Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) continued its upward momentum, touching a 52-week high as investor sentiment strengthened. The stock increased by 1.6% to Rs. 1560, and is now up 8% over the previous month. With a 27% year-to-date increase, RIL significantly outperformed the broader market, compared with an 8.4% rise in the BSE Sensex.
After the rally, RIL is just below its previous all-time high of Rs. 1,608.95, recorded in July 2024. The recent surge helped RIL regain a market capitalisation of Rs. 21 lakh crore.
Sustained strength across the company's core businesses and new growth areas such as digital, telecom, retail and clean energy has supported the rally.
Investors are responding positively to RIL's expansion into these areas away from its core Oil & Gas business.
According to analysts, RIL’s strong performance to its long-term transformation over the past decade. BNP Paribas noted Jio's leadership in the Indian telecom space and substantial investment in 5G provides it with the platform for continued data-related growth going forward.
The brokerage added that RIL’s retail arm continues to dominate categories such as fashion, consumer electronics, and grocery, while the upstream oil and gas business has benefited from production revival at the KG-D6 fields.
RIL’s developing green-energy ecosystem spanning solar, batteries, hydrogen, and fuel cells is also drawing investor interest. BNP Paribas has an ‘Outperform’ rating with a price target of Rs. 1,785.
Motilal Oswal also reaffirmed its ‘Buy’ rating, citing progress on RIL’s 40GWh battery giga-factory in Jamnagar, scheduled for commissioning in early CY26.
RIL posted a 15% YoY rise in operating profit during the first half of FY26, supported by healthy performance in digital services and rising average revenue per user (ARPU).
Retail operations also continue to benefit from store expansion and cost discipline. Energy efficiency gains from the pet-coke gasification project further boosted the company’s competitiveness.
Crisil Ratings said RIL’s long-term credit profile remains strong, underpinned by integrated O2C operations, strong profitability in digital and retail businesses.
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JPMorgan recently turned more bullish on RIL’s medium-term outlook, maintaining a target price of Rs. 1,727. It said RIL continues to trade at a 15% holding-company discount, making valuations attractive relative to peers.
Potential triggers for 2026 include a possible Jio IPO, tariff hikes in telecom, progress on renewable energy manufacturing, and continued retail expansion.
UBS also expects stronger earnings from the O2C segment and maintains a target of Rs. 1,820.
According to LSEG data, the median analyst target for RIL stands at Rs. 1,685, with the stock continuing to outperform the broader Nifty 50, which has risen 9.5% this year.