Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) shares surged more than 2 per cent in Friday's trade, emerging as the biggest contributor to the market rally. The stock opened flat at ₹1,302.55 and climbed to an intraday high of ₹1,332.90 on the BSE.

At 1:46 PM, RIL shares were trading at ₹1,326.45, up around 1.9 per cent. 

At the last check, the index heavyweight contributed 145 points to the Sensex's 546-point rally.

Today's buying in RIL came after Nuvama reiterated its 'Buy' rating on the stock, with a target price of ₹1,766. The target implies an upside of nearly 36 per cent from the previous close of ₹1,301.05.  ALSO READ: NSE IPO anticipation: New India Assurance zooms 17%; IFCI jumps 12% O2C business

The brokerage said a "golden refining era" is underway for RIL, supported by strong refining margins and multiple growth drivers.

Given the current strong refining margin environment, Nuvama said that it expects assess RIL’s consolidated Ebitda to rise by 12 per cent Y-o-Y to ₹513 billion in Q2 of the current fiscal year, while PAT is estimated to  increase by 9 per cent Y-o-Y to ₹197 billion.

The growth, it said, will largely driven by the Oil-to-Chemicals (O2C) business. It sees O2C Ebitda at ₹182 billion, up 21 per cent Y-o-Y, owing to robust gasoil and ATF crack spreads, supported by geopolitical disruptions. It expects these elevated cracks to sustain in the near term. 

Additionally, RIL shall benefit from stable ethane prices, start-up of its ethane carriers and non-applicability of Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) on exports from RIL’s SEZ refinery. Digital business Furthermore, it said that RIL's Q2 Ebitda will be supported by the Digital Ebitda of ₹219 billion, up 16 per cent Y-o-Y on a +3 per cent Y-o-Y rise in ARPU and over 7 per cent Y-o-Y increase in subscribers. Retail business The Retail Ebitda, however, is expected to decline by more than 1 per cent Y-o-Y due to a higher base in Q2FY26 following an early festive season and the impact of the RCPL demerger. Its Ebitda margin is estimated at 7.5 per cent, flat sequentially.

Its analysis suggests that Ebitda contribution from the New Energy businesses can potentially grow to ₹201 billion by FY30, surging at a CAGR of 137 er cent over FY27–30E. The New Energy business' Ebitda can even surpass the O&G business by FY30E and move closer to Retail Ebitda.