

A tale of two spirits: Radico on a high, United Spirits stays sober for now
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. A clear divergence has emerged in India’s listed liquor space. While United Spirits has slipped about 8.2% over the past year, Radico Khaitan has surged 35%.
And the gap between these two leading alcoholic beverage companies may widen further. Street expectations continue to favour Radico, with analysts pencilling in further outperformance. However, United Spirits remains a stock to watch, with shifting consumer demographics and a clear tilt towards Prestige & Above (P&A) brands setting the stage for a potential upside for the stock.
The Indian alco-beverage market is divided into four segments by price: popular, prestige, premium, and luxury. Popular brands are priced up to ₹400 per 750 ml. The prestige segment ranges from ₹400 to ₹1,000, while premium spirits are priced above ₹1,000.
Luxury spirits cost more than ₹2,000 per 750 ml. Radico Khaitan had a standout October-December quarter (Q3 FY26), clocking its highest-ever quarterly volumes of 9.75 million cases, with Prestige & Above volumes almost tripling since Q3 FY19 to 4.62 million cases. In contrast, United Spirits saw a softer quarter, with standalone volumes falling 3.2% year-on-year to 17.57 million cases.
Its key P&A segment slipped 2% to 14.62 million cases during the quarter. Radico Khaitan’s outperformance stems from stronger sales growth than larger peers and more effective execution of its premiumisation strategy, said Mehul Desai, FMCG research analyst at JM Financial Institutional Securities. In contrast, United Spirits is likely to see relatively slower growth due to the sharp excise duty hike and the introduction of a new liquor category Maharashtra Made Liquor (MML) produced and sold within the western Indian
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