Stock Market Highlights: Nifty holds above 24,350, Sensex gains 166 points; broader markets outperform

Indian markets ended the week on a strong note, with the Nifty gaining over 2.5% and recovering last week’s losses. The index registered its biggest weekly gain in nearly four months, while more than 40 Nifty stocks posted gains.

The Sensex rose 166 points to 78,095, while the Nifty gained 66 points to 24,384. The Nifty Bank advanced 117 points to 57,265 and the Midcap index gained 274 points to 62,915. Stocks saw sharp reactions to earnings, with M&M and Bajaj Finance rising 4-8%.

Anand Tandon, Market Expert, said margins for EMS players remained in the 3%-4% range and were unlikely to move significantly higher without greater value addition.

“For EMS players, the margins remain in the 3% to 4% range, closer to 4%, and they don’t seem to move beyond that,” Tandon said.

He said investors had been betting on additional value addition in the EMS sector, but the lack of progress on that front was disappointing.

“What you’ve been betting on all this while has been that there will be additional value addition coming in. Since that doesn’t seem to be happening, it’s a bit disappointing,” he said.

Tandon added that the focus appeared to have shifted back to mobile phone manufacturing, which he said was the lowest-margin business for most EMS players.

“One would be looking for greater value addition and a move away from phones to other components that have the potential to offer greater indigenisation capabilities,” he said.

Tushar Pradhan, Director, HXGON Partners, said the entry of more exchange players would give investors greater choice and could lead to some transition in valuations.

“I think more choices are good for investors because then they can choose which sort of exchange they would like to invest in. And, of course, the biggest of them all is likely to have an IPO very soon,” Pradhan said.

He said investors previously had to look for alternatives or peers in the exchange space to gain exposure, as the largest player was not listed. With the biggest exchange potentially becoming available, investors could now participate in the country’s largest exchange by volume, value and other metrics, while also exploring niche opportunities among other exchanges.

Pradhan said exchanges were highly profitable businesses once they established their brand and attracted trading volumes, with revenues becoming more annuity-like over time.

He added that India’s relatively low penetration of financial assets, including direct holdings of stocks and commodities, could support significant expansion in the investor base and fees.

“So I think it’s a very positive space. My only caveat is the valuation at which you enter these businesses and the potential upside. It’s always important not to overpay for even the most wonderful businesses,” he said.

Net profit at ₹663 crore vs CNBC-TV18 poll of ₹240 crore.
Revenue at ₹15,548 crore vs CNBC-TV18 poll of ₹14,769 crore.
EBITDA at ₹464 crore vs CNBC-TV18 poll of ₹499 crore.
Margin at 2.98% vs CNBC-TV18 poll of 3.4%.
Other income at ₹528 crore vs ₹1.68 crore (YoY).
Net profit at ₹663 crore vs ₹225 crore (YoY).
Revenue up 21% at ₹15,548 crore vs ₹12,836 crore (YoY).
EBITDA down 4% at ₹438 crore vs ₹482 crore (YoY).
Margin at 3% vs 3.8% (YoY).

Irani said the pharmaceutical sector was currently in a “sweet spot” as investors looked for relatively safer sectors amid rotation between IT, banks and metals.

“As far as Sun Pharma goes, I think the whole sector is right now in a sweet spot because the market is now oscillating between IT on one hand, banks and metals on the other, while pharma appears relatively safer,” he said.

He said Sun Pharma remained a frontline stock, while also highlighting Torrent Pharma for its execution and consistency.

“Torrent Pharma may look a little expensive, but I rate it number one in terms of execution and consistency. ROE and everything else are very attractive. It’s a little expensive at the moment,” Irani said.

He added that investors could consider select stocks in the pharmaceutical space, while noting that the sector had already gained momentum in recent months.

“The market has rediscovered pharma over the last two months, and quite a few of these stocks are up 5%, 10% or 15% from their recent lows,” he said.

Mehraboon J. Irani, Market Expert, said Shree Cement had remained largely stagnant over the last six or seven years, barring a brief period when the stock rallied sharply.

“Shree Cement, for the last, maybe six or seven years, has done nothing. But there was a short period of time when the stock was flying. I think this has largely got to do with the fact that the stock got discovered a little late, was under-owned, and suddenly moved up very sharply,” Irani said.

He added that while the stock could be consolidating, the company’s plans for its cash reserves would be more important. “I haven’t heard them being very positive, even a couple of years ago, in the conference calls. So let’s hope they do something with the cash in hand,” he said.

The shares of Sun Pharma slumped 0.45% after Q1 results. The stock hit its all-time high in early trade today.

• Net profit at ₹2,894 crore vs poll of ₹3,051 crore.
• Revenue at ₹15,299 crore vs poll of ₹15,625 crore.
• EBITDA at ₹4,417 crore vs poll of ₹4,255 crore.
• Margin at 28.9% vs poll of 27.20%.

• Net profit up 27% at ₹2,894 crore vs ₹2,279 crore (YoY)
• Revenue up 10.5% at ₹15,299 crore vs ₹13,851 crore (YoY)
• EBITDA up 3% at ₹4,417 crore vs ₹4,302 crore (YoY)
• Margin at 28.9% vs 31%.
• US sales at $427 million vs estimate of $470-480 million.

