Informist, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025 Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Equity Alert: Grasim Industries falls 2%; stock trades ex-dividend from Tue

MUMBAI--1239 IST--Shares of Grasim Industries fell 2% to an intraday low of INR 2,705.10 with the stock trading ex-dividend for the first time from the current session. The stock had ended nearly 4% higher Thursday after reporting better-than-expected earnings for the June quarter. At 1236 IST, the stock was down 1.1% at INR 2,728.40 and was among the worst hit in the Nifty 50.

The chemicals, cements, and paints maker had declared a dividend of INR 10 per share for 2024-25 (Apr-Mar) while reporting its March quarter earnings on May 22. Stocks tend to rise in the run up to the ex-dividend date to reflect the additional value of the payout from the dividend, and fall at the ex-dividend date to discount the additional value post the payout. Grasim Industries has risen 4% since reporting its March quarter earnings.

At 1236 IST, 191,512 shares of the company were traded on the NSE, sharply lower than the 709,148 shares traded till the same time Monday. (Akash Mandal)

Equity Alert: Praj Industries falls to 2-year low as earnings disappoint

MUMBAI--1150 IST--Shares of Praj Industries tumbled nearly 9% Tuesday, hitting an over two-year low of INR 406.40, after the company reported a steep 94% on-year decline in net profit for the June quarter. The company posted a weak quarterly performance, citing a 10?cline in order intake and a 10% rise in order backlog.

A fall in volumes in domestic ethanol business due to delayed executions and liquidity crunch at the customers end weighed on the biofuel-based engineering firm's earnings for the quarter, the company said in its post-earnings presentation. The company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation fell over 67% on year to INR 280 million and the EBITDA margin contracted by 883 basis points on year to 5.49%.

The stock is down for the seventh consecutive session and has fallen more than 13% over that period. At 1138 IST, shares of the company traded at INR 415.50, down 6.7%, making it the worst performer on the Nifty 500. So far Tuesday, 2.55 million shares of the company have changed hands on the NSE, sharply higher than 220,282 shares traded during the same period Monday.

Of the seven brokerage reports available on the stock with Informist, five have a 'buy' or equivalent rating on the stock and two have a 'hold' or equivalent rating. The 'buy' or equivalent recommendations have an average target price of INR 639 and that of 'hold' or equivalent recommendations is INR 629. (Simran Rede)

Equity Alert: Nuvama retains Lemon Tree rating, target price; cuts sales view

MUMBAI--1112 IST--Nuvama Institutional Equities has retained its 'buy' rating and target price of INR 166 on Lemon Tree Hotels after the company reported on-year growth in its June quarter earnings. This target price is nearly 15% higher than the stock's spot price of INR 144.77 at 1112 IST.

Lemon Tree posted a near 94% jump in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended June to INR 383.32 million and almost 18% growth in revenue to INR 3.16 billion. The broking firm has reduced its revenue estimate for 2025-26 (Apr-Mar) by 0.8% and for FY27 by 0.7%. However, it has increased the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation estimate for FY26 by 4.3% and for FY27 by 0.1%.

The company's earnings growth in Apr-Jun was supported by improvement in average room rates and occupancies across portfolio brands. "This growth is particularly strong given the backdrop of geopolitical tensions and disruptions in air travel," Nuvama said in its research report.

The company's revenue per available room, or RevPAR, improved in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Bengaluru from the year-ago period. RevPAR of its brand Aurika rose 58% on year in Apr-Jun, Lemon Tree Premier grew 11%, Lemon Tree increased 8%, Red Fox rose 20%, and Keys grew 22%, the broking firm said. Lemon Tree has completed 65–70% of room renovations in the last 2.5 years and it expects to complete the remaining work by Apr-Sept of FY27, Nuvama said. The company's renovation expenditure is estimated to be INR 1.3 billion for FY26 and INR 900 million for FY27, the broking firm said.

Over 2.3 million shares of the company have changed hands on NSE so far Tuesday, lower than 3.7 million shares traded during the same period Monday. Of the 16 research reports on the company available with Informist, 13 broking firms have a 'buy' or equivalent rating on the stock with an average target price of INR 172, two have a 'sell' view, and the remaining one has a 'hold' rating. (Anjana Therese Antony)

Equity Alert: Cochin Shipyard choppy ahead of Apr-Jun earnings

MUMBAI--1057 IST--Shares of Cochin Shipyard Ltd. were choppy Tuesday ahead of the company's June quarter earnings. At 1055 IST, shares of the company traded at INR 1,655, down 0.3%, on the National Stock Exchange.

