Corporate India entered FY26 facing sticky inflation, uneven demand, and rising global uncertainty. Yet some corners of the economy stayed unusually busy.

Trading activity surged across commodities and derivatives. More borrowers shifted towards organised gold lenders. Premium hotel operators have kept raising room rates amid tight supply, and global pharmaceutical companies increased orders to Indian manufacturers.

"India's small- and mid-cap stocks are entering a sweet spot, with stronger earnings, price corrections and improving valuations making them more attractive than large-caps," said Hiren Dasani, chief investment officer for emerging markets at WhiteOak Capital.

As it turns out, a few businesses pulled sharply ahead of expectations. We identified these companies using a screener for stocks outpacing the Nifty500’s FY26 revenue growth of 8.3%.

In this edition of Chart of the Week, we look at the companies that beat Forecaster estimates in FY26 and the business trends that pushed their revenue growth far ahead of expectations.

Trading activity and gold loans fuelled earnings surprises

More Indians traded commodities, borrowed against gold, and moved savings towards formal financial platforms during FY26. Higher activity lifted transaction-linked revenue across exchanges and organised lenders.

Gold and silver became MCX’s biggest growth drivers during FY26, with both revenue and net profit more than doubling during the year. Bullion volumes accounted for nearly 77% of futures turnover as investors flocked to gold and silver amid global uncertainty. The surge pushed revenue and net profit 8.1% and 3.7% above Forecaster estimates, respectively.

Retail participation spread beyond commodities during FY26, with options and futures trading also surging across equity markets. BSE’s transaction charge income rose nearly 87% as trading activity accelerated, pushing revenue and profit 4.6% and 1.3% above Forecaster estimates, respectively.

Orders processed through BSE’s mutual fund distribution platform, BSE StAR MF, rose nearly 27% during FY26 as more retail investors channelled savings into SIPs and mutual funds.

Rising gold prices pushed more borrowers towards organised lenders during FY26. Muthoot Finance’s gold loan book expanded nearly 50%, while revenue and net profit beat Forecaster estimates by 5.1% and 6.1%, respectively. Net profit also nearly doubled during the year.

More borrowers also started using gold loans for working capital and small business expansion. Managing Director George Alexander Muthoot said, “Growth increasingly came from borrowers taking larger-ticket gold loans of up to Rs 2 lakh instead of smaller emergency loans.”

The shift towards organised gold lenders also benefited newer entrants expanding aggressively beyond traditional strongholds. Capri Global Capital’s gold loan assets more than doubled during FY26 as the company expanded across southern and eastern India. Its FY26 revenue and net profit beat Forecaster estimates by 5.7% and 5.9%, respectively.

Nearly 90% of Capri’s gold loan branches now generate enough business to operate profitably, highlighting how quickly newer branches ramped up business. Gold loan assets per branch also rose more than 20% QoQ in Q4FY26 to Rs 17 crore.

Drug manufacturing and wellness demand accelerate in FY26

Indian pharma manufacturers saw a sharp rise in global contract manufacturing orders during FY26, while wellness products also gained traction. Higher-value therapies are driving growth across specialty healthcare businesses.

Global pharmaceutical companies increased manufacturing orders to Neuland Laboratories during FY26, with the company’s commercial drug manufacturing revenue surging 124% during the year. The sharp scale-up pushed revenue and net profit 14.7% and 41.5% above Forecaster estimates.

The company also accelerated investments in peptide manufacturing as obesity drug demand has gathered pace worldwide. Managing Director and CEO Saharsh Davuluri said, “The peptide facility is expected to become operational by July 2026, and customer onboarding has already begun.”

Healthcare spending also expanded into wellness and chronic therapies during FY26. Consumer wellness became one of Zydus Lifesciences’ fastest-growing businesses, with revenue from the segment rising 61% during the year.

Strong traction across nutrition, skin care, and international wellness brands helped revenue and net profit beat Forecaster estimates by 3.9% and 8.2%, respectively. India formulations were also a key growth driver, especially in chronic therapies such as cardiology and respiratory care.

Chronic therapies now contribute more than 46% of Zydus’ India portfolio as patients increasingly spend on long-term healthcare treatments.

Travel, jewellery and premium spending drive FY26 surprises

Consumers spent more on travel, jewellery, premium food products, and digital infrastructure in FY26. That helped several businesses scale revenue much faster than expected.

Chalet Hotels raised room rates through most of FY26 as hotel demand continued outpacing new supply across major cities. Managing Director and CEO Shwetank Singh said, “Supply in the hospitality industry continues to lag demand,” reinforcing pricing strength across the sector.

Average room rates rose 13.5% during the year to Rs 13,727, while commercial real estate revenue jumped 55.4%. The uptick in occupancy and pricing pushed revenue and net profit 13.4% and 17.2% above Forecaster estimates, respectively, while net profit more than quadrupled during FY26.

Consumers also spent more on jewellery across both metro cities and newer markets during FY26. Kalyan Jewellers’ revenue and profit beat Forecaster estimates by 5.7% and 6%, respectively, while franchise-owned stores contributed nearly 54% of India sales.

The company opened 129 showrooms during FY26, including its first Kalyan showroom in the United Kingdom. Candere, Kalyan’s online-first jewellery platform, grew 160% during the year and turned profitable in the second half of FY26.

Premium consumption trends also lifted branded food and beverage companies during FY26. Coffee maker CCL Products benefited from rising demand for freeze-dried coffee and premium retail brands, helping revenue and net profit beat Forecaster estimates by 6.8% and 2.6%, respectively.

India business turnover also surged nearly 48% during FY26 to around Rs 650 crore as instant coffee consumption expanded beyond southern markets.

Enterprise demand for domestic data storage and cloud infrastructure grew during FY26 as companies increasingly shifted workloads closer to home. Anant Raj operationalised 28 megawatts of data centre capacity across Manesar and Panchkula during the year, with data centre and cloud services contributing around 7% of total revenue. The company’s expanding digital infrastructure business helped revenue and profit exceed Forecaster estimates by 3.9% and 7.7%, respectively.

Companies linked to rising retail participation, formal lending, premium consumption, and global pharmaceutical manufacturing delivered some of FY26’s strongest revenue surprises. In several cases, demand scaled much faster than analysts expected at the start of the year.