MC Inside Edge: The curious case of Salzer Electronics, aviation companies queue up to land at GIFT City, mixture of green and hydrogen enough to propel stocks

Know what stocks veteran bulls are eyeing.

Power play or short circuit?

Salzer Electronics, which makes electrical switches and wire ducts, seems a hot favourite among many so-called stock market gurus. They are recommending it on their social media handles and also WhatsApp and Telegram groups. Meanwhile, an ‘Upper Class’ brokerage has been pitching this company, which the brokerage describes as operating in the “energy management” business, as a good play on increasing electrification of the economy. Interestingly, the stock price has seen a perpendicular climb since the beginning of January 2024. But then, as a market insider asked, why are promoter pledges rising as well? The percentage of promoter holding that has been pledged has gone up from zero in the September 2023 quarter to nearly 23 percent in December 2023 and has stayed around the same level in March 2024 quarter as well. Also, foreign institutional investor (FII) holding has come down from around 6 percent in September 2023 quarter to 3.93 percent in December 2023 quarter, and it fell even lower to 3.2 percent in March 2024 quarter. A curious case for becoming a “favourite”.

Aviation sector taking wings at GIFT City

GIFT City is in the news everywhere. The head of the IFSCA, the regulatory body of the special zone, was recently in Mumbai, highlighting the huge benefits of setting up shop in the Gujarat-based International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). The watchdog is also conducting a lot of global outreach programmes to attract newer entities and sectors to India. Market participants say that the recent past has seen a significant traction from the aircraft lessors community that are finding GIFT City an attractive and more viable option when compared to some of the older venues. This assumes significance as there was a time when such players never thought beyond Luxembourg. It is believed that nearly 30 companies from aviation and/or aviation-related sectors have already set shop at GIFT City with the most recent one being Vistara that secured financing for two Airbus A320neo aircrafts through GIFT City.

Is green always good?

Green has become a big trigger in the stock market. Associate anything – energy, automobiles, manufacturing, services and almost every other sector – with green and suddenly there is a lot of buzz and demand. Add hydrogen to it and it seems that a company can do no wrong. Not surprisingly, a list of names is doing the rounds in the market that, according to market players, stand to benefit from the government’s National Green Hydrogen Mission, which aims to expedite the coverage area of green hydrogen. Names of stocks like ION Exchange, Shakti Pumps, Anup Engineering, Confidence Petroleum, Linde India, Elgi Equipments, KSB Pumps and Everest Kanto Cylinders along with the more well-known ones like Kirloskar Brothers, Schneider Electric, Praj Industries, ABB, Thermax, Adani Green, Waree Renewables and Adani Enterprises are being talked about with a very bullish undertone.