How did Small-Cap Nifty stocks perform in last one year?

24 Nov 2023 , 09:22 AM

Why small caps are the new kid in the block

There is a lot happening in the small cap space. Many of the small cap stocks are seeing rise in public ownership, especially small cap stocks in niche areas like IT, defence, chemicals etc. If you look at the mutual funds space, it is the small cap funds that are dominating the flows into the mutual funds, largely on the back of NFO and SIP flows. The maximum amount of equity fund flows is gravitating towards the small cap funds. It is like a big virtuous cycle. The investors are rushing for smaller cap funds and that is in turn creating demand for small cap stocks. Despite the threats from small cap funds that they plan to freeze inflows in to small cap funds, enthusiasm has hardly waned in India, for small cap stocks.

Here we go a little beyond and look at the performance of individual stocks that comprise the Nifty Small Cap 100. Now we are talking about 100 stocks, so that is a sizable number, although small caps tend to be heterogenous. We look at these stock on 4 key parameters. Firstly, we look Nifty Small Cap 100 stocks rank in terms of monthly returns for a momentum picture. Secondly, we look at Nifty Small Cap 100 stocks in terms of the returns they generated over a 1-year period to get a longer term view. Thirdly, we look at how far are these Nifty Small Cap 100 stocks from the 52-week high prices. Fourthly, we look at how much they have bounced from the 52-week lows.

How Nifty Small Cap 100 stocks fared in terms of 1-month returns

Let us begin with the stocks in the Nifty Small Cap 100 that have generated the best returns. We will look at the top 10 stocks but before that, let us look at some macro numbers. The Nifty Small Cap 100 overall has generated returns of 9.84% over the last one month, while it has given a whopping 42.02% return over the last one year, outperforming the large cap and mid-cap indices by a margin. Out of the 100 stocks in the Nifty Small Cap 100 index, a total of 81 stocks generated positive returns in the last one month while only 19 stocks gave negative returns in a month. Amara Raja was excluded from this list due to absence of data.

The best index stock return in the last one month was Angel One Ltd at 32.45%, while the worst performance came from Tanla, which fell -8.80% in the last one month. Out of the 100 stocks in the Nifty Small Cap 100, a whopping 44 stocks generated double digit returns (>= 10%) in the last 1 month. A total of 14 stocks generated returns of between 5% and 10% in the last one month while 6 stocks generated positive returns of less than 1%.

Company	CMP (Rs)	1-Month Returns (%)	1-Year Returns (%)
ANGELONE	2,944.00	32.45	101.24
CDSL	1,799.90	31.51	41.42
MCX	2,923.00	29.11	89.69
NLCINDIA	164.45	28.20	110.71
PPLPHARMA	124.45	26.97	-7.50
WELSPUNIND	161.95	26.59	111.29
JYOTHYLAB	432.00	25.79	131.07
BSE	2,121.00	22.35	275.27
SJVN	81.10	22.16	120.84
SONATSOFTW	1,302.00	20.85	149.82

Data Source: NSE

The table above has captured the 10 stocks with the best one-month returns (shaded in blue). What are the broad trends we get to see in these stocks? The biggest theme is financialization of savings. Just look at the stocks in the top 10 in one-month returns. A total of 4 out of the top 10 stocks on 1-month returns are a play on financialization of savings viz. Angel One, CDSL, MCX and BSE. Among others, there are 2 PSU stocks and 2 pharma stocks. But it looks like the rapid growth in investor growth and rising enthusiasm is likely to be a force multiplier for various names channelling savings into equities and trading. Let us now turn to the stock that ranked bottom in terms of 1-month returns, shown in the table below.

Company	CMP (Rs)	1-Month Returns (%)	1-Year Returns (%)
TANLA	921.50	-8.83	27.17
JUBLINGREA	432.50	-5.78	-21.45
DATAPATTNS	1,856.00	-5.64	30.69
AAVAS	1,490.00	-5.63	-23.24
IIFL	605.00	-5.29	25.63
KEC	584.20	-5.02	43.68
KRBL	349.00	-4.28	-12.62
INDIAMART	2,602.00	-4.21	-41.15
CAMPUS	279.00	-4.20	-36.88
IDBI	60.60	-4.05	23.12

Data Source: NSE

There are no apparent sectoral trends, but some very stock specific stories are there. For example, some of the IPOs like Campus Athleisure and Data Patterns have been giving up euphoria gains. IDBI is more about disappointment over its divestment being put off. Overall, the story has been very stock-specific.

