Adani Enterprises climbs 34% in 2026 to top the Nifty 50 gainers, supported by renewed investor interest, index reweighting, and progress in infrastructure projects amid ongoing regulatory scrutiny.
India
-Oneindia Staff
Adani Enterprises Ltd, the flagship company of Gautam Adani’s business empire, is on course to end 2026 as the top-performing stock on the NSE Nifty 50 Index — a position it last held just before the Hindenburg Research short-seller report rocked the conglomerate in January 2023.
The company’s shares have climbed 34% so far this year, putting it back at the summit of the Nifty 50 gainers’ list after more than three years of turbulence that had, at one point, wiped over $150 billion off the group’s market value.
Adani Enterprises climbs 34% in 2026 to top the Nifty 50 gainers, supported by renewed investor interest, index reweighting, and progress in infrastructure projects amid ongoing regulatory scrutiny.
The turnaround comes amid renewed buying interest from major global and domestic investors, including The Capital Group, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and SBI Funds Management Ltd, as the conglomerate works to rebuild investor confidence following the short-seller attack, bribery allegations against Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani by US authorities, and continued scrutiny from India’s market regulator. Adding further momentum, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Adani Enterprises in June with an “overweight” rating.
Legal Relief and Index Boost
Two key developments last week gave the stock an additional push. A US District Judge permanently dismissed the securities fraud charges against the Adanis, closing out a case that had weighed on the group since 2024. Separately, global index provider MSCI Inc. raised the free-float factors for several Adani group companies in its latest review, a move expected to increase their weightage in key benchmark indices and draw fresh buying from passive fund managers tracking these indices.
Infrastructure Bet Draws Investors
Analysts say the rally reflects growing investor confidence in Adani as a proxy for India’s broader infrastructure growth story, with capital flowing into the group’s ports, airports, and power businesses. Overseas lenders too are showing greater willingness to extend exposure — AdaniConneX Pvt, the group’s data-center joint venture with EdgeConneX, recently secured a loan of roughly $800 million to fund its expansion plans.
Vinit Bolinjkar, Head of Research at Ventura Securities, who has maintained a “buy” rating on the stock since 2022, noted that few businesses can match the 20-to-30-year visibility offered by Adani’s infrastructure portfolio.
A Look at the Numbers
According to Bloomberg data, Adani Enterprises was the best-performing Nifty stock in 2022 with 126% returns. Trent Ltd took the top spot in both 2023 and 2024, followed by Shriram Finance in 2025. In 2026, Adani Enterprises has reclaimed the lead with a 34% gain (as of August 17).
The group’s overall market capitalisation has swelled by more than 4 trillion rupees this year, a rally that has also helped propel Gautam Adani back toward the top of Asia’s richest list.
Caution Still Warranted, Say Analysts
Despite the recovery, challenges remain. Adani Enterprises currently has research coverage from just four brokerages — the lowest among Indian companies valued above 4 trillion rupees, Bloomberg-compiled data shows. Foreign institutional holdings in the company also fell to a record low in June, according to Prime Infobase, a decline partly linked to a broader pullback by global funds from Indian equities earlier this year. Morgan Stanley, in its June note, flagged long-term risks tied to the capital-intensive nature of infrastructure projects, including refinancing risk and exposure to regulatory changes.
Maxence Visseau, Chief Investment Officer at Arkevium Capital, Dubai, said investors returning to Adani are making more than just a growth bet. “India’s infrastructure cycle provides the earnings runway, but investors returning to Adani are making an active bet on legal normalisation, funding access and execution,” he said, adding that recent large block-trade investments by Capital Group, Qatar Holding, and other institutions serve as early validation of that confidence.
