Shares of Paytm fell to an intraday low of Rs 317.15 and got stuck in the lower circuit of 5%. The stock has touched its new 52-week on May 08. The fall in the stock came after the reports said that Aditya Birla Finance invoked loan guarantees due to repayment defaults from customers. Aditya Birla Finance is one of the key lending partners to the fintech firm.

Courtesy: NSE

Courtesy: BSE

According to insights from InCred Equities’ report on Voltas, despite anticipating robust revenue growth, the company grapples with significant margin pressures due to sustained losses in its Electro-Mechanical Projects (EMP) segment over recent quarters. Currently, InCred Equities holds a HOLD rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 1,115.

In terms of financial performance, Voltas recorded revenue of Rs 42 billion, marking a substantial 42% year-on-year increase and a notable 60% quarter-on-quarter surge.

This figure exceeded InCred Equities’ estimates by 20% and consensus estimates by 10%, primarily driven by a remarkable 44% year-on-year surge in revenue from the Unitary Cooling Products (UCP) segment, reaching Rs 30 billion.

However, the company sustained margin pressure, with Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) declining by 13% year-on-year to Rs 1.9 billion. This figure fell significantly short of both InCred Equities’ estimates by 25% and consensus estimates by 27%.

In the Projects business segment, the Domestic Projects business, encompassing Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Water, and Solar segments, exhibited a robust 38% year-on-year growth propelled by a healthy order book.

Conversely, the International project business faced challenges, particularly in Qatar, due to unreasonable delays in the release of due receivables and prolongation of execution timelines. Voltas reassessed its exposure to these delays, resulting in a loss of Rs 1.08 billion.

Additionally, raw material costs surged by 46% year-on-year to Rs 33.7 billion, while other expenses rose by 74% year-on-year to Rs 4.4 billion. Consequently, total expenditure increased by 47% year-on-year during the quarter.

Sonata Software slipped 15.7% to touch an intraday low of Rs 538 after the company reported its Q4 results on May 07. The company recorded a 3% decline in its net profit standing at Rs 110.36 crore in Q4 of FY24, compared to Rs 113.77 crore it posted a year ago in the same period. In FY 2023-24, its net profit dipped 31.73% to Rs 308.50 crore, against Rs 451.90 crore it reported in the last financial year.

The NSE Nifty 50 was up 21.15 points or 0.09% at 22,323.65, while the BSE Sensex was up 31.72 points or 0.04% at 73,543.57.

COMEX Gold prices pared early gains and closed lower on Tuesday, tracking gains in the greenback amid hawkish comments from Fed officials. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari on Tuesday said it was likely the central bank would keep rates where they were “for an extended period of time” and declined to rule out future hikes. “Markets now show a 68% chance of a rate cut in September, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool. Elsewhere, China’s central bank topped up its gold reserves for an 18th straight month in April, though at a slower pace. In the absence of any major economic events, Fed speeches will be in focus,” said Kaynat Chainwala, Senior Manager of Commodity Research at Kotak Securities.

Motilal Oswal has reiterated a BUY rating on Voltas stock. However, the brokerage firm plans to reassess its assumptions following the conference call scheduled for May 8th, 2024.

According to the latest report from Motilal Oswal’s report on Voltas, the company’s fourth-quarter revenue for FY24 reached Rs 42.0 billion, aligning with estimates.

This marked a substantial 42% year-on-year increase, driven by strong growth in the Electro-Mechanical Projects and Services (EMPS), Unitary Cooling Products (UCP), and Engineering Products and Services (PES) segments, which saw growth rates of 47%, 44%, and 10% respectively.

However, despite the revenue growth, the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) declined by 13% year-on-year to Rs 1.9 billion, significantly below the estimated figure.

This decline was primarily attributed to sustained losses in the EMPS segment. Operating profit margin (OPM) contracted by 2.8 percentage points year-on-year to 4.5%, falling short of the estimated 6.7%. Adjusted profit after tax (PAT), adjusted for prior period tax, also saw a significant decrease of 28% year-on-year to Rs 1.0 billion, compared to the estimated Rs 2.3 billion.

Despite these challenges, the Unitary Cooling Products segment demonstrated strong volume growth of approximately 27% year-on-year overall, with Room Air Conditioner (RAC) volumes growing by 35% year-on-year.

Voltas maintained a year-to-date market share in the RAC segment, comprising both split and window AC, at 18.7% as of March 2024, slightly lower than the 19% reported in December 2023.

Courtesy: NSE

Commenting on the Technical outlook of Nifty Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities, said Technically, the trend has weakened as the index fell below the 21EMA. A Head and Shoulders pattern is visible on the hourly chart, with the index currently sustaining below the neckline, indicating a bearish formation. Further selling pressure is anticipated, possibly extending towards 21980-22000 in the short term, as long as it remains below 22400.

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories saw a 5% decline in its share price during Wednesday’s opening trades following the company’s Q4 earnings report released post-market hours on Tuesday. The share price of Dr. Reddy’s Labs dropped 4.78% to an intra-day low of Rs 5952.70 on the NSE.

Maruti Suzuki India, Coal India, Reliance Industries, BPCL, and Tata Steel are the top gainers on NSE Nifty 50 index whereas the top laggards include Dr. Reddy’s Lab, Asian Paints, Eicher Motors, L&T, and Apollo Hospitals.

The NSE Nifty 50 opens down by 0.32% at 22,231.20, while the BSE Sensex drops 0.39% to 73,225 in the opening trade.

Larsen and Toubro, Tata Power, Canara Power, TVS Motor, Hero MotoCorp, Bharat Forge, SKF India, Gujarat State Petronet, Piramal Enterprises, Kalpataru Projects International, Kirloskar Oil Engines, Westlife Food world, Godrej Agrovet, Home First Finance, HG Infra Engineering, Balaji Amines, Vijaya Diagnostic Centre.

The NSE has added Aditya Birla Fashion, Balarampur Chini Mills, Biocon, GMR Infra, Vodafone Idea, PNB, Sail, and Zee Entertainment Enterprise in F&O on May 8, 2024.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth net Rs 3,668.8 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) mopped shares worth net Rs 2,304.50 crore on May 7, 2024, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.

On Wednesday morning, WTI crude prices are trading at $78.23, marking a decrease of 0.79%, while Brent crude prices are trading at $82.97, showing a decline of 0.67%.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), gauging the dollar’s value against a basket of six foreign currencies, saw a 0.22% increase, reaching 105.42.

According to Bloomberg, US stocks hovered near their highest levels in approximately a month, leaving investors at a crossroads regarding the sustainability of the market’s rebound from April’s selloff. The tech-centric Nasdaq Composite closed up 45.22 points or 0.28% at 16,394.47. The S&P 500 rose by 12.18 points or 0.25% to 5,193.92, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average concluded the session with a gain of 40.14 points or 0.10% at 38,892.41.