Shares of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) on Monday extended their gains for the sixth consecutive session. The stock jumped 14.32 per cent to hit an intraday high of Rs 59.30. It eventually settled 12.07 per cent up at Rs 58.13. At this price, the scrip has gained 74.93 per cent in the calendar year 2024 so far.
The loss-making state-owned telecom firm reported a net loss of Rs 888.41 crore for the second quarter that ended September 30, 2024 (Q2 FY25) as against a loss of Rs 771.82 crore in the previous quarter (Q1 FY25). Revenue slipped to Rs 158.80 crore in Q2 FY25 from Rs 169.40 crore in June 2024 quarter.
Earlier in October this year, it was reported that a revival plan for the cash-strapped telecom PSU may be a reality. However, there has been no such official statement released by MTNL yet.
On technical setup, support on the counter could be seen in the Rs 55.5-50 range. And, immediate resistance may be found above Rs 60. With that being said, an analyst suggested booking profits at current levels.
Osho Krishan, Senior Research Analyst - Technical & Derivatives at Angel One, said, "MTNL has experienced a strong increase in both price and volume. Over the past three weeks, the stock has shown a significant upward trend. Currently, it appears likely to test the Rs 62-65 range in the near term, while support is anticipated around the Rs 50 zone."
Jigar S Patel, Senior Manager - Technical Research Analyst at Anand Rathi, said, "Support will be Rs 54 and resistance Rs 60. A decisive move above Rs 60 level may trigger a further upside towards Rs 65. The expected trading range will be between Rs 54 Rs 65 for the short term."
Ravi Singh, Senior Vice-President (Retail Research) at Religare Broking, said, "The stock looked strong on daily charts. It has the potential to hit an upside target of Rs 62 in the near term. Keep stop loss placed at Rs 54 for this trade."
Sebi-registered research analyst AR Ramachandran said, "MTNL stock price is bullish but also overbought on daily charts with next resistance at Rs 60. Investors should be booking profits as a daily close below the support of Rs 55.5 could lead to a downward target of Rs 51 in the near term."
The counter saw high trading volume on BSE as around 17.82 lakh shares changed hands today. The figure was lower than the two-week average volume of 5.62 lakh shares. Turnover on the counter came at Rs 10.15 crore, commanding a market capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 3,662.19 crore.
The scrip traded higher than the 5-day, 10-, 20-, 30-, 50-, 100-, 150-day and 200-day simple moving averages (SMAs). The stock's 14-day relative strength index (RSI) came at 74.91. A level below 30 is defined as oversold while a value above 70 is considered overbought.
The company's stock has a negative price-to-equity (P/E) ratio of 1.10 against a price-to-book (P/B) value of (-)0.14. Earnings per share (EPS) stood at (-)52.69 with a return on equity of (RoE) 13.12.
"At present, 56.25 per cent of equity shares are held by the government and the remaining 43.75 per cent of shares are held by FIIs, Financial Institutions, Banks, Mutual Funds and others, including individual investors," MTNL mentioned.