FMCG Major HUL Share Price Slips Despite 19% Jump In Q3 Profit; Brokerages Bullish, Emkay, JM Say BUY

Shares of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) dropped nearly 1% on Thursday, after the company reported its earnings for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025. The FMCG giant, which owns over 50 brands across 16 categories, experienced modest growth in Q3, with a rise in consolidated net profit. However, the company's overall performance showed weaker-than-expected growth which is currently contributing to the dip in HUL stock price today

HUL Shares Today

Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) shares are currently trading at Rs. 2,325.30, down by 17.65 points (0.75%) at the time of writing. On January 23, the stock opened at Rs. 2,315 and reached an intraday high of Rs. 2,328.35, with a low of Rs. 2,253.85. Recently, HUL shares have been on a downward trend, with a 16% decline over the past six months. This month, the stock has dropped by 0.57%, due to the challenges the company is currently facing in the market.

HUL Q3 FY25 Results

Hindustan Unilever limited posted financial earning for the quarters that ended December 2024 for the fiscal year 25 post market hours. HUL on Wednesday reported a 19.18% increase in its consolidated net profit for Q3 of fiscal year 2025, reaching Rs. 2,989 crore, compared to Rs. 2,508 crore in the same quarter of the previous year. The company's consolidated total income rose to Rs. 16,050 crore from Rs. 15,781 crore in Q3 FY24. However, total expenses climbed to Rs. 12,576 crore, and operating profit increased marginally by 1%, with margins slipping by 20 basis points to 23.5%.

HUL Shares Price Target and Recommendation

According to a research resort from Emkay Global, which said."We retain our positive stance on HUL, despite a sub-par financial performance and muted near-term demand outlook. Medium term, we see HUL's enhanced execution absorbing the impact of macro stress (if it persists). As the external consumption setting improves, we expect HUL to post a relatively better show (low base). The mgmt sees recovery ahead being driven by real wage growth, food inflation, employment levels. We retain BUY on HUL and Dec-25E TP of Rs2,675, on 51x P/E (5% discount to the last 5Y historical avg P/E). Q3FY25 performance was muted, with sales/EBITDA/adj PAT growth at 2%/1%/0%, hit by weak winters, consumer downtrading, and sustained demand moderation in Urban."

Analysts at ICICI Direct maintained its hold position for the stocks and said that, "HUL's share price has gone up by ~2.3x over the past five years (from Rs 935 in April 2017 to Rs 2144 levels in April 2022). We expect margins to contract in FY23E on account of incessant inflation in crude, palm oil & other important commodities We maintain our 'HOLD' rating on the stock."

The firm has also set the target price for HUL shares at Rs 2200 i.e. 55x P/E on FY24E EPS