearly 19 percent, outperforming benchmark Nifty 50 which has risen around 4 percent during this period.

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