HSBC & Nomura Bet Big on Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, UltraTech and 4 Others

Ahead of the opening bell on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, Dalal Street has received a strong institutional catalyst as marquee global investment banks HSBC, Nomura, and CLSA issued fresh buy recommendations across seven frontline equities spanning heavy manufacturing, retail lending, real estate, metals, consumer goods, and clean tech. With equity benchmarks navigating volatile global trade cues and fluctuating crude prices, institutional research desks have highlighted compelling structural opportunities where stock valuations have disconnected from underlying balance-sheet resilience. HSBC spearheaded the morning calls with high-conviction buy ratings on cement giant UltraTech Cement, non-banking financial powerhouse Bajaj Finance, and domestic steel producer Tata Steel, while Japanese brokerage Nomura signaled heavy institutional upside for Bajaj Finance, Piramal Finance, and renewable energy specialist ACME Solar. Simultaneously, real estate developer Sobha received joint endorsements from HSBC and CLSA, alongside a strategic rating upgrade for Mamaearth parent Honasa Consumer in the fast-moving consumer goods basket.

Financial Heavyweights in Focus: Bajaj Finance and Piramal Finance Anchor Lending Growth

In the non-banking financial sphere, both HSBC and Nomura reiterated unanimous buy calls on retail lending bellwether Bajaj Finance, assigning a shared target price of ₹1,270 per share following in-line net profit figures for the second quarter of fiscal year 2027. Demonstrating underlying asset strength, Bajaj Finance management revised its full-year FY2027 loan book expansion guidance upward to 26–27%, comfortably exceeding its medium-term trajectory of 23–25%, while projecting second-half credit costs to remain stable against initial half-year benchmarks. While Nomura made modest 2–3% downward adjustments to FY2028–29 earnings-per-share estimates to account for potential net interest margin (NIM) compression in a sticky interest rate environment, HSBC emphasized that reviving loan growth across small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), diverse revenue levers, and prospective capital-raising pipelines provide adequate cushions to protect return on assets (RoA) and equity (RoE). Concurrently, Nomura issued a bullish buy call on Piramal Finance with an ambitious target price of ₹2,550 per share, supported by a 67% year-on-year surge in Q2 FY2027 net profit. Underscoring a rapid balance-sheet cleanup, Piramal's legacy wholesale book contracted by 32% sequentially, while new retail and business disbursements maintained stable asset quality despite isolated friction in mortgage and housing segments, positioning the lender firmly on course toward achieving a 2.5% return on assets under management (RoAUM) by the final quarter of FY2027.

Infrastructure, Metals, and Realty: UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel, and Sobha Secure Bullish Targets

Within foundational core sectors, HSBC placed an aggressive buy recommendation on UltraTech Cement with an institutional target price of ₹14,200 per share, citing a resilient 13.8% year-on-year sales volume expansion. Although a 12% quarter-on-quarter increase in blended fuel costs exerted temporary pressure on operating margins, analysts emphasized that the stock’s current multiple trades at an attractive discount beneath its historical five-year average. Pricing power has begun returning with consecutive cement bag price hikes executed across September and October—with further hikes slated over the coming quarter—while long-term value creation is being reinforced through a planned ₹1,800 crore capital deployment into its cable and wire division, with ₹1,100 crore already committed. In metals, HSBC recommended a buy on Tata Steel with a target price of ₹260 per share, noting that severe underperformance throughout 2026 has made the enterprise significantly cheaper than peer mills. HSBC analysts noted that lingering investor hesitations regarding long-term domestic profitability post-2030, European operations, and local market share will subside as production normalization in the Netherlands takes hold alongside structural debt reduction. In the property domain, Bengaluru-based developer Sobha secured simultaneous backing, with HSBC pegging a target of ₹1,850 and CLSA upgrading the counter to 'Outperform' with a target of ₹1,580. Sobha recorded a 16% year-on-year increase in Q2 FY2027 pre-sales bookings—achieving 55% of its annual sales guidance in the first half alone behind strong NCR and Bengaluru demand—with CLSA projecting full-year pre-sales expansion to breach 30% as high-margin project launches roll out and operating cash collections recover from temporary margin compression.

Clean Energy and Consumer Upgrades: ACME Solar Initiated with 65% CAGR Outlook as Honasa Rebounds

Marking a major green-energy debut, Nomura initiated institutional coverage on ACME Solar with an outright buy recommendation and a target price of ₹505 per share. Analysts highlighted ACME Solar’s strategic pivot away from traditional intermittent generation toward dispatchable, round-the-clock power systems designed to provide energy precisely at points of grid demand, which now comprises nearly half of the firm's total development portfolio. Backed by superior plant utilization factors, favorable tariff structures, and expanding returns on equity, ACME Solar is constructing 25 gigawatt-hours of battery energy storage capacity dedicated to firm and dispatchable renewable energy (FDRE) tenders, with pre-commissioning milestones already crossed for over 5 gigawatt-hours. Nomura models a massive 65% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in ACME Solar’s EBITDA between fiscal years 2026 and 2029, presenting an exceptional operational runway. Turning to consumer staples, HSBC revised its stance on the FMCG sector, upgrading beauty and personal care manufacturer Honasa Consumer to a buy rating with a target price of ₹554 per share. While the broader consumer segment has absorbed valuation corrections following raw material price inflation and post-GST cut consumption normalization, HSBC flagged Honasa as a high-conviction growth outlier within a selective consumer portfolio that includes FMCG giants Marico, Tata Consumer Products, Hindustan Unilever, Britannia Industries, Nestle India, Dabur, ITC, and Colgate-Palmolive.