Tale of the Tape 

Hiya everyone. Markets had the perfect week after ending in the green on all five days!

$NIFTY50.NSE ( ▼ 0.68% ) and Sensex were up +0.7% each as investors bought the dip. Midcaps (+1.4%) and Smallcaps (+2.1%) also popped off. 392 stocks in the NSE 500 ended higher. Check out the Stocktwits Sentiment Meter:

Except Metals (-0.6%), every other sector was up. Oil & Gas (+1.8%) was the top gainer, followed by PSU Banks (+1.4%) and Pharma (+1.3%).

Is Waaree Energies about to turn a corner or is there more pain ahead? Check out our bull vs bear section below.

Manappuram Finance (+8%) zoomed after Bain Capital jumped on board. Read our top story for all the deets.

IT stocks dipped intraday after Accenture’s Q2 revenue guidance disappointed investors. Infosys (-1%) and Wipro (-1%) ended in the red.

Bajaj Finance (+3%) gained after announcing new leadership appointments. 

TBO Tek was the top loser on NSE500 after 72.5 lakh shares (6.7% equity) changed hands in a large block deal. Reports suggest that Augusta Singapore Pte and TBO Korea Holdings were the sellers.

Afcons Infra rose +4% intraday. IIFL Capital sees an additional 14% upside from current levels.

Corporate action. TVS Motor Company was up +3% after approving a Rs 10 p/sh interim dividend. SIS Ltd (+7%) will consider the proposal of a share buyback on March 25.

Order wins. HCC zoomed +13% after its JV with the Tatas bagged a Rs 2,470 pumped storage project in Maharashtra. BHEL (+3%) was up after winning a massive Rs 7,500 cr from the Gujarat State Electricity Corporation.

Here are the closing prints:

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Waaree Energies: Bull vs Bear

$WAAREEENER.NSE ( ▼ 0.35% ) is down -28% from its December highs! The retail fav stock has been through a couple bumps apart from the broader market correction and is STILL below its listing day closing price of Rs 2,339 p/sh. But are good times around the corner? Here’s a quick look at the biggest bull & bear arguments.

First up, we have the bulls with three big points. Analysts project Waaree’s topline to grow at 30% CAGR driven by its healthy ~Rs 50,000-cr order book. On top of this, its margins should jump to 23% by FY27 (vs just 14% in FY24) -- helped by its backward integration into solar cell manufacturing.

The final factor is Waree’s ambitious plans to produce green hydrogen, electrolyser, advanced li-ion cells and battery storage systems. This would make Waaree go from being just ‘solar’ to being fully ‘green energy’ while of course massively boosting its business.

Not so fast say the bears though! The elephant in the room is Trump who is slashing clean energy subsidies & raising tariffs. This is a double whammy for Waaree, because it not only produces in the US but also exports to America. Initial projections say profitability could be hit by up to 13% over the next two years. 

Next, despite the correction Waaree is still +57% higher than its IPO price. This means there’s room for the stock to go sideways before re-rating. Finally, the bears say, all that full-stack green energy stuff needs to be proven before popping the champagne in celebration!

TL;DR: At one level, it’s about execution. Can Waaree pull off moving away from just being about solar cells? At another level, it’s about luck: how much damage will Trump do? FYI - Nuvama sees a +19% upside from current levels, while Kotak sees room for another -3% fall.