The shipbuilding and maintenance company is expected to report a net profit in the range of INR 1.34 billion-INR 1.72 billion, according to estimates from two brokerage firms. Antique Stock Broking has the highest estimate while Kotak Institutional Equities' estimate is in the lower band of the range.

The company is expected to post net sales in a range of INR 7.50 billion-INR 8.07 billion, according to the two estimates. On the sales front, Kotak has the highest estimate, while Antique estimated it in the lower band.

"Cochin Shipyard is expected to see a 14% top line growth, driven by the execution of ASW (anti-submarine warfare) Corvette and NGMV (next generation missile vessel) projects," Kotak said. The brokerage expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margin at 18.7%, down 700 basis points on year, dragged down by lower contribution from ship repairs compared to the base quarter.

Of the four brokerage reports on the company available with Informist, three have a 'buy' rating on the stock with a target price of INR 1,444 and one has a 'sell' rating. The shares of the company are down 9% since the company detailed its March quarter earnings.

Equity Alert: Highway Infra up 73?ter listing at 64% premium to IPO price

MUMBAI--1047 IST--Shares of Highway Infrastructure were up nearly 73% at INR 120.75 after listing at INR 115. The stock listed at a premium of 64% to the issue price of INR 70. Almost 5 million shares of the company have changed hands on NSE so far Tuesday.

The initial public offering of the company was subscribed 300 times, with the company getting bids for 4.82 billion shares against 16 million shares on offer. It had raised INR 234 million from anchor investors early this month.

Highway Infrastructure is engaged in tollway collection, engineering, procurement, and construction services, and real estate ventures. The company had reported 5% rise in consolidated net profit for 2024-25 (Apr-Mar) to INR 223.98 million even as revenue declined nearly 14% to INR 4.86 billion. (Anjana Therese Antony)

Equity Alert: Apollo Hospitals choppy ahead of Apr-Jun earnings

MUMBAI--1041 IST--Shares of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise were choppy ahead of the healthcare provider's earnings later in the day. The stock rose slightly to an intraday high of INR 7,276.50. Brokerages expect the company to report its lowest on-year net profit growth in seven quarters due to a moderate growth in hospitals business. At 1024 IST, Apollo Hospitals shares traded 0.1% higher at INR 7,258.50 and over 47,000 shares changed hands on the NSE compared to the 147,601 shares traded till the same time Monday.

The healthcare provider's consolidated net profit is seen rising 21% on year to INR 3.7 billion in the June quarter, according to a consensus of estimates from six brokerages. The company is likely to report a 13% on-year rise in its consolidated net revenue for the reporting quarter to INR 57.2 billion. Analysts also expect Apollo Hospitals' earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margins to improve due to a decline in operating expenses of its digital platform, Apollo 24/7. Its EBITDA for Apr-Jun is likely to come in at INR 7.9 billion.

Out of the 12 brokerage reports available on the company with Informist, 11 have a 'buy' or equivalent rating on the stock with an average target price of INR 8,179, while only Nomura Global Markets Research has a 'neutral' rating. (P. Madhu Kumar)

Equity Alert: Astral falls 7% to 3-month low; Q1 PAT, sales fall YoY, miss view

MUMBAI--1017 IST--Astral plunged over 7% to a three-month low of INR 1,278 after its bottom line and sales for the June quarter fell year on year and missed analysts' estimates. At 1017 IST, the stock traded 7.1% lower at INR 1,283.70 and was the worst hit in the Nifty 200 index. Over 2.7 million shares of the company were traded on NSE, sharply higher than 82,932 shares traded till the same time Monday.

The pipe maker's sales from plumbing segment, the largest contributor to its top line, fell almost 6% on year to INR 9.54 billion in the June quarter. The segment consists of verticals such as pipes, fittings, water tanks, and bathware. "During the quarter, polymer prices were volatile," the company said, adding that the average price of polyvinyl chloride fell nearly 14% on year in Apr-Jun, resulting in inventory losses and affected realisations.