• Net Profit At ₹438 Cr Vs CNBC-TV18 Poll Of ₹499 Cr
• Revenue At ₹5,623 Cr Vs CNBC-TV18 Poll Of ₹5,597 Cr
• EBITDA At ₹1,074 Cr Vs CNBC-TV18 Poll Of ₹1,175 Cr
• Margin At 19.1% Vs CNBC-TV18 Poll Of 21%

YoY Comparison

• Net Profit DOWN 29% At ₹438 Cr Vs ₹618 Cr (YoY)
• Revenue UP 13.6% At ₹5,622 Cr Vs ₹4,948 Cr (YoY)
• EBITDA DOWN 12.6% At ₹1,074 Cr Vs ₹1,229 Cr (YoY)
• Margin At 19% Vs 25% (YoY)

• Net Profit At ₹4,292 Cr Vs ₹1,262 Cr (QoQ)
• Revenue JUMPS 12% At ₹38,952 Cr Vs ₹34,773 Cr (QoQ)
• EBITDA At ₹6,376 Cr Vs ₹1,153 Cr (QoQ)
• Margin At 16.4% Vs 3.3% (QoQ)

GAIL Board Approves Merger Of Konkan LNG With Co

• Net Profit Up 54% At ₹80 Cr Vs ₹52 Cr (YoY)
• Revenue Up 34% At ₹1,561 Cr Vs ₹1,169 Cr (YoY)
• EBITDA Up 55% At ₹198 Cr Vs ₹128 Cr (YoY)
• Margin At 12.7% Vs 11% (YoY)

• Coking Coal Cost Up $15 In Q1FY27 & Will Move Up By $5 In Q2FY27
• Steel Realisation Will Dip By `1,500/tonne QoQ
• EBITDA/tonne Will Dip In Q2FY27 But Volume Will Be Higher In India QoQ
• Volume Will Improve In Netherlands Since Direct Sheet Plant Will Re-start From August 5
• Netherlands EBITDA/tonne Will Improve As Worst Is Behind Us
• Post Fire In Port Talbot Plant, Production Has Shifted To Llanwern Works
• Fire In Port Talbot Will Result In A Hit Of £5-10 m, Insurance Is Looking Into Claim
• Europe EBITDA/tonne Will Be Back In Black In Q2FY27, UK Losses Will Reduce In Q2
• UK EBITDA/tonne Will Move Towards Break-even By End Of FY27
• NINL Capacity Expansion Will Come On Stream In 48 Months
• Will Look At Organic Growth To Increase Capacity

The shares of Voltamp Transformers surged over 6% after the company announced its results.

• Net Profit Up 14.7% At ₹91.22 Cr Vs ₹79.55 Cr (YoY)
• Revenue Up 28.4% At ₹543.78 Cr Vs ₹423.58 Cr (YoY)
• EBITDA Up 10.5% At ₹80.30 Cr Vs ₹72.64 Cr (YoY)
• Margin At 14.8% Vs 17.2% (YoY)

PSU banks recover from the day’s lows, with Union Bank, Canara Bank, SBI & PNB trading in the green

• Net Profit Flat At ₹163 Cr (YoY)
• Revenue JUMPS 24% At ₹907 Cr Vs ₹732.6 Cr (YoY)
• EBITDA JUMPS 12.7% At ₹190.8 Cr Vs ₹169.3 Cr (YoY)
• Margin At 21.05% Vs 23.19% (YoY)
• MoU With IREL To Explore Opportunities In Rare Earth Sector

The shares of Intellect Design Arena have slumped over 5% from highs after the company announced its results today.

The shares of Lodha Developers is the only loser on the Nifty Realty index.

• Net Profit JUMPS 52% At ₹32 Cr Vs ₹21 Cr (YoY)
• Revenue JUMPS 55% At ₹165 Cr Vs ₹106.4 Cr (YoY)
• EBITDA JUMPS 57.3% At ₹50 Cr Vs ₹32 Cr (YoY)
• Margin At 30.3% Vs 29% (YoY)

• Net profit at ₹80 crore vs loss of ₹81 crore (YoY).
• NII up 54.7% at ₹584.3 crore vs ₹377.6 crore (YoY).
• Gross NPA at 5.40% vs 5.41% (QoQ).
• Net NPA at 0.83% vs 1.77% (QoQ).

Hind Rect Bags Order From The US For IGBT Converters For The Mining Industry

• Net profit up 9% at ₹102 crore vs ₹94 crore (QoQ).
• Revenue up 20% at ₹845 crore vs ₹702 crore (QoQ).
• EBITDA up 16% at ₹166 crore vs ₹143 crore (QoQ).
• Margin at 19.6% vs 20.4% (QoQ).

Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services

On Vedanta Aluminium

• Two stocks – one on the metal side, Vedanta Aluminium- came out with strong numbers, robust earnings as expected, favourable LME prices, volumes growth was pretty strong, and the outlook now remains positive.
• So, Vedanta Aluminium’s ongoing backward integration, rising contribution from value-added products, plus the robust domestic market demand provide strong revenue growth visibility, plus improving cash flow generation over the next few years.
• So, that is something that we looked at very positively from the results yesterday. So, we have a buy rating with a target price of ₹540.

These are the stocks leading the Nifty 50 index at this hour.

• Bajaj Finance up 8.26%
• Bajaj Finserv up 5.94%
• Mahindra & Mahindra up 4.57%
• Adani Ports and SEZ up 1.65%
• Sun Pharma up 1.62%

• See Broad-based Growth Across Segments
• Growth Is Sustainable At Current Levels
• Will Surpass Last Year’s Revenue Growth Rate Of 24-25% This Year
• Expect EBITDA Margin At Approx 20% In The Next 6 quarters
• See Good Traction In European Market
• See Recovery In The Funding Environment In Emerging Biotech In The US

• India Is Structurally Well-Positioned In API Biz
• Will Incur ₹700 Cr Capital To Scale The API Business
• Our Niche Lies In Low-Volume, High-Value Biz
• Currently, Our Focus Is On Execution
• We Are Building A Focussed & Well-Capitalised API Platform

Market at day’s high; Nifty crosses 24,400. Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, M&M are top Nifty gainers