India's PVR INOX rises as brokerages expect strong box-office momentum

** PVR INOX PVRL.NS shares rise 3.1% to 1,490 rupees

** Q2 profit more than doubles; revenue from operations up nearly 17% YoY

** Q2 ticket sales increased 18% YoY, occupancy expanded by 170 basis points

** Motilal Oswal ("Neutral", TP: 1,565 rupees) says strong box-office performance across languages and genre, coupled with robust cost controls, have helped lower PVR INOX breakeven occupancy levels and deleveraged the balance sheet

** ICICI Securities ("Buy", TP: 1,850 rupees) says movies releases in Q3 will help sustain momentum

** 16 of 17 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher; their median PT is 1,630 rupees - LSEG-compiled data

** YTD, stock up 46.3%