BEL share price up: Rs 730 crore fresh order wins; consensus target hints at 20% upside

Shares of Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), India's largest defence electronics company, are in focus on Thursday after the Navratna defence public sector undertaking (PSU) in a filing to stock exchanges post Wednesday's market hours said it has secured additional orders worth Rs 730 crore since the last disclosure on August 10.

"Major orders received include communication equipment, radar, avionics, tank sub system, electro optics, cyber security, perimeter security, medical electronics,EVM, jammers, batteries, spares, services, etc," BEL said in a brief filing.

Following the development, BEL shares opened 1.01 per cent higher at Rs 411.40 on BSE.

In its August 10 filing, BEL suggested winning of Rs 541 crore worth orders since July 31. The order included major orders received include communication equipment, electro optics, ammunition fuses, Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) systems, spares, services etc.

BEL order book

BEL's order book stood at Rs 73,900 crore at the end of June quarter. The order book was diversified across multiple strategic programmes, including electronic fuses (Rs 4,300 crore), LRSAM (Rs 3,500 crore), LCA electronics (Rs 3,200 crore), BMP-II upgrades (Rs 2,800 crore), Ashwini radar (Rs 2,460 crore), Mi-17 V5 spares and services (Rs 2,200 crore) and several naval, communication and electronic warfare projects.

This diversified backlog reduces programme concentration risk while supporting sustained execution and earnings growth, analysts noted.

"With nearly 90 per cent of revenue derived from defence, BEL remains a critical system integrator for strategic programmes such as LRSAM, MRSAM and the upcoming QRSAM, positioning it as one of the largest beneficiaries of India's increasing focus on indigenous, electronics-intensive warfare capabilities," AShika Institutional Equities said earlier this week.

BEL share price targets

Overall, BEL has '34 "buy' calls and two sell ratings. Its 12-month consensus target at Rs 488.71 implied 20 per cent upside over Wednesday's closing price of Rs 406.90. Among brokerage targets in the past 10 days, Macquarie on Wednesday suggested 'Buy' on the stock with a target of Rs 550. Ashika Institutional Equities suggested a target of Rs 506, Axis Capital Rs 478, Mirae Asset Securities Rs 494 and InCred Research at Rs 515 apiece, Bloomberg data showed.