1. One97 Communications (Paytm):
This fintech firm surged 6.8% over the past week after reporting a net profit of Rs 123 crore in Q1 FY26, its first quarter without any one-off gains. This was significantly above Forecaster's estimates, primarily due to cost optimisation and an increase in payment revenue. The company reported revenue growth of 32% YoY, driven by a jump in payment processing margins. The firm’s share price has gone up by 134% over the past year.
Paytm sharply reduced its expenses in Q1. Marketing and promotional expenses fell more than half YoY, while employee benefits declined by a third. These cost cuts helped the company post a positive EBITDA margin of 3.8%. CFO Madhur Deora said Paytm is working towards achieving a 15–20% EBITDA margin over the next two to three years, which is quite a hill to climb from the current level. In Q1, contribution margin stood at 60%, up meaningfully due to the upfront profitability of its non-default loss guarantee (non-DLG) lending model.
Under this new model, Paytm no longer bears the risk of customer defaults on loans issued via its platform, unlike its earlier default loss guarantee structure. According to Citi, this transition has played a key role in the stronger contribution margin. With loan penetration still low across its ecosystem, management sees ample room to scale its financial services business, especially in merchant lending.
With a 35% market share, the company currently serves 1.3 crore merchants who pay for devices and value-added services. CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma sees much broader potential here. “We see the potential of over 10 crore merchants who will accept payments, and believe that, over a period of time, 40–50% of these merchants will need subscription services for managing their business needs,” he said during the earnings call.
Emkay Global maintains a ‘Buy’ rating on the company with a higher target price of Rs 1,350. The brokerage expects the company’s valuation to improve as it sustains profitability and expands its payments and financial services businesses. Emkay also highlights Paytm’s strong cash reserves and long-term growth potential as key positives in the current risk-reward equation.
2. Newgen Software Technologies:
ThisIT solutions company fell 17% over the past week after posting weakQ1FY26 results. The company's net profit plunged 54% QoQ to Rs 49.7 crore, while revenue dropped 21.2% QoQ to Rs 350 crore, and both missedforecaster estimates. The company underperformed across all regions.
The revenue miss wasdue to delays in closing large deals and cautious spending by clients amid global economic and geopolitical challenges. As a result, clients took longer to finalise purchases. License sales were particularly affected by a slowdown in large-scale license deals, especially from the banking sector. Virender Jeet, CEO of the company,said, “The number 1 challenge for us right now is the deal size. And that is the only difference that has happened in the business.”
The Indian businessdeclined 28%, while the Middle East businessfell by 25%. Both regionscontribute around 30% each to overall revenue. In India, demand from large private and public sector banks slowed down as major deals were already completed. In the Middle East, operations were disrupted by visa and travel restrictions in Saudi Arabia during the Hajj period, delaying deal closures and project execution.
To offset the slowdown in large deals, the company aims to increase the number of smaller deals to around 100, up from the current 60-70. It is also focussing on winning more deals in newer growth areas like fintech and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).
In this quarter, the companyadded 12 new clients, a tally management considers healthy and in line with previous quarters. However, the averagedeal size was lower. Managementviews Q1 as an exception and expects growth to pick up in H2FY26. They believe the deal pipeline is strong and closures will improve as local issues like Saudi visa delays ease.
Following the results, IDBI Capitaldowngraded the stock to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’, citing near-term execution challenges and delays in large deal closures. However, it still remains positive on the company’s long-term prospects, supported by strong annuity growth, rising AI adoption, and a healthy pipeline across key verticals. But to get a boost from these, Newgen would need to beat the competition in deal closures.
3. Indian Energy Exchange (IEX):
Thiscapital markets company fell 30% on July 24 after the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC)announced a plan to change pricing regulation. CERC plans to overhaul electricity pricing through a market coupling mechanism across three power exchanges, starting from January 2026, rather than allowing IEX to determine price independently.
Market coupling is a model in which buy and sell bids from all power exchanges in the country are aggregated and matched to discover a uniform market clearing price (MCP) for electricity across regions. It will also mean that there will be only one price for the electricity traded at any point in time across exchanges.
Out of the three power exchanges—IEX, Power Exchange India, and Hindustan Power Exchange—IEX enjoys a 90% market share in electricity trading volumes. Currently, each power exchange collects buy and sell bids and discovers its own MCP.
IEX derives 75% of its revenue from the real-time market and the day-ahead market segments (bids placed one day before). The implementation of a centralised mechanism reduces IEX’s independent pricing power and limits its ability to command higher trading margins, which in turn weighs on its revenue.
Rohit Bajaj, Joint Managing Director, notes, "The market coupling order will impact the business, and we expect a drop in volumes when the norms take effect from January 2026. If competition rises, we plan to reduce transaction charges to stay competitive and retain the leadership position in the market."