The company's consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation for the quarter declined 210 basis points on year to 14.3%. (Akash Mandal)

Equity Alert: NHPC tad up before results; PAT seen INR 10.8 bln- INR 11.2 bln

MUMBAI--0956 IST--Shares of NHPC rose 0.5% to INR 83.84 ahead of the company's quarterly earnings Tuesday. The stock has fallen over INR 3 or almost 4% since the company's March quarters results released on May 20. More than 991,000 shares of the company changed hands on the National Stock Exchange so far Tuesday, sharply lower than the 3 million shares traded during the same period Monday. At 0954 IST, shares of the company were at INR 83.74 on the NSE, up 0.4%.

The state-owned hydropower major is expected to post a net profit between INR 10.8 billion and INR 11.2 billion for the June quarter, according to estimates by Antique Stock Broking Ltd. and Kotak Institutional Securities, respectively. NHPC had reported a net profit of INR 10.24 billion in the year-ago quarter. These were the only pre-earnings research reports on the company's net profit estimates available with Informist.

Though power demand remained subdued in June quarter due to an early onset of the monsoon across the coutry, it has pushed NHPC's hydrogeneration growth on year due to higher water availability, analysts said. Increased capacity due to operations in recently commissioned projects are also likely to support the topline, analysts said. The company is the largest hydropwer developer in the country and has expanded its renewable portfolio to solar and wind projects.

The company's revenue for the June quarter is estimated at INR 26.3 billion by Antique Stock and at INR 30.5 billion by Kotak. The company had reported revenue of INR 24.2 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Analysts will watch out for the management's commentary on the outlook for power demand and updates on projects. Of the five research reports available about the company with Informist, three have a 'buy' and two have 'sell' call on the stock with an average target price of INR 112. (Afra Abubacker)

Equity Alert: Indices turn green after opening dn amid geopolitical tensions

MUMBAI--0944 IST--Benchmark equity indices turned positive after opening lower on Tuesday amid rising geopolitical uncertainties. The doubling of import tariffs on India by the US to 50% to stop the former from buying crude oil from Russia continues to weigh on sentiment. Weak corporate earnings for the June quarter have also turned investors cautious about investing in equities, according to analysts.

At 0938 IST, the Nifty 50 and the BSE Sensex were 0.2% higher at 24628.05 points and 80731.64 points, respectively. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries helped the Nitfy 50 gain and contribute nearly 0.1% to the rise in the index. The stock was up almost 1%. Volatility in the market seems to have eased a bit with India VIX, the market's fear gauge, at 12.1275, down 0.7%.

Broader market indices defied the trend and were higher in early trade. However, after benchmark indices turned positive, broader market indices reversed their initial gains. The Nifty Midcap 50 was down 0.3%, the most among its peers.

Sectoral indices were a mixed bag with the Nifty IT gaining nearly 1%, followed by Nifty Media, which was 0.9% higher. Traders likely booked profits in defence stocks after a sharp rise in these stocks Monday. The Nifty India Defence had risen over 3% Monday but was down 0.8% Tuesday, being the worst-hit sectoral index.

Praj Industries fell nearly 8% and was the worst hit in the Nifty 500 after the company's consolidated net profit for the June quarter plunged 94% on year. Astral was down nearly 6%, among the worst performers in the Nifty 500 as the company's consolidated net profit for Apr-June missed the Street's expectations.

Shares of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise were slightly down ahead of the company's June quarter earnings. Oil and Natural Gas Corp was slightly up ahead of its quarterly results. Hindalco Industries was among the biggest losers in the Nifty 50 and was down 0.7% ahead of its Apr-Jun earnings. (Simran Rede)

Equity Alert: Mkt's near-term gains seen capped on caution amid US tariffs

MUMBAI--0820 IST--The fog around US tariffs is keeping investors cautious for the near term even though the market rose sharply on Monday. The meeting this week between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will be closely monitored at a time when Trump has been putting pressure on trading partners, including India, to reduce their crude oil imports from Russia.

"We don't know where the market can go from here in the short term, especially as the environment has become increasingly uncertain. Valuations are expensive and earnings are not that great," a head of research at a domestic broking firm said. "But we are insulated from a major hit (from tariffs). The noise around tariffs is unlikely to settle soon but I'm hopeful that our market will outperform most others," the analyst said.

The benchmark indices closed sharply higher Monday, recovering most losses from last week. The Nifty 50 and the BSE Sensex ended 0.9% higher each at 24585.05 points and 80604.08 points, respectively. The support for the Nifty 50 is seen at 24450-24350 points for the near term and resistance at 24650-24800 points.

