What's behind IFCI shares' 63% rally in a month? Hint: There's an NSE connection

Shares of state-owned IFCI Ltd were last seen trading 2.08 per cent higher at Rs 71.64 in Thursday's trade. At the mentioned level, the stock has rallied 63.38 per cent in just a month. The non-banking financial company (NBFC) PSU today topped volume charts on BSE as around 2.19 crore shares worth Rs 158.31 crore were last seen changing hands.

Some market experts suggest that the sharp uptick is likely driven by the long-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) of the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

"We have seen a good momentum in IFCI over the last few weeks. It has some investment in NSE and NSE unlisted shares have shot up recently amid buzz over the exchange's much-anticipated IPO," market expert Kush Ghodasara told Business Today.

"Over the weekend, unlisted price of NSE shares have jumped from Rs 1,700 to Rs 2,300, marking an upmove of around 35 per cent. I think this is one of the key reasons that IFCI shares are in a strong momentum. Those holding IFCI with a long-term view, keep a stop loss of Rs 64 for an upside target of Rs 85," Ghodasara also said.

Echoing similar views, Kranthi Bathini, Director of Equity Strategy at WealthMills Securities, said IFCI holds a stake in NSE and the ongoing uptick in its share price could be related to the IPO buzz surrounding the exchange.

Technically, the scrip traded higher than the 5-day, 10-, 20-, 30-, 50-, 100-, 150-day and 200-day simple moving averages (SMAs). Its 14-day relative strength index (RSI) came at 84.2. A level below 30 is defined as oversold while a value above 70 is considered overbought.

As per BSE, the stock has a negative price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 1426 against a price-to-book (P/B) value of 18.32. Earnings per share (EPS) stood at (-)0.05 with a return on equity (RoE) of (-)1.29. According to Trendlyne data, IFCI has a one-year beta of 1.6, indicating high volatility.

IFCI is a state-owned NBFC and the government held a 72.57 per cent stake in it as of March 2025.

NSE, India's largest stock exchange, has been working towards its IPO for several years. Regulatory hurdles and governance issues had delayed the listing but it now appears that the exchange has made substantial progress in securing necessary clearances from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

Speaking at a recent event, Sebi chairperson Tuhin Kanta Pandey confirmed that regulatory issues delaying NSE's IPO are largely being addressed. "All the outstanding issues will be resolved and we will move forward. I can't give you the timeline, but it will be done soon. NSE and Sebi are talking. They are resolving the issues," the Sebi chief said.