Trent Shares Plunge 8% As Q3 Business Update Disappoints D-Street

Shares of Trent, the parent of Zudio and Westside, slumped 8 per cent in early trade on January 6 after the company announced its provisional results for the third quarter of FY26.

The Tata Group retailer fell to Rs 4,060 apiece, snapping a four-session winning streak, and emerged as the top loser on both the Sensex and the Nifty. The sharp decline erased nearly Rs 13,146 crore from Trent’s market capitalisation within the first five minutes of trading.

Trent had released its business update for the October–December quarter after market hours on January 5. Standalone revenue from the sale of products rose 17 percent year-on-year to Rs 5,220 crore in Q3 FY26, compared with Rs 4,466 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Notably, revenue growth

in Q3 matched the 17 percent YoY increase reported in Q2 FY26, when revenue from operations stood at Rs 4,724 crore.

For the nine months ended December 31, 2025 (April–December), revenue from the sale of products climbed 18 percent YoY to Rs 14,604 crore, up from Rs 12,368 crore a year ago.

As of the end of Q3 FY26, Trent operated 278 Westside stores, 854 Zudio stores (including four in the UAE), and 32 stores across other lifestyle formats. During the quarter, the company added 17 Westside stores and 48 Zudio outlets.

Motilal Oswal Financial Services said Trent’s revenue growth came in below its estimate of 20 percent, though it noted that growth held steady at 17 percent YoY after several quarters of deceleration. The brokerage attributed revenue growth largely to a nearly 28 percent YoY increase in store count, while revenue per store declined about 11 percent YoY, indicating continued cannibalisation at the store level.

“Trent’s stock price had run up in the last few days (up ~9% since December 19, 2025) on expectations of a pick-up in revenue growth. A weaker-than-expected number could weigh on the recent stock price recovery as earnings downgrades are likely to continue in the near term,” Motilal Oswal said, while maintaining a ‘Buy’ rating on the stock.

Antique Stock Broking flagged moderating growth on a high base and unfavourable demand conditions. It cut its target price to Rs 5,700 from Rs 6,650, while retaining a ‘Buy’ rating, citing confidence in the company’s ability to navigate rising competition over the medium to long term. The revised target implies an upside of over 50 percent from the stock’s previous close.

Morgan Stanley maintained an ‘Overweight’ stance, noting that Trent’s revenue growth was broadly in line with its estimated 18 percent YoY increase.

Citi said Trent’s revenue growth exceeded its expectation of a 15.3 percent rise, driven by strong store additions. However, it remained cautious due to intensifying competition and a weak trend in revenue per square foot, and reiterated its ‘Sell’ rating with a target price of Rs 4,350.

HDFC Securities upgraded Trent to ‘Add’ from ‘Reduce’, setting a target price of Rs 4,700, which implies an upside of over 6 percent from the previous closing price.

“Trent remains a top-class franchise. A combination of healthy inputs for future operational KPIs (SSSG and store expansion) and a nearly 50 percent valuation correction—from 117x FY28 P/E to 60x FY28 P/E—underpins our decision to upgrade the stock,” HDFC Securities said.

Trent shares have fallen about 3 percent over the past five days, more than 25 percent in the last six months, and over 41 percent in the past year, even after gaining 492 percent over the last five years.