How these 3 mid-cap outliers more than doubled in 2025

Summary: In 2025 alone, these three mid-cap outliers defied the market and delivered staggering gains, riding strong industry tailwinds and operational discipline. Read the full story to find whether they are still worth a look. 

2025 was a forgettable year for mid-cap stocks. The BSE Midcap index crawled ahead by a meagre 1 per cent, leaving most investors with little to cheer. Yet amid this market torpor, a rare trio did something extraordinary. Three mid-cap stocks didn’t merely beat the index, they more than doubled investors’ money and they were among the handful few to do this.

What makes this feat more than a momentum fluke is what sits beneath the surge. All three score a robust four out of five stars on Value Research Stock Ratings, signalling strong balance sheets and growth. They fall short of the full five stars for just one reason: valuations. A blistering rally has made them pricier, pulling down their valuation scores even as fundamentals remain solid.

In a year when returns were scarce and conviction scarcer, these three stood out as true outliers. Here’s a brief look at why the market likely crowded into them:

3) Hindustan Copper

2025 return: 109 per cent

P/E: 89.3 times

Rising demand for copper due to global transition towards clean energy, digital infrastructure, electric mobility, AI data centre, etc., is a key tailwind driving Hindustan Copper, which holds around two-fifths of India’s copper ore reserves. A demand-supply crunch is currently leading to a surge in the red metal, whose price has leapt to an all-time high above $13,000 a tonne after jumping 61 per cent on MCX in 2025 and 42 per cent globally, as per an Economic Times report.

Hindustan Copper is readying to benefit from the high demand as it has targeted to expand its annual mining capacity from around 4 million tons to 12 million tons by 2030-31 through expansion of existing mines, re-opening of closed mines and opening of new mines.

2) L&T Finance

2025 return: 131 per cent

P/B: 2.9 times

L&T Finance has, in recent years, undergone significant restructuring in its shift towards becoming a retail-focused NBFC as it snipped non-core wholesale lending and exited the mutual fund business. The company also entered the high-yield, low-risk gold loan business in FY25. It is also in the process of scaling up its proprietary AI-led risk management stack. However, over 50 per cent of AUM is exposed to micro-finance, two-wheeler and tractor segments, which are cyclical in nature.

1) Force Motors

2025 return: 214 per cent

P/E: 24.8 times

Force Motors is India’s largest van manufacturer. Its flagship ‘Traveller’ model is the market leader in its segment, used across passenger, delivery and ambulance transportation. The company also has engine-manufacturing partnerships with global OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), including BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The past three years have been especially strong for the company, where it saw a sharp recovery in profitability, helped by a better product mix and lower costs via tightening working capital control. Going ahead, its OEM partnerships and the new line of ‘Urbania’ vans in the premium, urban shared passenger market are expected to drive growth.

It’s clear that big winners are rarely accidents. They emerge where strong balance sheets, credible growth and improving execution come together and where the market recognises that strength early.

The edge lies not in chasing past doubles, but in building a disciplined way to spot such businesses before they become obvious. That’s precisely what Value Research Stock Advisor is designed to do—identify fundamentally strong companies with long-term potential, well before momentum takes over. If you’re looking to find the next outlier, not just admire the last one, this is where the search should begin.

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