IRCTC share price rose 55% during coronavirus lockdown; here's why

IRCTC share price has risen 55.47% since PM Narendra Modi announced lockdown to contain the rising number of coronavirus cases on March 24. On March 24, the stock closed at Rs 858 on BSE. On the other hand, Sensex which closed at 26,674 on March 24 has risen merely 14% till date. The strong rise in IRCTC share can be attributed to investors' expectations that it will make a stellar recovery in terms of revenues and profitability post easing of lockdown.

Rahul Agarwal, Director at Wealth Discovery/EZ Wealth said, "IRCTC is a sound stock that should be purchased at every dip; businesswise it's a near monopoly. With zero debt, sufficient cash and the government's backing, this stock will definitely progress spectacularly in the long term. Fresh investments should be made only if investors have a long-term perspective on the stock. In the short term, the stock is expected to be volatile."

IRCTC share runs out of steam after three sessions; here's why

IRCTC share price hit upper circuit of 5% to Rs 1,334 today compared to the previous close of Rs 1,270 on BSE. The stock opened Rs 63.50 higher at Rs 1,334 and was trading at the same level in afternoon trade after Indian Railways said it would run 200 time-tabled non-air conditioned trains every day from June 1.

Bookings for these trains will be done only online and will start in a few days, said Railways Ministry.      

"The fare of these trains will be minimal sleeper rates and can be availed by all categories of people," a railway official said.

Investors became upbeat about the stock after Railways Minister Piyush Goyal in a tweet said, "Within the next 2 days Indian Railways will double the number of Shramik Special Trains to 400 per day. All migrants are requested to stay where they are, Indian Railways will get them back home over the next few days."

Share price of IRCTC has gained 5.57% in the last 2 days. There were only buyers no sellers for the IRCTC stock.  Share price of IRCTC is trading higher than 20 day, 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages but lower than 5 day moving averages.

Market cap of IRCTC  fell to Rs 21,344 crore on BSE.  Total 7,469 shares changed hands amounting to turnover of Rs 99.63 lakh.

With Railways unveiling plan to run additional trains shortly, the stock looks set for a big recovery.

IRCTC new rule: You can't book special train ticket without agreeing to this condition

Abhijeet Ramachandran, independent analyst / founder & trainer at Tips2trade, a financial education and training firm said, " IRCTC is one of the best PSU stocks with strong fundamentals, a monopolistic and an almost fool-proof business model. After a phenomenal run post IPO, the stock crashed due to extreme overvaluation and a very weak sentiment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With still a huge percentage of India's population in the lower to middle class category & also since majority of the states are easing the lockdown, investors are anticipating a strong recovery in the coming weeks."