Tale of the Tape 

Hola Amigos!

Markets gave up all of yesterday’s gains on the back of heavyweight selling. Even the India-UK trade deal couldn’t overcome the growing nervousness that India Inc’s Q1 earnings are revealing clear demand problems. Broader markets got beaten up too, with Midcaps (-0.6%) and Smallcaps (-1.1%) witnessing selling pressure. 

The overall market breadth was negative, with 3 stocks falling for every 2 gainers. Most sectors ended in the red. IT (-2.2%) stocks led the sell-off, followed by FMCG (-1.1%) and Real Estate (-1%). PSU Banks (+1.2%) and Pharma (+0.6%) were the only exceptions.

Today’s issue of the Daily Rip covers Tilaknagar Industries buying Imperial Blue, Infosys Q1 results, Nestle India’s weak quarter, trending charts and more.

Honourable mention:

Supreme Industries raised their FY26 volume growth guidance to 15%-17% (vs 10%-12% earlier). Natco Pharma (-3%) will buy a 35.75% stake in South Africa’s Adcock Ingram for Rs 2,000 cr. Karur Vysya Bank approved a 1:5 bonus issue.

Check out the NSE500 heatmap:

Earnings
Earnings Roundup

Infosys Q1 results beat Street estimates. Fun fact: it is the ONLY large-cap IT company to post QoQ revenue growth in constant currency terms. The company also raised its FY26 revenue guidance to 1%-3% vs 0%-3% earlier, with the management noting that the upper end could be hiked in the upcoming quarters too.

Most of this quarter’s growth comes from the European market, while North America was flat. It was also helped by two acquisitions (Missing Link and MRE Consulting) that concluded in Q1. Finally, operating margins remained stable, with Infosys also bagging $3.8 billion in large deal wins (vs $2.6 billion in Q4FY25).

Here are its key stats:

• Revenue:$4.9 billion; +2.6% QoQ

• EBIT Margin: 20.8%

• PAT: Rs 6,921 cr; +9% YoY

If the results were a beat, why did the stock end down -2%? Well, it’s partly because the actual figures still paint a dire picture of the IT sector’s outlook. At 3% CC revenue growth for FY26, Infosys will still grow slower than it did in FY25. A failing grade is still a failing grade; just because you managed to beat very low expectations, doesn’t mean all’s well! 

Infosys is -18% YTD.

Nestle India (-5%) was the top Nifty loser after mixed Q1 results. Domestic volumes grew +3% YoY (vs Est: 2%-3%), helped by decent demand in urban areas. But what’s got investors worried is the big profit dip. Higher raw material costs + greater capex-related expenses ate into margins, which hurt the bottomline.

ICYMI - Nestle has been grappling with high inflation in key ingredients like cocoa and milk. The company has undertaken price hikes to blunt some of this impact, but that’s also backfired by hurting demand. That said, the management does expect cost issues to normalise over FY26.

Here are its key stats:

• Revenue: Rs 5,096 cr; +6% YoY (vs Est: Rs 5,080 cr)

• EBITDA: Rs 1,100 cr; flat YoY

• EBITDA Margin: 21.6% vs 22.9% last year

• PAT: Rs 647 cr; -14% YoY (vs Est: Rs 732 cr)

Nestle India is +7% YTD.