Multiple Upgrades Put Coal India in Focus

stands out as a genuinely strong candidate heading into Monday's session, having been the strongest performer on the Nifty for the week ending September 25, gaining 3.95% to close at ₹426.10, a move backed by real institutional conviction rather than just price momentum. Multiple brokerages have turned bullish in quick succession. Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "Overweight" with a ₹480 target (16% upside) on September 22, citing a 20% upgrade to its FY27 EPS estimate. The bullish case rests on real, verifiable factors. Accelerating thermal power demand, sharply depleted coal inventories at power plants, and rising global thermal coal prices are all cited as tailwinds. E-auction premiums have already risen 59% between April-August 2026, with further upside expected to 75-80% from current levels. The stock showed genuine relative strength this week. It gained even as the broader Nifty fell 0.88% for the week, its seventh straight weekly decline, a clear sign the market is treating Coal India's story as distinct from broader macro pressures like crude volatility and FII selling. Valuation still leaves room to run. At around 6.6x one-year forward P/E, Morgan Stanley notes the stock trades near its long-term average, meaning further earnings upgrades could support additional re-rating rather than the stock already being "priced for perfection."