Tata Motors surpassed Kia Corporation in terms of market capitalization, making it the 16th most valuable automaker globally, a position it had last held in September 2018. With a market valuation of $27.15 billion, Tata Motors now stands just below Hyundai Motor.
Tata Motors’ Shares Reach Record High on Strong Performance of Jaguar Land Rover
Tata Motors’ shares, the top performer on Nifty50 this year, reached another record high on Monday after its subsidiary, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in global wholesale dispatches for the June quarter of the current financial year. JLR is expected to announce positive free cash flow of over £400 million when it releases its full financial results for the quarter later this month.
Morgan Stanley raised the target price for Tata Motors’ stock to Rs 711 per share from Rs 617 per share, citing improved margins and the positive surprise of £400 million in free cash flow during a seasonally weak quarter. The brokerage expressed confidence in Tata’s deleveraging efforts, emphasizing that continued improvement in free cash flow would boost market confidence.
Tata Motors Outperforms Kia Corporation with Impressive Rally and High-margin Order Book
Tata Motors has outperformed Kia Corporation this year, with a rally of up to 60 percent compared to Kia’s gains of 48 percent. The majority (76 percent) of Tata Motors’ order book consists of high-margin Range Rover and Range Rover sports models. In contrast, the US contributes around 25 percent of Kia’s total revenue, followed by Korea at approximately 20 percent. India and China account for another 5 percent of Kia’s revenue, while Europe and other regions generate the remaining 45 percent.
Tata Motors’ stock has surged more than nine-fold since April 2020, enabling the company to close the gap with the Korean automaker. In April 2020, Kia Motors had a market valuation of over $10 billion, which was three times higher than that of Tata Motors.
