ITC Shares: First Negative Year in 5 Years? Experts Weigh In on Future

• ITC shares are on track for their first negative annual return in five years in 2025, currently down ~11.17% YTD.
• The last negative return was in 2020 (-12%), followed by four years of positive growth (2021: 52%, 2022: 4.26%, 2023: 39%, 2024: 5%).
• Weakness in 2025 is attributed to GST 2.0 tobacco tax concerns and British American Tobacco's (BAT) stake sale post-ITC Hotels demerger.
• Despite recent declines, ITC has delivered over 106% returns in the last five years, doubling investor wealth.
• Brokerages like Macquarie (target ₹500, 'outperform') and Deven Choksey Research (target ₹486) remain positive, citing misplaced tax fears and strong FMCG strategy.

Why It Matters: ITC faces a rare negative year, but brokerages remain optimistic on long-term growth despite short-term headwinds.