On the last trading day of the week, Paytm shares rose 7 percent. At the same time, the stock crossed Rs 800. The share price crossed Rs 800 for the first time since the first week of December 2023. It took almost 11 months for the stock to cross the Rs 800 mark. Paytm shares are up nearly 175 per cent from their 52-week low of Rs 310 recorded on May 9 this year. However, the stock is only 8.5 per cent lower than its 52-week high of Rs 926.70 on November 23, 2023. Paytm shares are up nearly 67 per cent in the last three months.
Profit of Rs 928.3 crore
Paytm’s parent company One97 Communications reported a profit of Rs 928.3 crore in the second quarter of the current financial year 2024-25. The company had reported a loss of Rs 290.5 crore in the second quarter (July-September) of the financial year 2023-24. Revenue from operations for the September quarter declined 34.1 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,659.5 crore. Paytm earned a profit of Rs 928.3 crore in the second quarter. This included a profit of Rs 1,345 crore from the sale of the entertainment ticketing business.
Employee cost reduction
The company’s indirect costs declined by 17 per cent sequentially to Rs 1,080 crore due to employee cost reduction, marketing expenses and the absence of some one-time expenditure in the first quarter of FY 2024-25.
Focus is on new partnerships
Geojit Financial said Paytm’s focus is on new partnerships in the payments business, spending planning and re-energizing the customer base. According to Geojit, further reduction in employee costs and margins are expected to improve with continued automation. Hence, we upgrade our rating to ‘Accumulation’ based on the 6x FY26E P/S ratio with a target price of Rs 854. Apart from this, Dolat Capital said that a target price of Rs 960 has been fixed on the stock.