2025 is shaping up to be a painful year for Anant Raj shareholders, as the stock has seen a sharp reversal from the highs recorded in recent years, marking it as worst annual performances in the last six years.

After delivering massive returns of 190% in 2024, following 163% in 2023, Anant Raj share price came under sharp selling pressure in 2025, having crashed 35.5% so far, putting it on track to record its steepest annual fall since 2018, when it had plunged 49.3%.

The shares began the year on a weak footing, sliding 46% cumulatively in the first two months. Although, they staged a recovery in the following months, the rebound proved short-lived.

For context, the stock had witnessed a one-way rally between June 2022 and December 2024, delivering a staggering 1,757% return over the period.

Anant Raj has been a notable player in the NCR real estate market since the 1970s, developing everything from residential complexes and affordable housing to hotels and IT parks. In 2021, the company expanded into data centers.

What triggered a sharp fall in Anant Raj share price?

The crash in Anant Raj share price began after China’s sleek and low-cost AI model, DeepSeek, had triggered widespread panic by questioning the massive capital already consumed by data-intensive AI models. Data centers are closely tied with artificial intelligence (AI), a dynamic landscape, technologically as well as competitively.

Despite short-term worries, the company aims to scale up its data center capacity from 28 MW to 63 MW by FY27 and 307 MW by FY32. This expansion remains on track, with the development at Manesar and Panchkula strengthening its presence in the data center business.

Anant Raj has been steadily building its presence in India’s digital infrastructure market. Last year, in June 2024, the company partnered with Orange Business, the French IT and telecom services provider, to deliver managed cloud services in India.

Anant Raj Cloud, a wholly owned subsidiary, is leading the expansion of data center, colocation, and cloud services across Manesar, Rai, and Panchkula, targeting a total IT load of 117 MW by FY28, with full capex funding already secured.

Meanwhile, the management aims to scale up its data center revenues to ₹1,200 crore by FY27 and a massive ₹9,000 crore by FY32. According to ICRA estimates, India’s data center (DC) operational capacity is expected to increase to 2,000–2,100 MW by March 2027 from around 1,150 MW as of December 2024.

The company has completed a QIP of ₹11 billion to support its growth plans, receiving strong participation from both foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and domestic institutional investors (DIIs).

Analysts see long-term upside

Despite the stock falling sharply in 2025, analysts remain positive on the stock, given its diverse portfolio spanning housing, commercial, hospitality, and data centers, which provides a well-balanced growth engine for the medium to long term.

JM Financial has a ‘buy’ rating on the stock with a target price of ₹844 apiece. Motilal Oswal has also maintained a ‘buy’ rating with a target price of ₹793 apiece.

The brokerage expects the company revenue from data centers to grow materially, with capacity increasing from 6 MW in FY24 to 307 MW by FY32, along with a shift towards cloud services, which will expand from 0.5 MW to 75 MW over the same period.

Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.