1. Adani Power:

The stock of this power & electric utilities company surged 10.2% over the past week, driven by a strong demand outlook for domestic energy. On April 21, its subsidiary, Adani Atomic Energy, launched a new arm, Rawatbhata-Raj Atomic Energy (RRAEL) to handle nuclear power generation and distribution. This strategic move is rather perfectly timed, coinciding with the Indian government's recent push to open the heavily guarded nuclear sector to private players.

The 2025 SHANTI (Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India) bill is a major policy shift designed to end state control of nuclear energy and attract roughly $26 billion in private funding. By prioritizing the development of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), the government aims to scale India's nuclear capacity to 100 GW by 2047. Adani’s new nuclear venture positions the company at the forefront of this massive national energy expansion.

While the US-Iran conflict has rattled energy markets, Adani Power relies on thermal energy rather than imported gas for power generation. As India’s top private thermal producer, it manages a massive 18,110 MW capacity alongside a 40 MW solar setup. Since it doesn't rely on expensive Gulf LNG as its main input, the company is shielded from international price shocks and continues to outperform its industry peers. The stock appears on a screener of companies that have shown relative outperformance versus the industry over the past month.

Bernstein analyst Nikhil Nigania identified three major tailwinds for the sector including energy security, weaker monsoons, and the data center boom. He notes that AI and India’s digital expansion are fueling an "explosive" need for electricity. Since data centers never sleep, their massive power appetite is directly boosting revenues for the country's top energy producers.

Trendlyne’s Forecaster expects Adani Power’s Q4 revenue to grow by 13.3% YoY on the back of higher power demand due to a weaker monsoon and a hotter summer outlook. While the summer started mildly, JM Financial notes that rising temperatures and intense pre-monsoon heat from mid-May will drive up energy needs. This extreme weather is expected to cause a shortfall in hydro generation, paving the way for a massive surge in coal-fired output that will directly benefit the company's bottom line.

Initiating coverage with an ‘Outperform’ rating, Bernstein pointed out India's unique energy landscape: resource-poor in oil and gas, but rich in coal and solar. Because widespread electrification is the long-term solution, the brokerage argues that the best investments aren't just in pure renewables. Instead, companies dominating thermal, nuclear, storage, and grid segments-like Adani Power-hold the most promise.

2. Indian Energy Exchange (IEX):

This energy exchange fell 8% on April 20 as the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) proposed a new system that changes how electricity prices are decided.

IEX has been the dominant platform where electricity trades are executed, with prices being determined by the buy and sell orders placed on it. It made IEX a core part of the market’s pricing process.

Now, all exchanges will send their buy and sell orders to Grid India, the government-backed operator that manages the country’s power grid. It will pool these orders to decide a single price for the market. IEX will still facilitate trades, but the price will no longer be decided on its platform.

Balaji Rao Mudili, research analyst at Bonanza, flagged the competitive impact. “IEX’s dominance came from being the place where prices were set,” he said. “With pricing now centralised, rival exchanges can attract trades without needing to build the same scale first, spreading volumes across platforms.”

Nearly 78% of IEX’s revenue comes from transaction fees, so it depends heavily on trading volumes on its platform.

Mirae Asset Mutual Fund sold about a 0.2% stake in the company on April 20, possibly reacting to this news. The size of the sale may be small, but the timing reflects the cautious mood around the impact of the new policy. 

The CERC move comes at a time the business itself is seeing strong activity. IEX traded 141 billion units of electricity in FY26, up 17% YoY. A large share of this came from the real-time market, where power is bought to manage short-term demand, with volumes rising over 40%. Volumes in Q4FY26 also grew 24%.

Motilal Oswal maintained its ‘Neutral’ stance with a target price of Rs 137. The brokerage sees growth continuing, but the loss of pricing control changes how the business is valued. New opportunities like a coal exchange exist, but they are still some time away from contributing in a meaningful way.

3. Nestle India:

This packaged food manufacturer surged 13% over the past week after reporting strong Q4 results. Revenue grew 22% YoY, and net profit jumped 27%, beating Forecaster estimates by a wide margin. Chairman & MD Manish Tiwary said, “This performance was powered by double-digit volume growth, supported by higher advertising spends," while delivering a 153 basis points improvement in EBITDA margin. The company features in a screener of stocks with the best results last week.

Analysts note that 85% of the company’s portfolio benefited from GST-led pricing changes, which spurred demand. Continued investments in brands, distribution, and capacity have helped sustain growth momentum. Easing input costs, particularly softer coffee and cocoa prices due to improved global supply, also provide additional tailwinds.