How Nifty Small Cap 100 stocks fared in terms of 1-year returns

Let us begin with the stocks in the Nifty Small Cap 100 that have generated the best returns over the last one year to get a slightly longer term perspective. We will look at the top 10 stocks but before that, let us take a detour and look at some macro numbers on 1-year returns. The Nifty Small Cap 100 overall has generated returns of 42.02% over the last one year. There is a bigger story inside. Out of the 100 stocks in the Nifty Small Cap 100, a total of 73 stocks have generated positive returns in the last one year while only 20 stocks have given negative returns in last one month.

That only adds up to 93 stocks. That is because, we have left out 7 stocks, which did not have the requisite 1 year price history to qualify for this ranking. This list includes Amara Raja, Suzlon Energy, JBMA, CIE India, PVR Inox, NMDC Steel and Tata Tele. The best stock return on the Nifty Small Cap 100 in the last one year belonged to Apar Industries Ltd at 257.27%, while the worst performance came from Ease My Trip, which fell -43.27% in the last one year. Out of the 100 stocks in the Nifty Small Cap 100, a total of 14 stocks more than doubled, and 54 stocks gave between 10% and 100% returns. in last 1 year.

Company	CMP (Rs)	1-Month Returns (%)	1-Year Returns (%)
APARINDS	5,686.00	7.32	275.27
BSE	2,121.00	22.35	275.27
KALYANKJIL	328.90	15.94	265.30
ZENSARTECH	541.00	11.86	155.41
SONATSOFTW	1,302.00	20.85	149.82
JYOTHYLAB	432.00	25.79	131.07
BSOFT	622.15	18.68	127.57
CYIENT	1,834.60	12.56	122.70
SJVN	81.10	22.16	120.84
MRPL	113.95	18.05	115.73

Data Source: NSE

What are the trends we decipher from the top 10 stocks in this 1-year returns (shaded in blue) list? Apar Industries has been rallying for the last year on fund raising plans. Some of the star performers have been companies like Kalyan Jewellers, Zensar Tech, Sonata etc. The sectoral composition is rather interesting. Four out of the top-10 list is dominated by small-cap IT stocks that have been doing well even as large cap IT has been bleeding due to weak margins and weaker guidance. BSE continues to be top of the pops in the 1-year returns also as the financialization theme is still playing out on this stock. Let us turn to the worst performers in the Nifty Small Cap 100 index over the last one year.

Company	CMP (Rs)	1-Month Returns (%)	1-Year Returns (%)
EASEMYTRIP	38.60	-0.51	-43.27
INDIAMART	2,602.00	-4.21	-41.15
CAMPUS	279.00	-4.20	-36.88
BALAMINES	2,019.00	-3.41	-30.20
BLS	263.60	8.07	-27.28
JBCHEPHARM	1,440.00	16.63	-26.54
DEEPAKFERT	607.30	-1.65	-26.08
AAVAS	1,490.00	-5.63	-23.24
JUBLINGREA	432.50	-5.78	-21.45
CUB	146.10	14.11	-19.33

Data Source: NSE

Easy Trip has been under pressure for some time, while the likes of Campus Athleisure have been bleeding due to their sharp rally post the IPO. The rest of the stories are largely stock specific and we should get more insights when we look at the composition of the Nifty Small Cap 100 index and compare their stock price to the yearly high and yearly low price.

Nifty Small Cap 100 stocks trading nearest to their 52-week highs

Another way to look at the markets is how far the stocks are from their 52-week highs and that is captured in the table below. At a macro level, the Nifty Small Cap 100 index at 13,786 is just about 1.46% away from its 52-week high of 13,989. It is almost at its yearly peak. The good news is that 44 out of the Nifty Small Cap 100 stocks are less than 10% away from their 52-week highs, which clearly shows which way the market sentiments are tilting towards. The list below shows the stocks that are closest to their 52-week highs.

Company	CMP (Rs)	52-week High (%)	Distance from 52-week high (%)
PRAJIND	620.50	622.50	0.32%
BALRAMCHIN	468.10	473.80	1.20%
EXIDEIND	283.60	287.45	1.34%
GRANULES	369.60	376.00	1.70%
GNFC	704.00	720.50	2.29%
BSOFT	622.15	638.00	2.48%
METROPOLIS	1,618.00	1,662.45	2.67%
BIRLACORPN	1,300.00	1,339.80	2.97%
SJVN	81.10	83.65	3.05%
IRB	37.70	38.90	3.08%
RADICO	1,430.00	1,478.00	3.25%
FSL	170.00	176.00	3.41%
PNBHOUSING	796.55	824.80	3.43%
MCX	2,923.00	3,030.00	3.53%
CESC	99.25	102.95	3.59%

Data Source: NSE

The 15 stocks above are less than 3.4% away from their 52-week highs and that list has a fairly generous sprinkling of stocks from the healthcare and IT space; with smaller representation from alternate energy and chemicals too. We now turn to the list of stocks that are farthest from their 52-week highs.

