Info Edge shares fall 4%; JM Fin retains 'Reduce', trims target by over 4%

Shares of Naukri.com operator Info Edge (India) came under pressure on Thursday, dropping 4.55 per cent to an intraday low of ₹985.7 per share on the NSE. The decline followed the company’s announcement of its financial update for the quarter and financial year ended March 31, 2026. Sentiment was further weighed down by a cautious brokerage report from JM Financial, which retained its ‘Reduce’ rating and cut the target price on the stock.

 

The company’s shares continued to remain under pressure later in the day. At 10:35 AM, the stock was trading at ₹996.60 apiece, down 3.50 per cent from its previous close of ₹1,032.70 on the NSE. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 23,869, down 128 points or 0.53 per cent. The company’s market capitalisation stood at ₹64,631 crore.

 

Info Edge (India): Key highlights for Q4FY26 and FY26

Standalone billings increased 7.4 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in Q4FY26 to ₹1,057.1 crore from ₹983.8 crore. For FY26, billings grew 10.3 per cent YoY to ₹3,177.5 crore from ₹2,881.7 crore.

 

Recruitment solutions:  The business reported 9.5 per cent YoY growth in Q4, broadly in line with the full-year growth of 10 per cent, despite a higher base of 18.4 per cent growth in the same quarter last year.

 

“Growth moderated due to a combination of broader macroeconomic uncertainty and external geopolitical headwinds, which had a direct bearing on the Naukri Gulf business. This segment had otherwise delivered strong growth of around 20 per cent YoY through the first nine months of the year. These factors also had some bearing on billings of the Recruitment India B2B business in this quarter,” the company said.

 

99acres: The business continued to strengthen its position in web traffic time-share, with its share rising to 49 per cent in January–February 2026 from 46 per cent in the previous quarter (SimilarWeb).

 

It also maintained leadership in app traffic, commanding 53 per cent of overall app traffic and 66 per cent of iOS app traffic time-share during the same period.

 

“The company undertook changes in the sales organisation during the quarter, reinforced adherence to defined policies and refined certain key processes to strengthen the foundation for sustained long-term growth. These steps led to a transitional impact on Q4 billings. Following these changes, the company expects to build on its traffic and market leadership, with an improved growth trajectory in FY27,” said Info Edge.

 

Jeevansathi & Shiksha:  Jeevansathi maintained its 20 per cent-plus YoY growth trajectory in Q4, with full-year growth of 28.5 per cent, reflecting continued momentum in the matchmaking segment. Shiksha, however, faced pressure on traffic and revenues as AI-driven search increasingly addressed user queries directly, reducing referrals to the platform. The company said it is pivoting its model and introducing new offerings to reduce dependence on search, with the transition expected to play out over the medium term.

Merger update

Info Edge (India) has received approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to proceed with the first stage of its proposed merger with Allcheckdeals India Private Limited, Axilly Labs Private Limited, Diphda Internet Services Limited, and Zwayam Digital Private Limited.

 

The tribunal has waived the requirement for shareholder and creditor meetings for the transferor companies, but has directed Info Edge to convene meetings of its own shareholders and creditors to seek approval for the scheme. 

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JM Financial retains ‘Reduce’ call

 

JM Financial has retained its ‘Reduce’ rating on the stock and cut the target price by 4.5 per cent to ₹1,050 per share from ₹1,100 earlier, citing a sharp correction in the stock prices of investee companies such as Eternal and PB Fintech.

 

The brokerage has marginally tweaked its standalone FY26–28 EPS estimates by around 1 per cent based on the update.

 

“We continue to use the SOTP valuation method to derive a March 2027 target price of ₹1,050, wherein the target multiple for the recruitment segment is maintained at 25x. The revised target price is mainly due to the correction in the stock prices of investee companies,” said JM Financial.

 

The revised target price implies an upside of nearly 6.5 per cent from the current market price.    ======================================= 

(Disclaimer: View and outlook shared belong to the respective brokerages/analysts and are not endorsed by Business Standard. Readers' discretion is advised.)