1. Inox Leisure: This leading multiplex operator laid out its expansion plans in its annual report released on August 30.  However, this failed to move the needle materially in the market and the stock only gained 2% in the subsequent two trading sessions. Inox Leisure seeks to open around 60 additional screens in the remaining part of FY23, after having launched 44 screens in Q1FY23. This is 35% more than its initial target for the year. Additionally, Inox aims to open around 834 screens after FY23 which would take its total screen count to over 1,500 in the longer term. This is likely to further strengthen the market position of the soon-to-be merged entity of PVR INOX.

However, the market is skeptical about the sustenance of high footfalls in cinemas, in the age of streaming. Although Inox Leisure’s footfalls comfortably crossed the pre-Covid levels in Q1FY23, the response to recent Bollywood releases has been rather lukewarm. Big-ticket films like Laal Singh Chaddha and Raksha Bandhan failed to appeal to the masses. With the advent of OTT platforms, only superior content like that of RRR, KGF 2 and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 are driving the audience back to the cinemas. With the target audience having access to multiple digital modes of entertainment including Instagram, and YouTube, theaters are having to compete hard for customer attention and wallet share, as noted by Inox in its latest annual report. This is a major risk factor for multiplex chains mulling future expansions.

Another factor going against Inox is the recent complaint of a non-profit organization namely CUTS to Competition Commission of India against its proposed merger with PVR. Now, Inox is caught up in its own drama -  all eyes are on the upcoming releases of Brahmastra, Vikram Vedha as well as the response of CCI to this complaint.

2. Spicejet: This airline company’s stock price fell over 3% on Thursday post its Q4FY22 and Q1FY23 results announcement. The company had cited a ransomware cyber attack on its IT systems as the reason for the delay in announcing results. In Q1FY23, the airline’s losses widened to Rs 789 crore compared to a loss of Rs 729 crore in the same period the previous year. This is despite its revenue jumping over 2X YoY in Q1FY23 on a low base, due to the pandemic Q1 last year.

Record high fuel prices and the depreciating Indian rupee impacted the bottom line. The company’s losses widened YoY in Q4FY22 as well, leading to a cash crunch at the airline. As a result, Spicejet delayed salaries for the second month in a row, according to reports. The company also announced the resignation of its Chief Financial Officer Sanjeev Taneja with effect from Wednesday.

The disappointing results come after Spicejet’s Chairman Ajay Singh said that the airline is looking to raise around Rs 2,000 crore. In reaction, its share price rose over 3% on August 23. In the past month, the stock price has risen over 20% and mutual funds also increased their shareholding in this company. Despite the widening losses, the management remains optimistic on the back of a fresh capital inflow of Rs 2,000 crore. It also said that Spicejet had the highest domestic passenger load factor (86.4%) in the industry in Q1FY23. To conserve costs,  the company plans to induct more fuel-efficient Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft amid elevated fuel prices.

3. ABB India: This heavy electrical equipment stock has been rising for the past five sessions. It rose 2% on Tuesday and touched an all-time high of Rs 3,273.2. This comes after the company announced the launch of its ‘Smart Power Portfolio’ in its Bangalore plant. With the new system in place, ABB India will focus on providing better automation services, especially to its manufacturing clients. This stock is in demand as it also shows up on the screener of stocks overbought on MFI (money flow index) and RSI (relative strength index).

After market hours on Tuesday, the company announced its divestment in Turbocharging Industries and Services India for a consideration of Rs 355 crore. It was earlier valued at Rs 310 crore, according to reports. The stock rose 4% in trade on Thursday after this and touched a new 52-week high of Rs 3,429.3.

Although the company reported a rise of 99.6% YoY in net profit, brokerages do not seem particularly enthused with the Q2CY22 results. According to Trendlyne’s consensus recommendation, 14 recommend a buy while 8 recommend a ‘Hold’ and one recommends ‘Sell’ on the stock in August. This is due to the short-term nature of the orders received by the company.

HDFC Securities maintains a ‘Sell’ on the stock as it wants to assess the growth of the company despite the surge in short-term orders, profit and revenue to make sure that further upcycle of the stock is not hindered. Prabhudas Lilladher and Geojit BNP Paribas remain cautious and maintain ‘Accumulate’ on the stock as they see long-term growth with an increase in capex, price hikes, increase in clients and improving exports.

Interestingly, ABB India’s Managing Director Sanjeev Sharma on Tuesday said that the company is not seeing any slowdown in orders and is focused on building upon opportunities arising from the domestic demand.

4. Biocon: This biotechnology company is making news in the stock market - but for all the wrong reasons. On August 25, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet against five officials of Biocon's arm Biocon Biologics in an alleged bribery case, according to reports. The stock traded flat immediately after this news; however, it was one of the top loser stocks on Thursday, falling more than 2.5% in trade.

Biocon touched a 52-week low of Rs 297.5 on Thursday after an inspection report was given by the US FDA. According to the company’s filing, the US FDA issued Form 483 (a form issued by the regulator when it observes a violation of the Food Drug and Cosmetics Act) with 11 observations for two sites in Bangalore and six observations for the Malaysia site. According to the filing, the company needs to work on improving its microbial control at the plant sites, enhance quality oversight and work on revamping software that supports risk identification and assessment.

With all this going on, the stock appears on the screener where two brokers downgraded their target price for the stock while one downgraded its rating in the past month. However, the consensus recommendation for the stock by 14 analysts is ‘Buy’, according to the Forecaster consensus recommendation. Four analysts maintain ‘Hold’ and four maintain a ‘Sell’ on the stock.

5. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders: This shipping company outperformed the Nifty 500 by 27.4% over the past week till Thursday. The surge in the stock comes on a robust business outlook as the Ministry of Defence approved a positive indigenisation list on Monday, according to reports. The list follows two previous lists approved in December 2021 and March 2022. This list contains 780 items which will be indigenised and procured domestically over a period of time. The management believes it is well placed to benefit from the push for indigenisation as it is the only manufacturer of destroyers and submarines in India. So far, it has been successful in indigenising its ships as the percentage of locally produced components in the ships it builds has steadily increased to 75% from 42% in the 1990s, according to ICICI Securities.

The company’s strong Q1FY23 results have also aided positive price movement. Its net profit jumped 2.2X YoY to Rs 224.8 crore and revenue rose 83.7% YoY. Since releasing its Q1 results on August 10, the stock has risen by 42%. Due to this surge in share price the company made it to a screener that lists stocks which are overbought in the Money Flow Index.

For the remainder of FY23, the company has an order book of Rs 43,343 crore and expects the order inflow to increase over the coming years. In the long term, the management has two major projects involving the construction of submarines and new generation destroyers, with a combined value of Rs 93,000 crore. The management has guided revenue growth of 15-20% going ahead in FY23.

Trendlyne's analysts identify stocks that are seeing interesting price movement, analyst calls, or new developments. These are not buy recommendations.