Coal India shares rise 4% as Citi hikes target price, puts stock in 90-day catalyst watch. Check details

Shares of state-owned Coal India Ltd surged as much as 4.1% to their day’s high of Rs 453 on the BSE on Thursday after Citi placed the counter on a 90-day Upside Catalyst Watch and raised its target price to Rs 430 from Rs 415 earlier, citing potential gains from firming global coal prices.

The international brokerage believes elevated LNG prices could trigger gas-to-coal switching, thereby pushing up international coal prices. Higher global benchmarks are expected to benefit Coal India, particularly through improved realisations from its e-auction segment. Citi has raised its FY27 coal price assumption to Rs 2,700 per tonne from Rs 2,500 earlier and now estimates FY27 earnings per share at Rs 64.4.

However, it flagged that a faster-than-expected resolution of the Middle East conflict remains a key risk to its upside thesis.

Coal India share price performance

On a year-to-date basis, Coal India Limited has risen 11.30%, sharply outperforming the Nifty 50, which has declined 6.08% over the same period. The gap becomes even more pronounced over longer timeframes.

Over the past one year, the stock has gained 21.03% compared with the Nifty’s 9.94% rise. In the three-year period, it has surged 99.91% versus the index’s 39.57%, while over five years it has delivered a 194.97% return, significantly ahead of the Nifty’s 64.39%.

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Coal India Q3 snapshot

The company reported a 16% year-on-year (YoY) decline in consolidated net profit for Q3FY26.

The state-run miner posted a net profit of Rs 7,166 crore for the December quarter, compared with Rs 8,526 crore in the corresponding period last year. Revenue from operations also fell 5% YoY to Rs 34,924 crore, down from Rs 36,858 crore in Q3FY25.

Including other income of Rs 2,391 crore, total income for the quarter stood at Rs 37,316 crore, compared with Rs 39,002 crore reported in the year-ago period.

Profit before tax, including share of profit from joint ventures, came in at Rs 9,473 crore, compared with Rs 11,792 crore in Q3FY25. Meanwhile, total expenses during the quarter rose marginally to Rs 28,132 crore from Rs 27,280 crore a year earlier. The company noted that lower stripping activity adjustments and controlled cost escalation helped support margins.

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