Shares of travel tech major ixigo jumped nearly 3% to INR 146.90 apiece during the intraday trading on the BSE today (January 14)
The rally in the stock came after JM Financial initiated coverage on the stock with a ‘buy’ rating, saying ixigo is the emerging dark horse in the online travel agency (OTA) market
The brokerage gave it a price target price of INR 180, which implies an upside potential of 26% from the stock’s previous close
Shares of Ixigo
jumped nearly 3% to INR 146.90 apiece during the intraday trading on the BSE today (January 14) after brokerage JM Financial initiated coverage on the stock with a ‘buy’ rating, saying the company is the emerging dark horse in the online travel agency (OTA) market.
The brokerage set a price target price of INR 180 for ixigo, which implies an upside potential of 26% from the stock’s previous close of INR 142.90.
Analysts at JM Financial noted that despite being a late entrant, ixigo is currently the second-largest and fastest-growing OTA in India in terms of gross transaction volume.
Segment-wise, it is the market leader in train ticketing and is quickly strengthening its position in flight and bus ticketing, they highlighted.
In the first half of the financial year 2024-25 (H1 FY25), ixigo clocked a GTV growth of 34% on a year-on-year basis, outperforming its peers. In comparison, MakeMyTrip reported a GTV growth of 23% YoY, while EaseMyTrip and Yatra reported a decline of 1% and 9%, respectively, during the same period.
The brokerage further said that ixigo, which follows a multi-app, multi-brand approach, is well positioned to capitalise on the growth in the travel market in tier II+ cities with 94% of its transactions booked having either origin or destination as non-tier I cities.
“Unlike most OTAs that focus on better pricing or discounts, ixigo focuses on differentiation basis superior customer experience. The company achieves this basis out-of-the-box utility products and services and value-added services (for a small fraction of the ticket value) that enable customers to modify or cancel their bookings without having to worry about cancellation costs,” JM Financial said.
The brokerage expects the online travel platform to deliver a GTV and revenue growth of 26% and 23%, respectively, over FY24-27. Further, the travel tech major is likely to expand its EBITDA and adjusted profit after tax (PAT) by 45% and 33%, respectively, during the period, according to JM Financial.
It is to be noted that Le Travenues Technology, the parent company of ixigo, made its market debut last year, with its shares listing at INR 135 apiece on the BSE, a 45% premium over its IPO issue price.
While the stock has tanked over 12% in the last 5 trading sessions, it has given an upward run of over 5% since its public debut to date.
At 1:36 PM, shares of ixigo were trading 1.82% higher at INR 145.50 apiece on the BSE.
ixigo’s consolidated net profit declined 51% to INR 13.08 Cr in Q2 FY25 from INR 26.70 Cr in the year-ago quarter on account of higher tax expenses. Operating revenue rose 26% YoY to INR 206.47 Cr during the quarter under review.
