HAL Shares Plunge 6% Amidst Project Exclusion Fears; Morgan Stanley Downgrades Rating

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) shares dropped by approximately 6% in intra-day trading today, following a 5.7% decline yesterday.
• The stock's fall is attributed to investor panic over news of HAL's potential exclusion from a 5th generation fighter jet project, a first for the company in a major military project.
• HAL stated in an exchange filing that it has not received official information from DRDO regarding its exclusion and cannot comment.
• Morgan Stanley downgraded HAL's rating from "equal-weight" to "under-weight" and cut its target price by 34% to ₹3,355.
• The brokerage cited increasing competition from the private sector and anticipated slower execution due to high import dependence as reasons for the downgrade.