The implementation of market coupling enables generation companies to sell electricity to distribution companies in the day-ahead market, serving as an alternative to long-term power purchase agreements. This mechanism will benefit end consumers by reducing overall electricity tariffs.
Rupesh Sankhe, senior vice president for research at Elara Capital, says, "IEX currently holds a monopoly position in the day-ahead market. The implementation of market coupling is a major negative, and the company could lose nearly half its market share in the day-ahead segment and 25% of its overall revenues."
The company's revenue rose 19.2% YoY in Q1FY26, and net profit rose 25.1% YoY, driven by higher electricity trading volumes and renewable energy certificates.
Following CERC’s announcement, Bernstein reduced its price target to Rs 122 from Rs 160, while maintaining a 'Market-Perform' rating. The brokerage notes that IEX’s liquidity moat and market position have weakened, and the only way to compete now is through transaction fees.
4. Havells India:
This electrical equipment company rose over 3% on July 22 after Chairman & MD Anil Gupta outlined plans to use surplus cash to build capacity and enter newer geographies. Havells has already used part of its cash to build renewable energy capacity and secure a stable supply of solar equipment. He added that the company’s move into renewable energy aligns with its recent investments and expansion efforts.
However, Gupta flagged that it will take at least one more quarter for inventories to return to normal, both at factories and with dealers. Demand dropped this year as the strong monsoon limited summer sales, unlike last year when a hotter summer helped clear stock faster. As a result, the June quarter was more difficult, which is reflected in the Q1 results.
Havells' revenue fell 6% YoY in Q1, and net profit dropped 15% to Rs 348 crore due to the weak performance of its subsidiary Lloyd, and the electrical consumer durables segment. This was mainly due to an unexpectedly mild summer that lowered demand for cooling products. The cables & wires segment was a bright spot, helped by demand from infrastructure and industrial projects.
Executive Director Rajiv Goel said, “The challenges in Q1FY26 were transitory. We’re optimistic about Lloyd’s outlook over FY26 to Q1FY27 as demand and inventories improve. These inventory changes shouldn’t affect our margins in the coming quarters.”
He also noted that the solar business earned Rs 500 crore in FY25 and is expected to generate Rs 1,000–1,500 crore over the next couple of years. Havells has invested Rs 600 crore in Goldi Solar, a Gujarat-based panel manufacturer, to support this growth. The company aims to fully integrate solar module manufacturing, along with related supply chain operations, within 18 months.
Post results, ICICI Securities gave a ‘Buy’ rating, saying the dip in sales is temporary and doesn’t affect Havells’ long-term potential. The brokerage expects the company to gain market share, as smaller and unorganised players face pressure. It projects the company’s revenue and net profit to grow at 11.1% and 18.4% annually over FY26–27.
5. Nuvoco Vistas Corp:
This cement & cement products company hit a 52-week high of Rs 417 on July 18, driven by strong Q1 FY26 results. The company reported a 9.3% YoY revenue jump, fueled by higher pricing and 6% YoY volume growth. It surpassed Forecaster estimates by 1.9%, as pure cement realization grew 5.5% QoQ due to price hikes in the eastern region since March. The stock also appears on a screener of stocks with high momentum scores.
The company achieved a net profit of Rs 133.2 crore this quarter, a significant turnaround from last year's Rs 2.8 crore loss, thanks to lower material costs and reduced operational spending. Its EBITDA per tonne surged 42% YoY to Rs 1,019 on the back of stable fuel costs. The company plans to further cut operating costs by Rs 50 per tonne in FY26 by using efficient manufacturing processes and achieving faster turnaround times. Additionally, their Odisha plant is expected to be operational by Q3FY26, with all its primary cement material transported by rail lines.
Nuvoco Managing Director, Jayakumar Krishnaswamy, forecasts a 7-10% growth for the cement industry in FY26, expecting a significant surge after the monsoon season. He believes that the central government's substantial Rs 11 lakh crore capital expenditure plan will drive infrastructure development during the fiscal year.
Mr. Krishnaswamy noted a rise in slag cement prices in eastern India, driven by the growth of composite cement manufacturers in the region. He mentioned that slag cement availability is likely to remain tight in the coming quarters, leading to a notable increase in auction prices compared to three years ago. He also highlighted Nuvoco's strategic move, securing a 20-year contract with Tata Steel for 2.5 million tons of slag cement, covering 55–60% of its requirements.
PL Capital observes that Nuvoco, which holds 75% of its capacity in East India, has experienced improved prices since February, anticipating stronger demand. Although the monsoon season might temporarily slow demand and affect pricing until September, the brokerage expects a less severe decline than last year, bolstered by projected higher government capital expenditure and robust rural demand. Based on this outlook, PL Capital maintains an 'Accumulate' rating for Nuvoco, increasing its target price to Rs 422.
Trendlyne's analysts identify stocks that are seeing interesting price movements, analyst calls, or new developments. These are not buy recommendations
