HFCL shares jump 5% after Rs 2,666-crore RVNL order; stock soars 200% in 6 months

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HFCL secured a Rs 2,666 crore contract from Rail Vikas Nigam Limited for BharatNet Phase-III, boosting telecom infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh. The company's shares surged due to strong order books and expansion into defence, aerospace, and data centre technology.

Shares of HFCL rallied as much as 5% to their day’s high of Rs 199 on the BSE on Thursday after the company announced it secured a contract worth approximately Rs 2,666.09 crore from Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) for the BharatNet Phase-III project in the Uttar Pradesh (West) Telecom Circle.With this surge, HFCL shares are now up 200% in 6 months and about 185% in 2026. In an exchange filing, HFCL said the contract covers the supply of telecom equipment and related accessories, installation and commissioning, creation of an Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) telecom network, and maintenance of the project over a period of 10 years, including a one-year warranty period.Under the scope of work, HFCL will undertake the supply of telecom equipment and related accessories, installation and commissioning activities, creation of the optical fibre cable telecom network and long-term maintenance of the project infrastructure.HFCL stated that the contract strengthens its position in the telecom network segment. The order also expands the company's involvement in the rollout and maintenance of telecom infrastructure under the BharatNet Phase-III programme.Also Read | NSE IPO: 10 key things investors need to know about India’s largest IPO in historyShould you Buy HFCL shares?Monarch Networth Capital believes HFCL is witnessing a high-quality earnings turnaround, supported by stronger capacity utilisation and a richer product mix.Business visibility also remains strong. HFCL's order book has reached an all-time high of around Rs 21,200 crore. Management has guided for revenue growth of 20-25% in FY27 along with a 3-4 percentage point expansion in EBITDA margins. It has also articulated a long-term aspiration of achieving Rs 10,000 crore in revenue.Monarch further highlighted the optionality emerging from HFCL's expansion into defence, aerospace and data-centre-related opportunities. The company is scaling up its defence and aerospace vertical, supported by a 1,000-acre facility allotted in Andhra Pradesh, a defence manufacturing unit in Hosur and a proposed aerospace acquisition carrying an export order book of around Rs 1,930 crore. Monarch also noted that HFCL is India's largest optical fibre cable manufacturer, with manufacturing facilities across the country. It added that HFCL was the first Indian company to develop and commercialise 5G Fixed Wireless Access customer-premises equipment.Also Read | NSE IPO: 5 PSU shareholders to offload 2.37 crore shares in mega public offer The brokerage pointed out that HFCL has rapidly transformed from a predominantly domestic, optical fibre cable-focused company into a globally diversified technology player. Export revenue has increased from around 11% of sales in FY24 to nearly 41% in FY26, while management is targeting exports to account for more than 50% of revenue by FY27, supported by a confirmed export order book of over Rs 12,000 crore. HFCL has emerged as one of India's purest listed plays on the AI connectivity theme. Whether the momentum sustains from here remains to be seen, but for now, the market appears to be betting that the AI and data-centre infrastructure story is still in its early stages.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)