Domestic investors have been supporting the market while foreign investors continue to offload equities and increase their short positions in index futures. Monday, DIIs net bought nearly INR 60 billon worth of equities while foreign investors net offloaded shares worth more than INR 12 billion.

The easing of global crude oil prices has also been providing some comfort for investors. Brent crude prices, which had crossed above $80 per barrel in June, have eased to less than $70 per barrel in August amid optimism about US-Russia talks and also on hopes that India will likely sign a favourable deal with the US in the coming months. (Anjana Therese Antony)

Equity Alert: Most Asia indices up; Australia, Japan mkts hit record highs

MUMBAI--0812 IST--Most Asia-Pacific indices were higher in early trade Tuesday, with both the Australian and Japanese markets hitting all-time highs, as investors in the region assessed the US extended the tariff truce with China till Nov. 10. Gains on the Japanese bourses were led by technology stocks. China's CSI 300 was up 0.6?ter the tariff extension.

Japanese stocks rose after Japan and the US partially addressed their dispute on how to execute a trade deal reached on Jul. 22, with the US agreeing to revise its executive order so that Japan's "reciprocal" tariff is calculated in a way that results in a lower effective rate, The Japan Times reported. SoftBank Group soared 7?ter Reuters reported the conglomerate was selecting banks for a US listing of its payments app operator PayPay. Semiconductor heavyweights Advantest and Lasertec jumped more than 5?ch. Japan's Nikkei 225 and Topix were up 2.4% and 1.4%, respectively.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 also rose to a record high ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's policy decision later in the day. The index was up 0.1%. The central bank is expected to cut rates by 25 basis points, having lowered rates by 50 bps already in 2025. Gains in the Australian market were led by financials and discretionary stocks, with Star Entertainment jumping nearly 30%, Reuters reported.

At 0802 IST, the FTSE Singapore Straits Times was down 0.3% and was the only index in the red.

Following are the levels of key Asian indices at 0802 IST:

(Akash Mandal)

Equity Alert: US indices end lower on caution ahead of inflation data

MUMBAI--0800 IST--Indices in the US ended lower Monday in a choppy session as investors were cautious ahead of the July inflation data, due later in the day. Investors assessed tariff-related developments after US President Donald Trump officially extended a truce with China over tariffs by another 90 days, hours before triple-digit tariffs were to take effect on the Asian country. Traders also await talks between the US and Russia, scheduled for Friday, to resolve the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Investors especially await the US inflation data, which will lend cues on when the Federal Reserve is likely to cut interest rates again. A majority of traders expect at least a 25-basis-point rate cut in the Fed's September meeting amid a set of adverse economic data over the past month, especially the non-farm payrolls data. The CME Fedwatch tool showed an 85% probability of a 25-bps rate cut in September, lower than 89?ay ago and further lower than the 90% probability a week ago.

"If, however, softer US CPI readings materialise, including the core goods figures, this would likely challenge the dollar too by supporting the case for further Fed easing, and perhaps see greater criticism from the US administration towards Fed Chair Powell," Reuters reported Paul Mackel, global head of foreign exchange research at HSBC, as saying.

CFRA Research's Sam Stovall, however, said the expectations of the market are too high. "I'm getting a little concerned that the market is going to end up being disappointed...the Fed will have a conundrum to deal with if inflation remains sticky and if the consumer remains willing to spend — where is the need to cut rates?" CNBC reported Stovall as saying.

On the stocks front, healthcare company Owens & Minor plunged 35?ter it said that stranded costs will continue to rise, and it will focus on reducing such costs to improve profits, CNBC reported. Elf Beauty surged 10?ter Morgan Stanley upgraded the beauty brand to 'overweight' from 'equal-weight'. Hershey's fell 5?ter cocoa futures surged 10%. The likes of BlackRock, Electronic Arts, eBay, Cummins, and Nasdaq, all hit new all-time lows during the session.

Global brokerage UBS raised its price target for the S&P 500 to 6100 from 5500 by the end of 2025. "This (geopolitical headwinds) drives us to call the market lower in the near term and to expect it to remain below current levels even by end 2025...we then see a smart recovery in H2 2026," it said.

Following are the closing levels of US indices Monday:

(Akash Mandal)

US$1 = INR 87.63

End

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

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