Vedanta, Hindustan Zinc tank up to 7%; share prices down 17% in 1 week

Despite the recent correction, in the past six months, the market price of Hindustan Zinc has zoomed 141%, and Vedanta 48%, as compared to 3.4% rise in the BSE Sensex.

Vedanta, Hindustan Zinc shares today

 

Shares of Vedanta (₹644.25) and Hindustan Zinc (₹594.05) declined 6 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively, on the BSE in Thursday’s intra-day trade after Silver prices fell sharply by over 15 per cent. In comparison, the BSE Sensex was down 0.44 per cent at 83,445 at 11:32 AM.

 

In the past one week, the stock price of Hindustan Zinc has plunged 17 per cent, while Vedanta 16 per cent, on profit booking.

 

Despite the recent correction, in the past six months, the market price of Hindustan Zinc has zoomed 141 per cent, and Vedanta’s share price has appreciated by 48 per cent. In comparison, the BSE Sensex was up 3.4 per cent during the same period.

 

 

Hindustan Zinc, a Vedanta Group company, is the world’s largest integrated zinc producer and is amongst the top 5 silver producers globally. Hindustan Zinc is a subsidiary of Vedanta Limited, which holds a 61.8 per cent stake in the company, while 28 per cent is held by the Government of India, as on December 31, 2025.  CHECK Stock Market LIVE Updates

Why are Vedanta, Hindustan Zinc stock prices under pressure?

 

According to a Bloomberg report, spot silver fell as much as 15 per cent on Thursday, having briefly recovered above $90 an ounce in early Asian trading. 

 

Precious metals soared last month in a rally underpinned by speculative momentum, geopolitical upheaval and concerns about the US central bank’s independence. The surge came to a sudden halt at the end of last week, with silver seeing its biggest-ever daily drop on Friday and gold plunging the most since 2013, the news agency reported.

 

Silver surged to an all-time high of over $93/toz in January 2026, driven by continued supply constraints and improved demand for industrial use and investment purposes.  Check Q3 Results Today 

Hindustan Zinc’s nine month financial performance

 

In nine month (April to December 2025) of the financial year 2025-26 (9MFY2026), Hindustan Zinc reported healthy operating profitability, supported by a sharp increase in zinc London Metal Exchange (LME) prices, averaging at $2,996/tonne (July to Dec 2025) along with elevated silver prices. 

 

The profitability was further aided by a reduction in cost of production (CoP) to $980/tonne in 9MFY2026 and healthy mined and refined metal production. In 9MFY2026, the refined metal production remained steady at 766kt vis-a-vis 783kt in the corresponding period of the previous year.

 

ICRA expects the demand growth for non-ferrous metals like zinc and lead to remain healthy at 7-10% in FY2026. The healthy demand is likely to support the volume growth and realisations. The prices of metals viz. zinc and lead remained strong on the LME in the current fiscal. In addition, with Hindustan Zinc being a primary silver producer and with silver prices witnessing a sharp rally in the current fiscal and touching all-time high, driven by supply constraints and robust industrial and investment demand, Hindustan Zinc is expected to continue to derive meaningful gains.

 

However, Hindustan Zinc’s operations are exposed to the cyclical characteristics inherent in volatile metal prices, which cause swings in profitability and cash flows and increases the business risks. The company’s performance also remained closely linked to the galvanised steel industry, which consumes 70 per cent of India’s primary zinc production, and is influenced by its inherent cyclicality. Nonetheless, the company’s competitive cost position mitigates the risk to some extent.

 

Brokerages view on Hindustan Zinc, Vedanta

 

Vedanta’s December 2025 quarter (Q3FY26) operational performance came largely as expected, supported by better volumes and favorable LME prices. Motilal Oswal Financial Services has increased its FY26 revenue, EBITDA, and PAT estimates by 4 per cent, 3 per cent, and 22 per cent, factoring in the strong earnings in Q3FY26. Vedanta remains firm on its deleveraging plans, and going forward, higher cash flows will support both its expansion plans and deleveraging efforts, the brokerage firm said in the Q3 result update. It reiterated a Neutral rating on the stock with a SoTP-based target price of ₹810.

 

Analysts at JM Financial Institutional Securities said they remain positive on Hindustan Zinc given its presence in the lower end of the global cost curve facilitated by high grade captive mines sufficient to meet requirements for decades, 100 per cent captive power plants, sizeable scale, diversified revenue stream with increasing contribution from silver sales.  =================================  Disclaimer: View and outlook shared on the stock belong to the respective brokerages and are not endorsed by Business Standard. Readers discretion is advised.