Nazara Technologies rises 20% in a year; brokerage sees 24% more upside

Nazara Technologies is well-positioned to benefit from the rapidly-expanding global and India gaming markets, according to analysts

Choice Institutional Equities has initiated ‘Buy’ on Nazara Technologies stock as it believes the company is well-positioned to benefit from the rapidly-expanding global and India gaming markets. The brokerage has given a target of ₹1,400, which translates to 23.6 per cent upside from Thursday’s close at ₹1,132.6 per share. 

 

At 9:15, Nazara Technologies share price trading 0.68 per cent higher at ₹1,114.5 per share. In comparison, BSE Sensex was up 0.22 per cent at 80,899.08. 

 

In a year, Nazara Technologies’ shares have gained 19.9 per cent as compared to Sensex’s decline of 2 per cent. However, Nazara corrected 24 per cent in less than one month. It had hit multi-year high on August 13, 2025.  READ STOCK MARKET LIVE UPDATES 

 

Nazara Technologies has been on investors’ radar recently after the Lok Sabha passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, which bans all forms of real-money gaming (RMG) and their advertisements in India. The company clarified that the company had no direct exposure to RMG businesses. However, it has an indirect exposure through its 46.07 per cent stake in Moonshine Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (PokerBaazi).

 

“Gaming regulation in the new gaming bill is expected to enhance investor confidence and open India to global titles. Nazara, through its publishing arm, is well-positioned to capture this optionality by partnering with external studios and bringing mobile/multi-platform games to both Indian and global markets,” Choice Institutional Equities noted. 

Here’s are key reasons why Choice Institutional Equities is upbeat on Nazara Technologies Stock:

Ring-fenced PokerBaazi stake limits regulatory risk

Nazara's minority stake in PokerBaazi is ring-fenced and not consolidated, limiting potential downside to approximately ₹1,000 crore of invested capital. Analysts have impaired 80 per cent of this investment, valuing PokerBaazi at ₹200 crore due to its robust tech platform, healthy cash reserves, and potential to pivot to high-ARPU international markets or social poker monetisation.

Gaming market opportunities 

The brokerage believes that India, which is home to more than 500 million gamers, is under-monetised (IAP conversion being less than 3 per cent and Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) of $8–9 as compared with $17–18 in China. This creates a large addressable opportunity for Nazara to exploit through a mix of acquisitions, publishing, and India-cost development.

 

Nazara’s global pivot, through acquisitions such as Fusebox and ZeptoLab IPs, enhances exposure to high-ARPU markets while leveraging cost-efficient Indian development and hybrid monetisation models. With IAP mix expected to rise, from 19 per cent to 35 per cent by FY28E, and freemium business registering double-digit growth, Nazara stands to scale up rapidly across casual, narrative, and premium genres, according to Choice.   ALSO READ | Nomura backs auto rally post-GST cut; M&M, TVS Motor, Hyundai in fast lane

Diversified platform to capture global gaming growth

Nazara operates six growth verticals — gamified early learning, PC/console, esports, freemium, offline gaming, and adtech — and is India’s only listed pure-play gaming platform. With the global market headed to about $201 billion by 2027 and India’s market set to double to $6 billion by 2028, Nazara’s integrated mobile, PC/console, and offline operations and multiple monetisation models (subscription, IAP, ads) let it reach users from toddlers to mid-core gamers. The Curve Games buy opens the $95–100 billion PC/console market, pairing global distribution with low-cost Indian development.

Aggressive, disciplined M&A builds a scalable platform

Nazara’s “Friends of Nazara” merger and acquisition (M&A) strategy acquires capital-efficient, high- return on investment (ROI) studios and scales them with centralised user acquisition, monetisation (Datawrkz) and publishing (Curve). Wins like Kiddopia and Nodwin grew 6–11x post-acquisition, weaker assets (Halaplay, Next Wave) were cut, and a strong cash position plus diversified international revenues keep the company financially disciplined, believes the brokerage.