Lodha Developers Surges: Residential Demand Explodes — Is This the Real Estate Stock to Watch?
Lodha Developers shares edged higher on Wednesday, climbing over 2 per cent to an intraday high of Rs 1,138. This surge comes after the real estate major reported a strong operating performance for the December quarter, driven by robust residential demand and aggressive business development.
Record pre-sales power Q3 performance
In its quarterly update released on Tuesday, Lodha Developers reported a 25 per cent year-on-year jump in sales bookings to Rs 5,620 crore in Q3FY26, compared with Rs 4,510 crore in the year-ago period. The company also posted its highest-ever quarterly pre-sales of Rs 56.2 billion, marking a 25 per cent YoY and 23 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth. Management said sustained demand across key residential markets helped drive momentum and added that a strong launch pipeline in the March quarter positions the company well to meet its full-year pre-sales guidance of Rs 210 billion.
Collections steady; visibility improves
Collections during the quarter stood at Rs 35.6 billion, lower than Q3FY25 due to one-time inflows from large land and office transactions in the corresponding period last year. However, the company expects collections to improve meaningfully over the coming quarters as project completions and customer inflows pick up pace.
Aggressive business development boosts growth outlook
On the business development front, Lodha added five new projects in Q3FY26 with a gross development value (GDV) of Rs 338 billion across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, NCR, and Bengaluru. With this, total business development for the first nine months of FY26 reached Rs 588 billion, more than 2.3 times its annual guidance of Rs 250 billion, significantly improving medium-term growth visibility. The company also marked its entry into the NCR market through two joint development projects, adopting a calibrated and low-risk capital deployment strategy.
Lodha Developers share price target
Brokerages maintained a positive stance on the stock following the update. Jefferies reiterated its ‘Buy’ rating with a target price of Rs 1,650, citing record pre-sales, strong project additions, and improved margin visibility. Nomura also maintained a ‘Buy’ with a target of Rs 1,450, noting that the company has already achieved about 70 per cent of its FY26 pre-sales guidance by the end of the December quarter. Despite aggressive expansion, Lodha Developers continues to maintain a healthy balance sheet, with net debt at Rs 61.7 billion, comfortably below its stated ceiling of a 0.5x net debt-to-equity ratio.
Lodha Developers Q2Y26 result highlights
Lodha Developers reported a sharp jump in profitability in the second quarter of FY26, with profit attributable to shareholders surging 84.1 per cent year-on-year to Rs 778.7 crore. The company said the strong performance was driven by healthy revenue growth, along with significant operating and financial leverage. Revenue from operations during the quarter rose 44.7 per cent YoY to Rs 3,798.5 crore. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) stood at Rs 1,310 crore, marking a 37 per cent increase from the year-ago period, while the Ebitda margin came in at 34.4 per cent.
Lodha Developers, a leading real estate developer in India, has a strong presence in major urban centers. The company's focus on high-quality residential projects, coupled with strategic business development, positions it well to capitalize on the growing demand for housing in major cities. With a robust pipeline of projects and a healthy financial position, Lodha Developers is poised for continued growth in the coming years.
