Tale of the Tape 

Good evening folks. Happy Friday! 

Heavyweight selling continued to push the Nifty and Sensex downwards, with both indices ending -0.9% lower. FYI - this means markets have closed down for a fourth consecutive week, making it their worst run since October 2024! The broader markets got absolutely KO-ed, with Midcaps (-1.6%) and Smallcaps (-2.1%) seeing even deeper cuts. Overall, a whopping 445 stocks in the NSE 500 ended the day in the red. 

Barring Pharma (+0.5%), every other sector got wiped. Energy stocks (-2.1%) led the sell-off, followed by PSU Banks (-1.7%) and Metals (-1.6%).

For today’s issue of the Daily Rip, we cover Cipla’s solid Q1 beat, Bajaj Finance’s gloomy management commentary, Shanti Gold International & Brigade Hotel’s IPOs, weekly charts and more.

Honourable mentions: IEX rebounded +9% after yesterday’s fall helped by strong Q1 results and positive management commentary. On the flip side, Shriram Finance and Paras Defence were under pressure on weak results.

Check out the NSE500 heatmap:

Earnings
Earnings Roundup

Bajaj Finance (-5%) was the top Nifty loser after weak management commentary signaled potential growth concerns. FYI - the NBFC says dip (aka competition) in the mortgages segment is the highest in the last 15 years, which suggests potentially slower loan growth in FY26. On top of this, the management flagged “unexpected” stress in the MSME. This could be linked to India’s GDP slowdown, but it’s not good news either way. Finally, Bajaj’s loan loss & provisions jumped +26% YoY, hurt by early-stage default in the 2 and 3-wheeler loan portfolio.

All of this sucks, because Q1 was actually pretty good otherwise. New loans booked rose +23% YoY, while Assets Under Management also grew +25% YoY. But markets are forward-looking, which is why the stock crashed. PS - doesn’t help either that JPMorgan downgraded Bajaj and lowered its price target.

Here are its Q1 stats:

• Net Interest Income: Rs 10,227 cr; +22% YoY (vs Est: Rs 10,226 cr)

• PAT: Rs 4,700 cr; +20% YoY

• Gross NPA: 1.03% vs 0.86% QoQ

• Net NPA: 0.5% vs 0.38% QoQ

Cipla (+3%) was the top Nifty gainer after its Q1 results beat Street estimates! North America sales came in at $226 million (vs Est: $218 million), helped by strong demand for its Albuterol medication. The company's India market was no slouch either, with robust chronic therapy demand helping it grow +6% YoY to hit its highest-ever Q1 sales.

Slightly lower raw material costs helped blunt a rise in employee expenses to keep margins steady. Fun fact: Cipla’s margin this quarter was higher than its overall FY26 margin guidance too, which is a big W. Overall a pretty solid quarter that allows Cipla to stand out from the rest of the pharma pack which hasn’t been doing as well.

Here is its Q1 report card:

• Revenue: Rs 6,957 cr; +4% YoY (vs Est: Rs 7,106 cr)

• EBITDA: Rs 1,778 cr; +4% YoY (vs Est: Rs 1,714 cr)

• EBITDA Margin: 25.6% (vs Est 24%)

• Net Profit: Rs 1,298 cr; +10% YoY (vs Est: Rs 1,208 cr)

Cipla is flat YTD