ITC drops 15% in two days on steep cigarette excise hike; Nuvama cuts to 'Hold'
ITC shares slid ~15% over two sessions after a sharp cigarette excise duty hike effective February 1. Nuvama downgraded to 'Hold' and cut its target to Rs 415 from Rs 534, flagging a likely 20% price hike, volume compression and illicit-market migration, while citing FMCG resilience, a 4% dividend yield and 85% payout as support.
ITC shares fell ~15% over two days after a sharp cigarette excise duty hike effective February 1. Nuvama downgraded to 'Hold', cut target to Rs 415, expecting a 20% price hike, volume compression and illicit-market migration, but cited FMCG resilience and dividends as support.
Why this matters
The ~15% slide reverses ITC's recent momentum, which saw the stock repeatedly hit fresh 52-week highs near Rs 327.70 even as Future Retail group stocks slid to new lows.
retail-company signals are accelerating, up +603300% QoQ.