Stocks to Watch Today: RIL, HCLTech, Bandhan Bank, SpiceJet and Others

Stocks to Watch Today: Strong global signals helped the market start the week on a good note, rising more than half a percent. Due to a variety of news events and second quarter results, shares of RIL, HCL Tech, HDFC Life, PVR Inox, and JSW Infra, among others, will be the subject of attention in today’s trading.

Reliance Industries (RIL) missed analyst forecasts in Q2 FY25, reporting a 4.8% year-over-year fall in consolidated profit of Rs 16,563 crore. This is the company’s third straight quarter of falling profitability, mostly as a result of its oil-to-chemicals (O2C) division’s deterioration. RIL’s upstream and digital services both expanded in spite of this. At Rs 2.31 trillion, revenue was somewhat less than the previous year. A subsidiary called Jio Platforms reported robust revenue growth of 18%, fueled by recent increases in cellular tariffs, but saw a decline in customers for the first time in seven quarters. The retail division of the corporation had a 5.2% gain in net profit despite lower sales as a result of difficulties in the fashion and leisure industries.

Jio Platforms: Thanks to increasing cellular pricing, the Reliance Industries subsidiary firm had a notable 23.4% year-over-year growth in net profit, hitting Rs 6,539 crore for Q2 FY25. At Rs 191.5, its average revenue per user (ARPU) increased. The quarter saw a loss of 10.9 million customers, but engagement remained high thanks to a substantial increase in phone and data traffic.

Reliance Retail Ventures: In spite of a 3.5% drop in sales, Reliance Industries’ retail segment posted a net profit of Rs 2,935 crore, up 5.2% year over year. The firm placed a strong focus on its growth plan, adding 464 new locations and raising the percentage of sales from internet commerce to 17%. Partnerships and expansion in the grocery and consumer electronics industries were particularly noted.

HCLTech: The business increased its forecast for sales growth in FY25, estimating a range of 3.5% to 5%. In Q2 FY25, the firm reported a net profit of Rs 4,235 crore, an increase of 10.5% over the previous year. This increase was underpinned by the media and telecoms sectors’ strong success. HCLTech keeps funding AI projects and digital capabilities, which could improve performance in the future.

Larsen & Toubro: Following JPMorgan’s “Overweight” recommendation of the company, which indicates a potential upside of around 25%, investors are feeling optimistic about L&T. Despite global concerns, the business expects robust order growth and has an optimistic order intake outlook for FY25. It has a 15% revenue growth target and is in a good position to gain from India’s large infrastructure projects.

Bandhan Bank: Partha Pratim Sengupta will take over as CEO and MD in November, with a primary emphasis on changing the bank’s business strategy. While microloans currently make up half of the company’s loan book, Bandhan wants to move toward secured loans while keeping profit margins strong. The bank’s capital adequacy ratio is fifteen percent, and its net interest margin is seven and six percent. Maintaining stakeholder trust, especially with regulators, will be essential as the bank works to strike a balance between stability and expansion.

Adani Power: Lenders are now able to get repayment after the Supreme Court upheld Adani Power’s Rs 27,000 crore bankruptcy settlement for the KSK Mahanadi project. Adani Power views this project, which has a total estimated cost of Rs 29,330 crore, as crucial. With an offer of Rs 27,000 crore, Adani Power was the top bidder for the stressed thermal project and guaranteed a 92% return for the lenders.

Tata Capital: With Tata Motors Lending’s permission for the merger, Tata Capital will grow to become India’s twelfth-largest non-banking lending firm. Through this combination, operations will be streamlined under the Tata umbrella, and client offers in the commercial vehicle finance category will be improved.

Atul Auto: A division of Atul Auto, Atul Greentech has teamed up with Jio Platforms to provide electric car solutions all over the world. Through this partnership, Atul Auto will be positioned advantageously in the expanding electric car industry by using IoT technologies to improve telematics and vehicle monitoring.

SpiceJet: Due to outstanding debts of around Rs 58 crore associated with a Boeing 737 lease, the airline is facing a fresh bankruptcy lawsuit. Given that SpiceJet has previously handled many insolvency petitions without initiating official procedures, this exacerbates already existing legal issues.

TAC InfoSec: TAC InfoSec will help developers adhere to strict security requirements as an authorized lab for Google’s Mobile App Security Assessment. This collaboration advances the company’s growth plan by enabling it to leverage a sizable market of more than 10,000 developers on the Play Store.

Bharti Airtel: Following a $3.6 billion agreement with Vodafone Idea, Ericsson has landed a substantial multi-billion dollar contract to provide 5G equipment to Bharti Airtel. The corporation may be able to offset revenue decreases in the US market with the growing demand in the Indian 5G market, pushed by Airtel and Jio.

Easy Trip Planners: The company’s board of directors has authorized the issuing of bonus shares, with one bonus share being offered for each equity share that has been completely paid up. In addition to reflecting the company’s dedication to rewarding shareholders, this comes after two profitable bonus payouts in 2022. With the offering, the total share capital would rise to Rs 354.408 crore, with Rs 177.2 crore coming from existing reserves as funding.

Reliance Home Finance: The chairman of the Reliance Group, Anil Ambani, has filed an appeal against a Sebi ruling that fined several people a total of Rs 625 crore, including Rs 25 crore for Ambani. The lawsuit concerns claims of distribution of loans associated with promoters and financial irregularities. On October 18, the Securities Appellate Tribunal is scheduled to hear the case.