Tale of the Tape 

Hiya everyone. Welcome back to the Daily Rip!

Nifty (+1%) and Sensex (+1.3%) were up big on positive global cues. Midcaps (+0.4%) and Smallcaps (+0.2%) also had a decent day. The advance-decline ratio was evenly split.

Check out the Stocktwits Sentiment Meter:

Most sectors ended in the green. PSU Banks (+2.6%), NBFCs (+2.1%) and Oil & Gas (+1%) were the top winners. Real Estate (-1%) saw profit booking, while IT (-0.3%) witnessed minor cuts.

ICICI Bank (+4%) was the top Nifty gainer after its all-round Q4 show. Also, KPIT Tech rallied +7% on solid Q4 results. More details below.

BSE (-13%) was the top NSE 500 loser after getting whacked by SEBI over regulatory fees. Read our top story below on the way ahead for the stock.

Apollo Hospitals, Supreme Industries and HCL Tech all saw big movements today. Check out their charts below to find out why.

Yes Bank rose +4% on reports that SBI has received the GOI’s approval to sell its stake in the lender.

Honasa Consumer (-1%) was in focus after ICICI Securities initiated coverage on the stock; they see a +28% upside from current levels.

IREDA jumped +6.5% after the GOI granted it ‘Navratna’ PSU status(finally).

IRCON International rallied +6% intraday after its JV bagged a Rs 1,198 cr order for the East Coast Railway.

Here are the closing prints: 

Earnings
Earnings Roundup

ICICI Bank (+3%) was the top Nifty gainer on blockbuster Q4 results! Strong growth in its retail loan portfolio (+19% YoY) helped boost overall credit growth. Deposits were also up +20% YoY, a BIG positive at a time when liquidity is tough and lenders are fighting a deposit war. Asset quality also improved, helped by lower stress across verticals. That said, the only sour note is that Net Interest Margins (NIM) came in at 4.4% vs 4.9% in Q4FY23.

Here are its key stats:

• Net Interest Income: Rs 19,093 cr; +8% YoY (vs Est: Rs 18,982 cr)

• PAT: Rs 10,707 cr; +17% YoY (vs Est: Rs 10,323 cr)

• GNPA: 2.16% vs 2.30% QoQ

• Net NPA: 0.4% vs 0.44% QoQ

Big Picture: The margin compression was broadly expected, so it wasn’t too disappointing. FYI - in its earnings call, the management said that NIMs should remain “range-bound” unless there are rate cuts (which look increasingly unlikely). At a time when retail loan demand is up and liquidity is tough, most experts say ICICI is handling the situation the best among its peers.

ICICI Bank is +24% over the last year.

KPIT Technologies jumped +7% on solid Q4 numbers! Strong growth in its key passenger vehicles software vertical helped boost the overall top line. KPIT reported a constant currency growth of 39% for FY24, beating its already increased guidance for the year. The US market reported a decent 6% YoY growth but the real star of the show was Europe up a scorching 34% YoY.

Here is its Q4 report card:

• Revenue: Rs 1,318 cr; +30% YoY

• EBITDA: Rs 277 cr; +40% YoY

• EBITDA Margin: 21% vs 20.8%

• Profit: Rs 165 cr; +48% YoY

Big Picture: The company knocked it out of the park in FY24. But the real cherry on top is its INSANE FY25 guidance. KPIT says it sees an 18%-22% revenue growth, while margins will be in excess of 20.5%. PS - they also announced a final dividend of Rs 4.6 p/sh.

KPIT Technologies is up +61% over the last year.

Specials

Yes Bank: 5-Minute Review!

Want to know the latest updates on Yes Bank share? Check out our latest video where we break down all the key updates on Yes Bank, covering both fundamental and technical analysis. Also, find out SEBI RAs’ views on the stock. 👇🏻

Stock

WTF! BSE

BSE cracked -17% intraday and was the top NSE500 loser after getting hit by the SEBI hammer! ICYMI - SEBI recently pointed out that the stock exchange has been UNDER-PAYING its regulatory fees. The regulator has argued that annual dues should be paid on the ‘notional value’ of all options contracts whereas until now BSE was paying the regulatory fee based on the premium value of all contracts.

For the non-F&O traders, this may come across as jargon. But calculating it based on ‘notional value’ means it's a LOT higher. Regardless of who is right or wrong, BSE currently stares at a Rs 165 cr payout to SEBI. This includes Rs 68.64 cr for past dues (FY07-FY23) and a whopping Rs 96 cr for FY24. This isn’t a small number. To put things in context: BSE’s Q3 profit was Rs 108 cr, so this effectively wipes out more than one quarter’s bottomline.

Naturally, brokerages are upset. Jefferies has DOUBLE-DOWNGRADED the stock and estimates a 15%-18% EPS hit. The thing is, BSE has a relatively easy solution to this problem. It could hike transaction charges to deal with this higher regulatory fee. Jefferies even suggests that this could absorb 75% of the impact immediately. But it would put BSE at a disadvantage to NSE, from which it’s been grabbing market share in the derivatives segment over the last year. 

FYI - IIFL has one of the steepest target price cuts at Rs 2,500 p/sh; -11% from current levels!

Charts

Chartbusters

Life comes fast, both for humans and stocks! Here are three companies that saw big movements today:

1) Apollo Hospitals fell -5% over valuation concerns of its digital consultation platform. ICYMI - Apollo HealthCo (which manages Apollo 24/7, its digital services vertical) plans to raise Rs 2,475 cr from PE firm Advent International. The deal values Apollo 24/7 at $1.7 billion, a LOT lower than the estimated $2.7 billion. This upsets a lot of growth calculations that experts had for the hospital chain.

2) Supreme Industries was the top NSE 500 gainer after reporting solid Q4 results. FYI - its pipe division volumes grew +41% YoY, led by broader infra + real estate growth. Overall volumes grew +33% YoY, outpacing industry-average growth of +14%. Brokerage Nuvama has also raised its target price to Rs 5,053 p/sh (vs Rs 4,764 p/sh earlier). 

3) HCL Technologies cracked -6% intraday to be the top Nifty loser after posting weak Q4 numbers. Profit was flat YoY, EBIT margins were down (17.6% vs 18.1%) and revenue saw a small bump. While deal wins were good, that didn’t perk up market sentiment. Neither did a cool interim dividend of Rs 18 p/sh.

Check out their charts below:

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