Stock market recommendations: According to Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, the top stock picks for the week (starting April 14, 2025) are Indian Hotels and HPCL. Let’s take a look:

Indian Hotels:
IHCL’s rapid adoption of asset-light strategy & superior 70-75% EBITDA margins drove 18% CAGR in mngt contract rooms (FY19-24), vs 2% for owned hotels. Expected to account for ~85% of planned room additions in FY26/27. Roots Corp. (RCL), repositioned as lean luxe, achieved 13% revenue and 55% EBITDA CAGRs (FY19-24). Plans for 874 Ginger rooms by FY27 and Qmin integration further leverage managed hotels to sustain growth. New growth segments, Chambers & Taj Sats are expected to contribute 12-14% of IH’s total revenue by FY30E (vs. 2% currently). We estimate adj. PAT to grow at 26% CAGR over FY24–27. With plans to add 8,091 rooms by FY27 (34,521 total keys), it reinforces its position as India’s largest hospitality player, targeting ~65% luxury room share.
HPCL:
Oil price decline due to OPEC+ output hike and US tariffs is likely to improve HPCL’s gross marketing margins, which along with the ₹50 price hike imposed by the Center, will help offset ₹76b LPG under-recoveries. Key triggers include the demerger and potential listing of the lubricant business, commissioning of the bottom upgrade unit in Q4FY25, and Rajasthan refinery launch in CY25. For 4Q we expect refining throughput at 6.6mmt (+14% YoY), marketing sales volume at 12.5mmt (+1% YoY), expected GRM at USD5.5/bbl, and gross marketing margin at ₹4.6/lit. With expected FY26 RoE of 17%, current valuations look attractive.
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