Bajaj Auto shares at record high, closing in on buyback price of ₹10,000

Shares of Bajaj Auto Ltd., India’s leading two-wheeler (2W) and three-wheeler (3W) maker, gained 3% to hit an all-time high of ₹9,235 apiece on March 27, taking its overall market capitalisation past ₹2.60 lakh crore.

At around 1 pm, the scrip was trading 2.77% higher at ₹9,208.90 apiece on the NSE.

The Bajaj Auto stock has delivered a handsome return of 38% so far this year and has risen over 140% in the last year. The stock was the second-best performing stock on the Nifty 50 index in 2023, with gains of 88%.

With this recent surge, shares of Bajaj Auto are also trading close to their share buyback price of ₹10,000.

The automobile company said on March 26 it had completed the buyback of shares worth ₹4,000 crore at an average price of ₹10,000 per share. The tendering period for the share buyback opened on March 6 and closed on March 13.

The buyback plan was announced in January this year at a price of ₹10,000 per share through the tender offer route and on a proportionate basis.

Bajaj Auto shareholders as of the record date of February 29, 2024, were eligible to apply for the special situations opportunity.

In an exclusive interaction with CNBC-TV18 earlier this month, Bajaj Auto Ltd. Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj said that he sees the fair value of Bajaj Auto’s stock at ₹12,000.

“I believe ₹12,000 is the fair value for the Bajaj Auto stock,” Bajaj said, adding that the company is firing on all six business cylinders.

Global brokerage firm JPMorgan has an “overweight” rating on the Bajaj Auto stock. The brokerage had said that the company delivered a strong performance in overall volumes aided by continued strength in domestic and initial signs of export recovery volumes.

JPMorgan had also raised its financial year 2024 to 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Bajaj Auto by 1% to 3%.