Tale of the Tape 

Markets continued to build on yesterday’s gains, with the Nifty and Sensex ending up +0.4% each. The big trigger according to analysts is the Fed’s rate cut decision expected later today. Midcaps were flat, but Smallcaps (+0.7%) saw solid gains. The advance-decline ratio was in favour of the bulls (3:2).

Most sectors ended in the green. PSU Bank stocks (+2.6%) were the star of the show today, followed by IT (+0.7%) and Oil & Gas (+0.6%). Meanwhile, Metals (-0.5%) saw profit booking.

In today’s issue of the Daily Rip, we unpack the Dreamfolks Services horror show, analyse VMS TMT’s IPO, the biggest newsmakers of the day and more.

Honourable Mentions:

Urban Company had the BEST market debut of 2025 so far, with the stock ending at Rs 169 p/sh; +64% higher than its IPO price. Vedanta fell -3% intraday after reports said the GOI once again raised objections over its demerger before the NCLT.

Check out the NSE 500 heatmap:

Stock
Dreamfolks Worst Nightmare!

Dreamfolks Services was locked in a -5% lower circuit after announcing that they are shutting down their domestic airport lounge biz with immediate effect. Holy sh*t!!! 

WTF happened: For the unaware, Dreamfolks serves as a middleman between airport operators and banks. It makes the whole ‘credit card points let you get into fancy lounges’ thing work. The only problem? Airport operators like Adani realised they could cut the middleman and do the whole thing themselves. So one by one Dreamfolks lost access until it shut down its core business.

What’s the hit: Well, the airport lounge business accounted for ~90% of its topline. So it could get pretty ugly, although we’ll know the full impact when Q2 results are out. FWIW - the company says contracts with clients “remain active” and discussions are on to offer "alternative customer value propositions”. The management could be coping, but we’ll see. The company’s CEO has also said in the past that it plans to scale up newer services but that could take years. Its global lounges are also fine, but that's a very small portion of its topline.

Who is the biggest loser: Glad you asked. It is, as usual, the retail investor. Here’s some quick stats. Dreamfolks is currently trading at ~Rs 132 p/sh. Its IPO price was Rs 326 p/sh and hit it an all-time high of Rs 847 p/sh in August 2023. That means it’s down a whopping -84% over the last two years. After its IPO, FIIs held ~12%, but that’s now fallen to less than 1%. Meanwhile, public shareholding (the bulk of which are retail investors) has DOUBLED to 31% (from 14%). There is a very real chance the stock is perma-locked in lower circuits for a while which totally sucks!

Specials
Auto Stocks To Buy After GST Cut!

The Nifty Auto Index is trading near its all-time high after GST 2.0 reforms spark hopes of a blockbuster festive season. Here are 3 stocks that market experts and SEBI RAs are currently tracking on Stocktwits.