Bharat Electronics share tanks 6% on missing FY25 revenue guidance; details

The fall in BEL share price came after the company missed its revenue guidance for the financial year 2025 (FY25).

Shares of defence public sector undertaking (PSU) Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) were under pressure on Wednesday, falling as much as 6 per cent to hit an intraday low of ₹274.50 per share on the BSE.

 

The counter was under pressure due to a miss on its revenue guidance for FY25. The stock recovered a bit at close, cutting its losses to 3.34 per cent. 

 

The defence major informed exchanges that it has achieved a turnover of around ₹23,000 crore (provisional and unaudited) during FY25. This is against a turnover of ₹19,820 crore, marking a growth of 16 per cent. It includes export sales of around $106 million during FY25 against $92.98 million in FY24, reflecting a growth of 14 per cent.

 

However, this figure fell short of the company's projected revenue of ₹25,000 crore.

 

While the company secured orders worth ₹18,715 crore in FY25, the total order book of BEL, as on April 1, 2025, stood at around ₹71,650 crore. This includes an export order book of $359 million.

 

Analysts at Kotak Institutional Equities, led by Deepak Krishnan, in a report dated April 1, highlighted that defence ordering saw a sharp uptick in February and March 2025.

 

₹1 trillion of defence orders were awarded to the company (total defence awards for FY25 were ₹2.1 trillion).

 

However, BEL has reported orders of ₹18,715 crore in FY25, about 25 per cent below its guidance, driven by a delay in the finalisation of three key orders. Its provisional revenue came in at ₹23,000 crore (+16 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) versus Kotak Research’s estimate of 17 per cent. 

 

“BEL’s order pipeline for FY26 remains strong, led by large quick reaction surface-to-air missile or QRSAM (₹25,000 crore) and medium range SAM (₹15,000 crore) orders. But the ability to sustain margins at the current peak remains uncertain. We revise our estimates by 2.9 per cent/1.5 per cent for FY26-27,” said the brokerage. It has retained a sell rating with a fair value of ₹260.

 

Meanwhile, Antique Stock Broking, in its report dated March 5, had highlighted BEL as one of the most consistent performers in the defence sector. It has an impressive track record of delivering 12 per cent revenue, 19 per cent operating profit and 16 per cent net profit growth from FY14 to FY24.

 

Analysts led by Dhirendra Tiwari of the brokerage highlighted the company’s strong order inflow, which has posted a robust 24 per cent annual growth during the same period. This had resulted in an all-time high order backlog of ₹76,000 crore at the end of FY24.

 

Despite the recent stock price correction, which has affected both the broader sector and market, Antique Stock Broking viewed this as a good opportunity to invest in a quality defence stock.

 

Bharat Electronics holds the market leadership position in the defence electronics segment, making it an attractive choice.

 

The brokerage believes that BEL is all set to deliver strong double-digit earnings growth of 21 per cent over FY24-27 and has maintained its positive stance on long-term prospects. This is because it has over the years developed multiple levers of growth.

 

The company has established robust infrastructure, strong relations with government entities and diversified into non-defence businesses to create new growth avenues.

 

Antique Stock Broking has maintained a ‘buy’ rating on the stock with a target price of ₹376 (40 times FY27 estimated earnings).