Making money in these tough and volatile times is a challenging task. It not only requires oodles of patience and discipline but also a great deal of research and a sound understanding of the market, among other things.

Fortunately, to outperform the market in these challenging times, a strategy of imitating financial gurus’ portfolios is becoming increasingly popular.

The primary idea behind this strategy is to look at the buying and selling activity of the big names in the Stock market and learn from their techniques and strategies.

Among the top names tracked in the Indian stock market, Mukul Agarwal is one such investing guru.

Mukul Agrawal is a prominent investor in India, who is known for his microcap stocks and smallcap stock picks.

Today, with over 55 stocks in the kitty, his portfolio is worth over ₹27 billion (bn).

Let’s take a look at the top 5 stocks in Mukul Agrawal’s portfolio in value terms (not volume).

Please note these are not recommendations. The idea is to study what kind of companies the ace investor has in his portfolio. Investors can consider adding the following stocks to their watchlist.

#1 Raymond

The first stock on this list is Raymond.

Mukul Agrawal holds 1.8% stake in the company or 1.2 million (m) shares of Raymond as of December 2022, according to the shareholding pattern of Raymond.

Considering the company’s current market price of ₹1,327 as of 23 February 2023, Mukul Agrawal’s total value in Raymond comes to around ₹1.6 bn.

Here’s how his holding in Raymond has varied since March 2022.

His bet on Raymond came when the textile and apparels company registered the most profitable quarter in the last ten years. Raymond reported a multi-fold jump in its net profit at ₹1 bn for December 2022 quarter.

Since his investment in the company, shares have rallied 73%.

Since his initial investment, Mukul Agrawal has steadily increased his stake from 1.5% in March 2022 to 1.8% in December 2022.

This could be due to Raymond’s back-to-back profit jump and surge in revenues.

Raymond is also a beneficiary of China plus one megatrend. The company claims to have a healthy export order book till the end of the current year.

Raymond is also the top wedding season stock to watch in India. The company is enjoying the maximum benefits of the great Indian wedding season.

For the upcoming quarter, it plans to capture a higher share of the Indian wedding market by leveraging its brand and distribution network.

It is also planning to add 150 outlets by the financial year 2024.

Further, with input cotton prices on a decline,textile sector is set for a strong comeback in 2023.

#2 Radico Khaitan

Second on the list is Radico Khaitan.

According to the December 2022 shareholding pattern of Radico Khaitan, Mukul Agrawal holds a 1.05% stake in the company or 1.4 m shares in total.

Considering Radico Khaitan’s current market price of ₹1,132 as on 23 February 2023, Mukul Agarwal’s total stake in the company comes to ₹1.58 bn.

He bought 1.4 m shares of Radico Khaitan in December 2020. He has not made any changes to his holding in Radico since then.

Since his investment, shares of Radico have rallied 154%, making it one of the multibagger stocks in Agrawal’s portfolio.

He has kept his stake in the breweries company constant since he initially bought stake in 2020. This can be due to affected consumption of alcohol in India due to bans implemented in various states.

But despite these bans, Indian liquor stocks have givenmultibagger returnsover the years, which has made the industry a great attraction for value creation.

In the last three years, Radico has delivered a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.8% in revenue and a CAGR of 30% in net profit on the back of robust festive season sales.

For the December 2022 quarter, it reported a 5% YoY rise in revenue to ₹7.9 bn. Its net profit for the quarter came in at ₹612.2 m, down 22.6% YoY, on account of commodity inflation impacting margins.

Recently, the sale of the company’s Morpheus Super Premium Brandy has reached over 1 m cases, making the brand the most recent member of the millionaire club.

For the coming quarters, the company is planning to ramp up Morpheus’s presence on online platforms.

It is also focusing on reducing the total expense to increase its profitability.

#3 Allcargo Logistics

Third on the list is Allcargo Logistics.

According to the December 2022 shareholding pattern of Allcargo Logistics, Mukul Agarwal holds a 1.34% stake in the company or 3.3 m shares.

Considering the company’s current market price of ₹370.8 as of 24 February 2023, Mukul Agarwal’s total value in Allcargo Logistics is ₹1.2 bn.

He initially added 3.3 m shares of the company to his portfolio in September 2021. Since then, his holding has remained constant.

After his investment in the company, shares have been on an uptrend.

The logistics sector has witnessed a slowdown of late, with global slowdowns and capacity overhangs resulting in strong pricing corrections with ocean prices for export and import.

Also, in recent timeslogistic companies have seen a decline in freight ratesby up to 70-75%, driving revenues down.

