IDFC First Bank, Dixon tech & more: Top stocks to watch on February 24

Nuvama has downgraded UPL to hold with the target price at Rs 816. Analysts said the company recently announced a restructuring to create a unified crop protection entity by merging UPL SAS and UPL Corp, which would be listed as UPL Global while UPL Ltd shall stay as the holding company for formulation business, R&D, Superform and Advanta. They said the demerger aims to drive synergies and enable value unlocking. The transaction is cash and tax neutral, protects minority interests and does not alter capital structure, with no material impact on current leverage overhang.Jefferies has a buy recommendation on IDFC First Bank with the target price at Rs 100. Analysts said IDFC disclosed that it has identified a suspected fraud involving Rs 590 crore at its Chandigarh branch, linked to certain Haryana state govt accounts. The bank has initiated an investigation and is taking steps to recover funds which is about 0.9% of its net worth, post-tax. The bank will need to strengthen operational controls and clarify that issue has not spread to other clients.Morgan Stanley has a underweight rating on Dixon Technologies with the target price at Rs 8,157. Analysts said DRAM spot price as on Feb 13 2026 was up 6.8x on the year, and average mobile DRAM price thus far in 2026 for some variants are up 55% and 64% on the quarter. As per TrendForce mobile DRAM prices are expected to rise ~88-93% in the current quarter and 20-25% in the next. About 75% of India’s smartphone market is at <$300 price point, ad increased DRAM prices could be an incremental headwind for this already muted industry.CLSA has an outperform rating on Tech Mahindra with the target price at Rs 1,810. Analysts met the chief operating officer of the company. They said the company believes that AI would be a net positive volume opportunity along with it being a potential margin lever too. New volume around building small language models (SLMs) and infusing AI into BPO operations are significant opportunity areas for system integrators. TechM is only GSI partner of India AI mission where it is building a large language model (LLM). The company believes employee reskilling is becoming more important now than before where TechM has categorised its employees into white, blue, brown and black belts. Similar to other Indian system integrator (Sis), TechM will also partner with foundation model companies like OpenAI and Anthropic on a Mahindra group level. Analysts remain positive on TechM’s vision to achieve higher-than-peer average growth in FY27 backed by strong order booking momentum, with cyclical tailwinds going into US midterm elections.Macquarie initiated its coverage of Torrent Pharma with an outperform rating and a target price of Rs 5,000. Analysts said that the company is executing its perfected acquisition blueprint with JB Pharma acquisition, which expect to accelerate its growth momentum. Post-acquisition, estimate pro forma earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) will almost double by FY29 on a FY25 base, driving meaningful cash earnings per share (EPS) accretion. They also expect pro forma net debt to EBITDA to decline by FY28. The catalysts for the stock could be regulatory approvals for JB Pharma acquisitions, synergy realisation, and key product launches.(Disclaimer: Recommendations and views on the stock market, other asset classes or personal finance management tips given by experts are their own. These opinions do not represent the views of The Times of India)