Tale of the Tape 

Good evening ya’ll. Wishing you all a very happy Dhanteras and a happy Diwali!

Markets climbed higher for a third straight week! Nifty (+0.5%) and Sensex (+0.6%) extended their unbeaten streak led by heavyweight buying. Fun fact: Bank Nifty hit a new all-time high! On the flip side, Midcaps (-0.5%) and Smallcaps ended lower. A cool 344 stocks in the NSE 500 finished in the red. 

It was a mixed-bag kinda day for sectors. FMCG (+1.4%) and Pharma (+0.7%) were the top gainers. IT (-1.6%) and Metals (-0.9%) witnessed selling pressure.

In today’s issue of the Daily Rip, we cover HDFC Securities's top Diwali picks, Polycab and Wipro’s Q2 results, the weekly movers and shakers and more.

Honourable Mentions:

Whirlpool of India was the top NSE 500 gainer after agreeing to hold royalty payments at current rates until FY29! Paint stocks were up after crude oil prices dropped to a 5-year-low. Berger, Asian Paints and Kansai Nerolac were up +2% to +4%.

Check out the NSE 500 heatmap:

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(More) Diwali Stock Picks

Hiya guys, today we’re gonna take a look at HDFC Securities’ top Diwali 2025 picks.

1) Sheela Foam: The company is the largest maker of mattresses in India with a ~30% market share. The stock is down -33% YTD mostly cause FY25’s margins sucked (7.3% vs 10.1% in FY24). The good news is that this will recover due to two reasons.  Firstly, the Kurlon acquisition (which was a mess due to high expenses) is finally being digested through careful cost control measures. Secondly, raw material volatility is expected to settle in FY27. This should push  margins back to 10%+ levels. The recent correction also offers a chance to buy the dip. FYI - HDFC sees a +25% rally over the next year.

2) JSW Energy: The energy sector is crowded AF,  but JSW has pulled out all the stops. The company hit its 20 GW goal in FY25, five years ahead of schedule! And it’s already set a new target of 30 GW by 2030 for which it’s investing Rs 1.3 lakh cr. A mix of hydro & solar in addition to thermal is keeping cash flows strong. And oh, it’s also corrected -20% over the last year which provides an attractive entry point. PS - HDFC has a target price of Rs 639 p/sh; +18% upside from current levels.

3) Bharti Airtel: The stock is already a clear 2025 winner. But the brokerage says there’s more juice left in the rally based on two triggers. The big one is another round of tariff hikes in H2FY26. This should help push ARPUs from Rs 250 to ~Rs 300 over the next two years. The other has to do with Indus Towers becoming an Airtel subsidiary. Consolidated financials + Indus’s Africa push will pay off in a major way.  FYI - HDFC sees a 10% upside from current levels over the next year.