Citi's contrarian India stock picks rise as brokerage cites stronger 2026 outlook

Icici Prudential Life Insurance

10/12/2025 09:21

** ICICI Prudential ICIR.NS, Jubilant Foodworks JUBI.NS, HPCL HPCL.NS, Lupin LUPN.NS and Voltas VOLT.NS flat to 3.2% higher

** Citi names stocks as top contrarian picks for 2026

** ICIR up 3.2% to 643.7 rupees; Citi notes growth revival from Oct after 9 months of weakness, efforts to diversify portfolio to high-margin offerings

** JUBI up 0.3% to 585 rupees; brokerage expects quick service restaurant industry to be biggest beneficiary of consumer demand upcycle

** JUBI's multiple growth initiatives will drive industry leading performance - Citi

** LUPN, VOLT and HPCL up 0.2%, 0.13% and flat, respectively

** Lupin is Citi's only preferable among U.S. generic heavy names for strong execution, positioning to capture weight-loss drugs opportunity

** Citi expects strong demand trends for VOLT, robust earnings and margin outlook for HPCL

 (Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru)

 ((Ananta.Agarwal@thomsonreuters.com))