ITC shares soar to record high after Budget 2023 — what brokerages recommend

ITC share price: The stock of the cigarette-to-hotel conglomerate soared to a record high on Thursday, continuing to rise a day after the Budget 2023 proposed to hike taxes on cigarettes. Here's what analysts say.

ITC shares rose to their highest-ever intraday level on February 2, a day after the finance minister unveiled the Budget 2023.

ITC shares touched a record high on Thursday, even as the Budget 2023 proposed to hike the taxes on cigarrettes the previous day. The ITC stock surged by Rs 23.1 or 6.4 per cent to an all-time high of Rs 384.5 apiece on BSE with huge volumes.

At 3 pm, ITC shares were left with a gain of Rs 14.7 or 4.1 per cent at Rs 376.2 apiece. A total of 25.8 lakh ITC shares changed hands so far in the day as against a daily average of almost seven lakh in the past two weeks, according to provisional exchange data.

Most brokerages have positive views on the ITC stock, with targets ranging from Rs 374 to Rs 430.

Brokerage	Stock	Rating	Target
Morgan Stanley	ITC	Overweight	Rs 374
Jefferies	ITC	Buy	Rs 415
Goldman Sachs	ITC	Buy	Raised to Rs 430 from Rs 410
Citi	ITC	Buy	Raised to Rs 415 from Rs 390

In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced a hike in the National Calamity Cintingent Duty (NCCD) on cigarettes — or taxes on cigarettes — by 16 per cent. This is the first increase in the NCCD on cigarettes since the Union Budget for the financial year 2020-21, in which the government had raised the duty by 2-4 times.

Here's a look at the changes in the taxes applicable to cigarettes across categories:

Description	Excise duty rate (in rupees per 1,000 sticks)
Description	From	To
Other than filter cigarettes, of length not exceeding 65 mm	200	230
Other than filter cigarettes, of length exceeding 65 mm but not exceeding 70 mm	250	290
Filter cigarettes of length not exceeding 65 mm	440	510
Filter cigarettes of length exceeding 65 mm but not exceeding 70 mm	440	510
Filter cigarettes of length exceeding 70 mm but not exceeding 75 mm	545	630
Other cigarettes	735	850
Cigarettes of tobacco substitutes	600	690
(Source: Budget 2023-24)

Also Read: ITC shares finish Budget day in the green for the sixth time in a row

ITC is scheduled to report its financial results for the October-December period on Friday.

What to expect in ITC shares after Budget 2023

Many experts remain positive on cigarettes-to-hotels conglomerate ITC's growth prospects.

In an interaction with Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi on Wednesday, Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities CEO Rahul Arora said that the government's move will only impact a section of ITC's portfolio.

"This is not a blanket hike on ITC products," Arora explained.

Also Read: ITC shares fall and then recover after government hikes cigarette taxes — do investors need to panic?

On Wednesday, the stock experienced an initial knee-jerk reaction but soon recovered to finish the day in the green.

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