Company	CMP (Rs)	52-week High (%)	Distance from 52-week high (%)
EASEMYTRIP	38.60	73.50	47.48%
CAMPUS	279.00	472.00	40.89%
BALAMINES	2,019.00	3,125.00	35.39%
TANLA	921.50	1,317.95	30.08%
NSLNISP	41.95	59.75	29.79%
DEEPAKFERT	607.30	861.75	29.53%
CUB	146.10	205.00	28.73%
AAVAS	1,490.00	2,045.95	27.17%
KRBL	349.00	470.90	25.89%
RAYMOND	1,669.00	2,240.00	25.49%
DATAPATTNS	1,856.00	2,485.00	25.31%
FINCABLES	915.00	1,219.00	24.94%
HFCL	67.00	88.80	24.55%
JUBLINGREA	432.50	568.05	23.86%
ANURAS	942.00	1,234.00	23.66%

Data Source: NSE

Of course, there are the standard suspects in the above list of stocks that are still far away from their 52-week highs. There are at least 24 stocks out of the 100 stocks in the Nifty Small Cap 100 index, which are more than 20% away from their 52-week high price and that shows pressure on these stocks at higher levels. Like in most of the small cap stocks, the reason for any underperformance or outperformance is largely stock specific and bottom-up. We finally turn to stocks on their bounce from the 52-week lows.

Nifty Small Cap 100 stocks versus their 52-week lows

Finally, we focus on the stocks that have shown the best bounce from the 52-week lows. These are the resilient stock in the index on which the markets are largely optimistic about. The stocks that jumped the most from their 52-week lows are captured in the table below. At a macro level, the Nifty Small Cap 100 index at 13,786 has bounced 58.78% from the 52-week low of 8,682 levels. The good news is that 27 out of the Nifty Small Cap 100 stocks have bounced more than 100% from their 52-week lows, which clearly shows which way the wind of the market is blowing in terms of market resilience. In addition, another 69 stocks have bounced between 10% and 100% from the 52-week lows. The list below shows the stocks that have shown the best bounce from their 52-week lows in Nifty Small Cap 100.

Company	CMP (Rs)	52-week Low (%)	Bounce from 52-week Low (%)
SUZLON	39.20	6.95	464.03%
BSE	2,121.00	406.20	422.16%
APARINDS	5,686.00	1,358.55	318.53%
KALYANKJIL	328.90	90.30	264.23%
JBMA	1,268.00	405.00	213.09%
ANGELONE	2,944.00	999.00	194.69%
COCHINSHIP	1,115.00	410.40	171.69%
ZENSARTECH	541.00	201.50	168.49%
SJVN	81.10	30.40	166.78%
WELSPUNIND	161.95	62.00	161.21%
SONATSOFTW	1,302.00	515.55	152.55%
BSOFT	622.15	250.25	148.61%
JYOTHYLAB	432.00	180.15	139.80%
NLCINDIA	164.45	69.70	135.94%
CYIENT	1,834.60	780.70	134.99%

Data Source: NSE

Many in the above list are also the stocks that have been among the top gainers in the Nifty Small Cap 100 in the last one year and belong to sectors like alternate energy and financialization of savings, apart from themes like PSU and IT stocks. Finally let us turn to the stocks in the Nifty Small Cap 100, that are still pretty close to their lows. That is captured in the table below.

Company	CMP (Rs)	52-week Low (%)	Bounce from 52-week Low (%)
EASEMYTRIP	38.60	37.00	4.32%
BALAMINES	2,019.00	1,880.00	7.39%
KRBL	349.00	319.50	9.23%
HAPPSTMNDS	836.35	763.25	9.58%
AAVAS	1,490.00	1,335.50	11.57%
VIPIND	624.00	548.95	13.67%
REDINGTON	158.00	136.20	16.01%
CAMPUS	279.00	237.80	17.33%
AEGISCHEM	329.00	280.00	17.50%
DEEPAKFERT	607.30	512.40	18.52%
HFCL	67.00	55.75	20.18%
LXCHEM	269.05	220.50	22.02%
CUB	146.10	119.50	22.26%
ARE&M	668.00	546.00	22.34%
PVRINOX	1,649.10	1,336.40	23.40%

Data Source: NSE

We will focus on the 4 stocks that have bounced less than 10% from their lows. These include stocks like Easy Trip, Balaji Amines, KRBL and Happiest Minds. The last one was a highly top ranked performer after the IPO, so it is rather disappointing to be featured in this list. Specialty chemicals is a sector that has struggled in the last one year.

Clearly, the Nifty Small Cap 100 story is more of a micros story than a macro story. The nuanced story is about how disparate groups of stocks have diverged in performance; even as Nifty Small Cap 100 50 index overall has been an attractive performer. It remains predominantly a stock-specific bottom-up story.