2017 was a good year for the stock market and for investors who bet on it. Fuelled by liquidity, the benchmark Sensex gained 23% (till December 1, 2017), making it one of the best performing indices in the world.
So, to outperform in a market like this can be quite a challenge and our stock pickers had their task cut out. Of the 17 stocks that were recommended by market experts last year, 12 ended the year on a positive note. A total of 11 stocks outperformed the benchmark, while six failed to beat the index return.
1 June 2026
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Leading the list of winners was Ajay Jaiswal’s call on Raymond, as it nearly doubled from the recommended price of Rs.492. If you had taken Manish Bhandari’s advice and bought Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals, you would have also laughed your way to the bank as the stock delivered a stellar return of 89%. Edelweiss Securities’ Nischal Maheshwari’s belief that 2017 will be a big year for Reliance Industries with the launch of Jio, indeed, turned out to be true as the
index heavyweight gained 68%.
Among the laggards, Gautam Trivedi’s pick in home textiles -- Indo Count Industries – was the worst hit as it lost 30% from the recommended price. Higher cotton prices and lower volumes put the brakes on its growth story. Predictably, two recommendations from the pharma sector which has a tumultuous year thus far, hasn’t done well. Niraj Dalal’s call on Sun Pharmaceuticals has disappointed with a 16% loss, while Shilpa Medicare, recommended by Daljeet Singh Kohli, trades 6% below the recommended price. Pharma stocks, in general, took a beating as pricing pressure in the US, the largest generics market increased and Indian pharma players’ manufacturing units faced heightened scrutiny from a more stringent USFDA. As a result, the CNX Pharma declined 12% during the year (as on December 1, 2017).
As we step into 2018, we have notched up yet another eclectic list of stock recommendations across financials, auto, housing materials and construction, hospitality and the FMCG sectors. Interestingly, almost all of our experts, except one, have shied away from recommending companies that have a large exposure to global markets. So, it seems that the mantra for 2018 is to think local and invest local. While the global environment is going through some amount of uncertainty, investors’ confidence in the domestic economy remains intact as ever. Flip over to find out what our experts are betting on in the New Year.
