ICICI Securities Limited Broker Research reports

Avenue Supermarts (DMart) continues to operate as a business focused on stability rather than growth acceleration. Margins delivered a positive surprise, with EBITDA margin at 8.4%, driven by execution discipline and cost control despite an unfavourable mix.

We upgrade LatentView Analytics (LATENTVI) to BUY (from Add) with a revised TP of INR 560 (vs. INR 480) on an unchanged P/E of 38x FY28E EPS of INR 14.9 (roll-forward by two quarters).

Shriram Finance (SFL) is likely to emerge as a leader in the NBFC space in the next five years with structurally better profitability. Management highlighted that it expects a 100bps reduction in cost of borrowing (CoB) over the next 2–3 years and it would utilise the same to retain/acquire new customers.

Shyam Metalics and Energy (SMEL) has managed to triple its revenue over the past five years, riding on sharp capacity upliftment.

Orkla India, led by its strong legacy brands MTR and Eastern, enjoys a dominant market share in its core states of Karnataka, Kerala, AP and Telangana. Its deep understanding of regional tastes gives it a strong competitive moat.

Slump in price of key APIs has exerted pressure on growth in Akums CDMO segment for the past several quarters, we believe this trend is now starting to reverse as API prices are now stabilizing.

Aditya Infotech (AIL) will likely continue to gain market share driven by increased brand equity, manufacturing expansion and favourable regulatory norms – this emerged as an essential insight from the management meet, held at IFSEC India.

We sense a strategic shift in Axis Bank (Axis)’s playbook, basis our meeting with Mr Amitabh Chaudhry (MD&CEO), Mr Subrat Mohanty (ED), Mr Puneet Sharma (CFO) and Mr Rahul Jain (Head-IR).

Shriram Finance (SFL) has entered into a strategic partnership with MUFG Bank (Japan-based), wherein the partner has agreed to invest ~USD 4.4bn for 20% stake in SFL via preferential issue

We remain positive on LG Electronics India (LG) given its sustained market leadership across categories and backward integration. However, the near-term outlook is likely to be soft due to weak primary and secondary sales.

We remain positive on Havells although the near-term outlook is likely to be soft due to weak demand for air conditioners and potential impact on earnings due to change in BEE norms in Jan’26 in fans and air conditioners.

Tata Power (TPWR) saw a muted Q2FY26, stifled by a shutdown of its 4GW coal-based power plant – a consequence of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) impasse.

We initiate coverage on Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts (LEELA) with a BUY rating and a target price of INR 600, based on a 22x Dec’27E EV/EBITDA for its hotels business and a 1x P/B for the BKC/Dubai investments.

Netweb is India’s leading high-end computing solutions (HCS) provider. Its offerings span: HPC, private cloud and HCI, AI systems, data centres, HPS; and software and services for HCS.

We believe Siemens’ earnings are likely to grow >15% over the next two years. Growth would likely be driven by electrification; Smart Infrastructure (SI) and Mobility (MO) will likely contribute ~70% and ~10% of EBIT, respectively.

India Cements (ICEM) has seen it all – from M&A-led buoyancy (over past few years) to a more recent overhang of stakesale by new promoter UltraTech Cement (UTCEM; to comply with minimum public shareholding norms).

Siemens Energy India (SEI) has seen a strong year anchored by the transmission segment. Margin has expanded by 660bps over the past two years to 19.3%, aided by a better mix, improved pricing and rising export contribution.

Gulf Oil (GOLI) has delivered core lubricant YoY growth at >7% over the last 11 quarters, twice that of the industry growth rate.

High confidence on Kerala TAM opening up in a material way was one of the major takeaways from our meeting with GK. Strong traction in Kerala with a ~100-store opportunity; entry in Tamil Nadu will be in a phased manner to protect store economics.

Mahanagar Gas’ (MGL) EBITDA/scm declined to a 13-quarter low in Q2FY26. We believe margins are likely to remain under pressure due to INR depreciation and a jump in HH (US Henry Hub) prices in Q3FY26 (~30% of sourcing, at USD 5/MMbtu vs. <USD4/MMbtu in Q2).