ITC Shares Plunge to 3-Year Low After Excise Hike, Brokerage Downgrades

• ITC shares plummeted to a three-year low, losing over ₹70,000 crore in market capitalization.
• Multiple brokerages including Nomura, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, and Motilal Oswal downgraded ITC after a sharp cigarette excise duty hike.
• Analysts expect ITC to implement significant price hikes (20-35%) to offset the tax, potentially impacting cigarette volumes and earnings.
• Nuvama and Motilal Oswal cut price targets and ratings, citing the higher-than-anticipated magnitude of the tax increase.
• Nomura double-downgraded ITC to "reduce," forecasting a 15% cigarette volume decline and 17% EBIT impact in FY27.

Why It Matters: ITC faces severe market pressure and downgrades due to an unexpected, sharp cigarette excise duty hike.