TVS Motor rises 2% on firm's big EV push; stock up 10% in 5 days

In the past five days, the stock price of Chennai-based auto-maker soared over 10 per cent, as against 1.6 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Shares of TVS Motor rose 2.3 per cent higher to Rs 819 per share on Tuesday, in an otherwise subdued market, after the company shared plans to introduce electric vehicles (EVs) in two and three-wheeler categories. With an order book of 15,000 units, the Chennai-based auto-major eyes to ramp up their presence to most of the cities across the country.

At 10:41 AM, the stock of TVS Motor traded 2.07 per cent higher to Rs 818 apiece, as against 0.6 per cent drop in the S&P BSE Sensex to 52,820.76 levels. In the past five days, the stock price of auto-maker soared over 10 per cent, as against 1.6 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. Meanwhile, the stock surged over 30 per cent so far in the calendar year.

The company plans to introduce EVs under the 5 to 25 kilo watt range for two and three-wheelers. Till now, they have launched three variants of iQube, electric two-wheeler, with an on road range of 140 kilometer in a single charge. Additionally, they have also extended iQube’s presence across 33 cities by end of this fiscal (FY21-22).

Overlooking at the big opportunity in EVs, the management said that the company will leave no stone unturned to grasp investments in the field of new technology. “EVs offer a large opportunity and TVS is investing a lot to grasp this opportunity. Wherever we go, we will do it in partnership with service and in those regions fully equipped to service and offer spare parts to customers,” said Sudarshan Venu, Managing Director of TVS Motor, at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM).

Moreover, the company will also offer services on their digital application, where customers can book service appointments online. Earlier, they had inked pact with Tata Power to build EV charging infrastructure across the country as well as state-run Convergence Energy Services for the same. That apart, they also anticipate that the partnership between BMW-TVS Motor will help churn out EV products in the coming years.

Meanwhile, analysts at Ambit Capital believe that despite commodity inflation casting a dark cloud over business prospects, the company will continue its path towards profitability with their rising focus on electrification and diversified portfolio. “Diversified portfolio, focus on premiumisation, cost control and superior product development capabilities make TVS Motor, one of our preferred picks in the auto OEM space,” the brokerage firm said as they retained a ‘buy’ stance and increased target price to Rs 846 per share (vs Rs 737 per share).

While the market share of two-wheeler domestic industry dropped 11 per cent due to headwinds like chip availability and rural demand weakness, the overall volumes of TVS Motor rose nearly 9 per cent in FY22. Exports, too, grew nearly 43 per cent in FY22, on a yearly basis to a record high of 1 million units. Therefore, analysts believe that the better-than-expected industry revival, new model launch visibility, and benefit of steel export duty imposition will act as positive triggers for the company in FY23-24.