Traction for its specialty portfolio, a strong showing in the domestic market, and better regulatory compliance are positives for the country's largest pharmaceutical (pharma) company, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries. Given the triggers, some brokerages have increased their earnings per share estimates and target price for 2024-25 (FY25). This should sustain the momentum for the stock, which has been one of the major pharma gainers in 2023-24 (FY24), rising 57 per cent. It is currently trading at Rs 1,547 per share.
A reading of the reports suggests that there is no standard practice for reporting political contributions and it is left to the company's discretion to report them as they find fit.
In FY23, Indian operations accounted for 41.6 per cent of the consolidated revenue of India's top five multinationals, up from 34 per cent in FY18 and 33.2 per cent and 34.2 per cent in FY21.
From its lows this month, the stock of Sona BLW Precision Forgings is up 10 per cent on better-than-expected results. The stock rose by 4 per cent in the trading session on Tuesday after Japan's Nikkei Group said the Indian automotive component major has topped its rankings in terms of competitive advantage. The rankings are based on sales, profit margin, capital expenditure, research and development, and market capitalisation.
Corporate India reported high double-digit growth in net profit for the fourth consecutive quarter in October-December 2023 (Q3FY24), driven by margin gains from lower prices of raw material and energy.
Berger Paints, the country's second-largest decorative paint maker, continued to outperform its peers and gain market share in the 2023-24 (FY24) October-December quarter (third quarter, or Q3). The company posted a consolidated revenue growth of 7 per cent compared to the year-ago quarter, surpassing Asian Paints (5.4 per cent) and Kansai Nerolac Paints (5.7 per cent).
Tata Consultancy Services' (TCS') contribution to the overall market capitalisation (mcap) of listed Tata group companies has slipped below 50 per cent for the first time in over a decade. This has happened amid a rally in other Tata stocks, led by smaller companies, even as TCS, the group's largest company by mcap, has lagged. In recent quarters, Tata's listed firms have emerged as leading performers on the bourses, with the group's combined mcap crossing Rs 30 trillion early last week - a first for a private sector conglomerate.
The slowdown in private consumption in the economy is taking a toll on the growth of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). The net sales growth of listed FMCG companies hit a 14-quarter low of 2.5 per cent in October-December 2023 (Q3FY24). This is the lowest revenue growth for the industry since the June 2020 quarter, when the FMCG firms in the Business Standard sample had reported a 13.2 per cent Y-o-Y decline in combined net sales owing to the lockdown.
The Street's optimism on India's largest listed automotive maker by market capitalisation is not misplaced, given the robust wholesale performance in recent months and the strong 2023-24 (FY24) October-December (Q3) results.
Banks, the biggest component of the Indian equity market, are now trading at a big discount to the benchmark indicesThe BSE Bankex index, which tracks the share price of the 10 top listed banks, is trading at a trailing price to earnings (P/E) multiple of 15.3X, nearly a 40 per cent discount to the BSE Sensex current P/E of 24.37X. This is the biggest valuation gap between the two indices in at least 10 years. Similarly, the BSE Bankex price to book ratio (P/B) of 2.22X is 40 per cent lower than the current Sensex P/B ratio of 3.61X.
Hindustan Unilever's Q3FY24 performance was lacklustre, with both sales and operating profit barely moving from the year-ago period due to price cuts and higher advertising costs. Besides weak demand, the FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) major is facing increased competitive pressures, particularly from regional players, which, coupled with a slow recovery in rural markets, could put revenues under pressure going forward. Margins are expected to remain range-bound as benefits from falling raw material costs are expected to be neutralised by rising promotional budgets.
After a sharp fall in the share prices of HDFC Bank and other private sector lenders in the past three days, the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) sector weighting in the Nifty50 has slipped to a seven-year low of 32.03 per cent, down from nearly 36.6 per cent at the end of March 2023 and 34.5 per cent at the end of December 2023.
A weaker-than-expected sales performance, concerns about higher competitive intensity in the current year, and earning cuts by some brokerages have weighed on the stock of the country's largest paint maker, Asian Paints. While the Q3 volume show was slightly below expectations, the company's operational and bottom line beat estimates, benefiting from the falling raw material costs. The stock ended the day with a decline of over 2 per cent at Rs 3,175 apiece.
The Nifty IT index rose by 5.14 per cent on Friday (January 12), marking its best performance in a day since July 2020, followed by another 1.9 per cent rally on Monday. With this, the index, which tracks the share prices of India's 10 biggest information technology (IT) services companies, has increased 7.1 per cent in the past two sessions. However, the substantial rally in the index occurred at a time when India's four largest IT companies reported their worst quarterly performance in over five years.
The chemicals sector's recovery could be delayed until FY25 if the current trends of weak demand and flat pricing continue. Following a subdued September quarter, the revenue and profit performance of listed chemicals companies are anticipated to fall short of initial expectations of an improvement. Despite some price stability, the demand trajectory remains uncertain.
Even as the near-term outlook for the quick service restaurant (QSR) industry remains muted, brokerages are positive about the prospects of Sapphire Foods India. Their preference for the QSR chain comes on the back of the steady performance of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), superior execution and reasonable valuations. The Sapphire Foods stock is up 11 per cent since the start of November.
From its lows in December, the stock of Tata Motors is up about 15 per cent. The gains came on the back of better than expected December volumes in its UK-based subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). This coupled with gradual recovery in the global passenger vehicle demand, improving profitability due to product mix and lower commodity costs are expected to be key positives for the company.
The stock of Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) fell about 3.7 per cent in trade after its Q3FY24 earnings disappointed brokerages and led to downgrades. Further, the stock, after a 15 per cent run-up over the past month prior to Monday's correction, had already factored in the upside from the business front. Its peer in the consumer space, Marico, too, saw a 4 per cent drop in its stock price.
Tata Group remained India's largest business conglomerate in market capitalisation in calendar year 2023 while the Mukesh Ambani camp raced ahead of the Adani businesses to become the second-largest. The Tata companies ended 2023 with a combined group market capitalisation of Rs 28.68 trillion, up 35 per cent from the Rs 21.2 trillion at the end of December 2022. Ambani's group mcap is Rs 19.42 trillion at the end of CY23, up 10.7 per cent from the Rs 17.6 trillion a year ago.
As much as Rs 47,810 crore was spent on share buybacks by 48 companies in 2023 -- the highest amount since 2017. This surge in value was largely driven by a few large-sized issues, including those by Tata Consultancy Services (Rs 17,000 crore), Larsen & Toubro (Rs 10,000 crore), and Wipro (Rs 12,000 crore). In 2022, 58 companies had repurchased shares worth Rs 38,305 crore, according to data from Prime Database.
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