This lowering freight cost with reduced demand has brought the sector to a standstill. However, experts are predicting a full recovery in the volume growth in the next six months.

For the December 2022 quarter, the company reported a 26.8% YoY decline in revenue to ₹40.9 bn, mainly impacted by a fall in key segment revenues.

Its profit after tax (PAT) stood at ₹1.2 bn during the quarter, down 61.6% YoY.

For upcoming quarters, the company has set an ambitious target of doubling its business in the LCL space by 2030.

The company is also building quality infrastructure to drive the next growth phase.

#4 PDS

Fourth on the list is PDS.

As of December 2022, the shareholding pattern of PDS shows that Mukul Agrawal holds a 2.74% stake in the company or 3.5 m shares in total.

Considering its current market price of ₹460.5 as of 23 February 2023, Mukul Agrawal’s total value in PDS is ₹1.2 bn.

Initially, Mukul Agrawal bought 0.4 m shares of PDS in March 2018.

Here’s how his holding has varied ever since he acquired a stake in March 2018.

His bet on the company came when PDS had just forayed into the technology business to develop and offer cloud-based software and mobile applications in HRM through Qandle.

After his investment, PDS has seen a sharp rally on the back of enhancing engagement with existing customers and scaling up the distribution network in international markets.

He has continuously increased his stake in the company from 1.63% in March 2018 to 2.74% in December 2022.

This could be due to its improving market share in emerging markets and rising export share revenue growth.

Also, with achieving several milestones and fortifying its position as a leading integrated platform in the global fashion value chain, it has crossed ₹100 bn mark, making it the largest multinational B2B apparel company in business size.

For the December 2022 quarter, it reported a 15% YoY rise in revenue to ₹25.7 bn. Its net profit for the quarter rose 21% YoY to ₹4.5 bn. This growth was due to higher realisation in the sourcing and manufacturing segments.

For the coming quarters, it plans to allocate ₹500 m annually for capital expenditure in both sourcing and manufacturing while ramping up its ESG compliance.

It is also planning to build a solar facility at its plants in Bangladesh.

The company is now aiming to double its revenue to ₹180 bn over the next five years.

#5 Intellect Design Arena

Last on the list is Intellect Design Arena.

As of December 2022, the shareholding pattern of Intellect Design Arena shows that Mukul Agrawal holds a 1.8% stake in the company or 2.5 m shares in total.

Considering the company’s current market price of ₹459.9 as of 23 February 2023, Mukul Agrawal’s total value in intellect design Arena is ₹1.1 bn.

Initially, Mukul Agarwal bought 2.5 m shares of Intellect Design Arena in September 2017.

Here’s how his holding has varied since he acquired a stake in 2017.

His bet on Intellect came in when the company and its subsidiaries marked a global footprint, operating across six continents in 24 countries.

Since he bought Intellect Design, shares of the tech company have been on the rise amid high margins until May 2022. However, since then, the shares have been on a downward trajectory tracking the selloff in Indian tech stocks.

He gradually increased his stake from 1.2% in September 2017 to 1.84% in December 2022.

This can be due to quality revenue growth in the company despite the impact of the pandemic, with substantial improvement in profitability and cash flows.

On the back of increasing IT demand during the covid wave, Intellect Design share price rallied 1,138% from May 2020 to May 2021.

From a loss-making company a couple of years back, Intellect Design has established itself as a profitable IT firm today.

Over the years, the company has reduced its debt, making it a virtually debt-free business.

For the December 2022 quarter, Intellect Design Arena reported 8% YoY growth in the revenue to ₹5.5 bn, while net profit rose by 35% to ₹620 m.

The revenue growth was on the back of higher European license deals amid a muted macroeconomic environment.

With its recent collaboration with Amazon Web Services, it is looking forward to accelerating Intellect’s Go-To-Market strategy for commercial underwriting, wealth and capital markets.

The company going forward is looking to establish itself as the fintech industry leader.

Which other stocks has Mukul Agrawal invested in?

Apart from the above five, here are some other stocks which Mukul Agrawal has invested in as of December 2022.

Please note, the source of holdings listed below is from Ace Equity and is not a complete list of holdings.

Recently we also wrote to you aboutVijay Kedia Portfolio top 5 stocks and Saurabh Mukherjea Portfolio: Top 5 stocks.

Stay tuned to get more updates on investment gurus as we cover more such pieces in the coming weeks.

Disclaimer:This article is for information purposes only. It is not a stock recommendation and should not be treated as such.

This article is syndicated from Equitymaster.com