It was a difficult year for the Tata Group as the conglomerate witnessed a sharp erosion in its market capitalisation (m-cap), dragged down by sharp losses in its marquee businesses.
According to data from Capitaline, 18 of the 24 listed Tata group companies declined up to 60% in a year, with crown jewel Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) emerging as the biggest drag.
TCS, Trent, Tata Motors PV emerge as biggest drags
IT bellwether TCS alone wiped off ₹320,038 crore from the group market cap. Its m-cap declined to ₹11,63,107 crore on January 5 from ₹14,83,145 crore a year ago as the stock slumped 22% during this period, weighed down by the slowdown in discretionary spending by clients, steep tariffs by the US and a hike in H-1B visa fee.
A recent report by HSBC, as quoted in Financial Express, said that IT is no longer a long-term double-digit compounding sector, with stock return trajectory gradient lower than in the past.
Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (PV), which underwent a split this year following the demerger of its commercial vehicle (CV) arm, followed suit. Amid a 53% slump in shares, Tata Motors PV erased ₹153,421 crore from its market cap alone.
Production loss for JLR due to cyberattack, tariff-related expenses, unfavourable forex, and higher warranty costs have weighed on the stock. Management highlighted that geopolitical tensions, tariff uncertainty, and supply chain risks persist, prompting JM Financial to assign a ‘Reduce’ rating to the stock and a target price of ₹365 back in November.
Trent, the third biggest loser and a Nifty 50 stock like the two others, has wiped off a whopping ₹102,279 crore from investor wealth, according to data from Capitaline. Trent’s market cap declined to ₹157,461 crore in a year amid a sharp 39% fall in its stock price amid a slowdown in growth and high valuations.
On Tuesday, Tata group stock lost 8% as the Q3 business update once again disappointed investors. Trent’s sales have slowed to below 20% from nearly 40-50% a year back.
Tata group laggards
Tejas Networks is the worst-performing Tata group stock in a year, losing 62%, resulting in a sharp wealth erosion of ₹13,038 crore for its shareholders.
Indian Hotels, Voltas, Tata Tech, Tata Exlsi, Tata Chemicals, Tata Teleservices and Tata Power have lost between ₹5,000 crore to ₹11,000 crore in a year, eroding group m-cap further.
Top Tata group gainers
At the same time, in a stellar year for metal stocks, Tata Steel emerged as the best-performing group company as it jumped 34%, adding ₹59,177 crore to its market capitalisation.
Jhunjhunwala-owned stock Titan also emerged as another top contributor amid a rally in gold prices and strong jewellery demand. Titan jumped 18% in a year as of January 5, adding ₹55,926 crore to investor wealth. Titan shares jumped another 4% to their 52-week high following a robust Q3 business update.
Tata Consumer, Tata Communications and Tata Investment were other companies that aided the group’s market capitalisation.
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