Bharat Forge shares rise as DRDO-backed Carbine wins Indian Army bid

Shares of Bharat Forge Ltd, the auto-to-defence equipment manufacturer, are trading with gains of up to 2% on Monday, June 23.

The uptick in the stock price follows an announcement by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) that the 5.56×45 mm CQB carbine, designed by DRDO’s Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) and produced by Bharat Forge, has been selected as the L1 bidder in response to the Indian Army’s request for proposal.

Defence stocks are outperforming broader markets on what has otherwise been a subdued trading day. Rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, particularly between Israel and Iran, have driven increased investor interest in the defence sector.

The United States has conducted strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend, formally entering the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel that has stretched over nearly two weeks.

Last month, Bharat Forge reported its results for the January-March quarter on May 8.

Revenue for the company declined by 7% from the same quarter last year to ₹2,163 crore. A CNBC-TV18 poll was expecting a 4% revenue drop to ₹2,238 crore.

Net profit, which was also supposed to decline 4% from last year to ₹383 crore, declined more than expected. A 11.2% drop in the company’s bottomline took the figure down to ₹345 crore.

Bharat Forge’s Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) fell 6.5% from the same quarter a year earlier to ₹616.5 crore, while a CNBC-TV18 poll was working with a ₹659 crore figure.

EBITDA margins for the quarter saw a 20 basis points expansion from last year to 28.5%, which was lower than the CNBC-TV18 estimate of 29%.

For the quarter, Bharat Forge’s defence business revenue halved from last year. The company won new orders worth ₹4,343 crore, including orders worth ₹3,417 crore towards the ATAGS order.

At the end of the March quarter, Bharat Forge’s defence order book stood at ₹9,420 crore. New orders worth ₹6,959 crore were won in financial year 2025, and the defence business forms 70% of that total.

Bharat Forge has refrained from providing any outlook for the exports business for financial year 2026 and said that the focus will be on improving consolidated profitability.