Hindustan Zinc jumps 13% in four days, hits fresh 52-week high

Shares of Hindustan Zinc, part of the Vedanta Group and the world’s largest integrated zinc producer, extended their winning streak for a fourth straight session on Friday, December 12. The stock jumped another 6% to touch a fresh one-year high of ₹553.45, taking its cumulative gain over four sessions to about 13%.

The sustained rally in Hindustan Zinc has come even as broader equity markets remain choppy, with investor sentiment buoyed by an exceptional surge in silver prices globally. Spot silver climbed to a new record of $64.31 per ounce in the previous session, pushing its year-to-date gains to nearly 121%.

The strength in international markets has been mirrored at home. On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), February silver futures surged to an all-time high of ₹1,99,220 per kilogram on Thursday. Prices have risen around 16% so far in December alone and are up roughly 127% in 2025, underscoring one of the strongest commodity rallies of the year.

Silver’s sharp rise has been underpinned by multiple structural factors. Industrial demand has remained robust, particularly from sectors linked to renewable energy and green technologies. This has coincided with tightening inventories and silver’s inclusion in the US list of critical minerals, reinforcing its strategic importance.

Investment demand has also strengthened. Purchases of physical silver and inflows into silver-backed exchange-traded funds continue to rise, reflecting growing confidence in the metal’s role both as an industrial input and as a store of value. Further support has come from currency movements, with the US dollar slipping to an eight-week low after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points, making dollar-denominated precious metals more attractive to overseas buyers.

Both gold and silver are now on track to post their strongest annual performances since 1979, highlighting a broader resurgence in precious metals amid shifting global monetary conditions.

The rally in silver has translated into a more optimistic outlook for Hindustan Zinc. Brokerage firm B&K Securities has initiated coverage on the stock with a ‘Buy’ rating, citing strong cost efficiencies, rising metal volumes and the growing contribution of silver to the company’s earnings profile.

B&K Securities has set a target price of ₹610 for the stock. Its valuation assigns a multiple of 9x EV/EBITDA to the zinc and lead businesses and 15x EV/EBITDA to the silver segment, based on FY28 estimates. The brokerage expects silver prices to remain above $50 per ounce through the rest of FY26, which could materially lift profitability.

With silver contributing directly to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, the brokerage projects silver’s share of Hindustan Zinc’s EBITDA to rise to about 42% in FY27, up from 28% in FY25. The company has already hedged 120 tonnes of silver at $37 per ounce for the second half of the year, while the remaining 280 tonnes of planned production will be sold at prevailing spot prices, allowing it to benefit from elevated market levels.