Easy Trip shares surged nearly 17% to ₹51.81 – emerging as one of the top BSE gainers on Thursday. The company’s announcement the previous day to launch an insurance subsidiary – EaseMyTrip Insurance Broker also contributed to the sentiment.
Market participants said that the company’s decision to suspend flight booking to Male has caught the attention of the market, which is looking for new stock winners
Agencies“The company has capitalised on the situation by not offering packages to the Maldives and tapping into the nationalistic sentiment,” said Arun Kejriwal, founder of Kejriwal Research and Investment Services. “The stock may see a 2-3% up move but is not expected to move up any further.”
The spat between the two countries erupted after three Maldivian ministers allegedly made offensive comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On January 8, Easy Trip’s CEO, Nishant Pitti said on X, “In solidarity with our nation, @EaseMyTrip has suspended all Maldives flight bookings.”
“The company has positioned itself well and the comments on the India-Maldives row have grabbed eyeballs,” said Ambareesh Baliga, an independent consultant. “However, no major effect on revenues and profit is likely due to this stance.”
Kejriwal said that the insurance venture would not have much bearing on the stock price if the Maldives comment had not caught the fancy of the market.Easy Trip with a market capitalisation of ₹9,180.94 crore was an underperformer on Dalal Street in 2023 with the stock declining almost 25% during the year as against the BSE 500 index’s gains of almost 25%.
Market participants advise caution though the current momentum could push the share price higher.
“In the current market, the shares can move further up to ₹60 due to the momentum already gathered but are likely to settle at ₹47-48 levels,” said Baliga. “At these levels, investors should be cautious of fresh buying but hold their positions with a trailing stop loss.”