Domestic revenue grew 23%, driven by distribution gains and rural expansion. General trade channels remain the primary growth driver, especially in rural markets, helped by a distribution reach across nearly 2.2 lakh villages. Despite this, Tiwary highlights the long runway ahead, noting, “In my earlier role in HUL, rural contributed a 48% revenue share,” compared with Nestle’s 18%.

New-age channels are contributing meaningfully. Quick commerce has emerged as a key growth driver, enabling rapid launches of products such as Nestea green tea variants. Increasing adoption of beverage machines by businesses have boosted out-of-home consumption at double-digit rates, while digital channels scale steadily.

ICICI Securities reiterates its ‘Buy’ rating on the stock, raising the target price to Rs 1,650. The brokerage expects a volume-led recovery driven by underlying demand and better distribution. It remains optimistic about Nestle’s growth trajectory, with GST-led affordability driving sales and momentum in discretionary categories such as chocolates.

4. Radico Khaitan:

This alcohol company jumped 5% over the past week. The surge followed an April 18 draft notification from Karnataka of its new liquor tax policy, along with Motilal Oswal reiterating its ‘Buy’ rating with 20.8% upside.

Karnataka's proposed policy, first announced on March 6, is a game-changer for premium spirit makers like Radico Khaitan, as it is the largest liquor-consuming state in India. The state will now tax drinks based on their alcohol content, not price. It is also cutting tax slabs from 16 to 8 and letting companies set their own prices. This levels the playing field, as premium brands will no longer face higher taxes just for being expensive. Under the new policy, drinks with the same alcohol content will be taxed equally.

This shift especially helps the company’s premium vodka, which drives over half of its premium sales. MD Abhishek Khaitan sees a huge opportunity and said, “While vodka accounts for over 20–25% of the global spirits market, in India it remains less than 4%, presenting significant headroom for growth.” Radico Khaitan leads this market with its Magic Moments brand, commanding a 60% market share in the vodka segment.

The stock’s rise was also fueled by Motilal Oswal setting a target price of Rs 3,850. The brokerage maintained its 'Buy' rating, confident in Radico Khaitan's dominance in white spirits. The company holds an impressive 80% share of the premium Indian-made vodka market.

On the cost side, Radico Khaitan is well-protected. It sources key ingredients like alcohol locally, and glass prices aren't tied to oil. Still, a sharp rise in crude oil from global tensions could increase its packaging and shipping expenses.

Motilal predicts steady growth, forecasting a 13% annual revenue increase through FY28, led by its high-end brands. Trendlyne Forecaster estimates also suggest revenue will grow 15.6% YoY in Q4FY26. However, it is expected to decline QoQ-wise by 2.5%, as Q3 typically benefits from festive demand, making Q4 relatively softer in comparison. 

5. HCL Technologies:

This IT stock plunged over the past week, hitting a new 52-week low after reporting mixed Q4 results. MD and CEO C Vijayakumar guided modest growth for FY27, saying, “We expect revenue to grow 1–4% with EBIT margins of about 18%,” up from 16.5% currently. He cautioned that while AI demand remains strong, pricing pressure and a shift towards cost-saving deals could limit overall growth.

Revenue remained flat QoQ at Rs 34,303 crore as clients cut discretionary IT spending and deal wins slowed. Net profit rose 10.1%, thanks to lower costs and a weak base in Q3FY26 due to labour code changes. However, both revenue and profit missed Forecaster estimates.

Performance remained uneven across segments. Weakness in telecom and media offset growth in the other segments, as two large US telecom clients reduced non-essential IT spending. Some manufacturing and retail clients also scaled back their software programs. EBITDA margins fell 283 basis points due to seasonal softness in the software business and delayed pricing decisions.

Amid this slowdown, AI continues to emerge as a key growth driver. The segment reached an annualised revenue of $620 million, raising its contribution to about 4% of total revenue from just 1% in the previous quarter. Growth was driven by large deals and strong demand for AI Force, a platform to automate IT and data workflows.

The company secured two major AI deals during the quarter, including an AI factory program worth over $100 million and an engineering services contract focused on advanced chip development. Management expects advanced AI services to grow 25–30% annually over the medium term, helping offset weakness in traditional segments, even as pricing pressure persists.

Following the results, Deven Choksey upgraded the stock to a ‘Buy’ rating from ‘Hold’ with a target price of Rs 1,611, implying a 33.9% upside. The brokerage expects steady execution in AI-led deals and margin discipline to support medium-term growth, with revenue and profit projected to grow around 8% annually through FY28.

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