ACC shares traded in the red on Tuesday, a day after the cement maker reported its financial results for the July to September quarter that fell short of estimates due to cost pressure. The cement maker's stock declined close to 2 percent intraday and traded 1.65 percent lower at Rs 2,232.25 on BSE at 11:20 am. The stock has erased more than 15 percent of investors' wealth in the past month.

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Brokerages firm Morgan Stanley has maintained its underweight call on the cement stock but has cut the target price to Rs 1,950 from Rs 2,050 per share. This means it sees a 14 percent downside in the stock from Monday's closing price. Also, the new target price is just Rs 50, short of the 52-week low of Rs 1,900.

The brokerage revised estimates to reflect the miss in earnings, adding that it maintains a relative underweight call given lower growth expectations than the cement maker's peers.

Goldman Sachs, meanwhile, has a neutral call and expects the shares to rise 4 percent to Rs 2,375. Noting that inflated costs drove the big miss in earnings, it said cost rationalisation benefits are likely at least three to four quarters away. According to the brokerage, pricing aggression is highly unlikely given weak profitability in the near term.

Jefferies has a buy call on the shares of ACC, but it has cut EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) estimates for the 2022-2023 fiscal by 13 percent. However, it has retained its projection for the following financial year, 2023-2024. Despite a loss in the September quarter, the brokerage expects ACC stock to advance 32 percent to Rs 3,000.

Citi, too, has a buy call on the stock with a target price of Rs 2,900 as it believes ACC should benefit from potential synergies with Adani group.

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