Samir Arora Picks Eternal Among New-Age Stocks On 'Impressive' Growth, Underweight On IT

Even as the Indian stock market continues to remain in a consolidation range, Samir Arora, founder and fund manager of Singapore-based Helios Capital, believes certain sectors can bring out pockets of opportunities for investors.

Arora, who is a renowned expert with long-term focus on Indian markets, remains underweight on the IT sector and bullish on pharmaceuticals.

According to D-Street experts, even a possible India-US trade deal has been discounted by the market, leaving no scope for a sharp rally decisively breaking the range.

Arora, in an interview with NDTV Profit, said he is not waiting with 'bated breath' for an announcement on an agreement between the two countries.

Arora told NDTV Profit that the Indian IT sector has delivered a 'horrible' performance during the last few earnings quarters, which is why the sector has received 'underweight' ratings from several analysts. "I don't see much scope in IT after the latest management commentary. The optimism doesn't match if the year-end outlook pegs a 1% growth," said Arora.

Among the new-age tech stocks, the Helios Capital founder said that he likes 'Eternal' the most. "The food delivery and quick commerce companies have a very complicated business model. To deliver growth in such a model is impressive," said Arora, while talking about Eternal and Swiggy.

According to analysts, a sustained market rally needs earnings support. The two big segments of the market — IT and FMCG — are struggling with tepid earnings. While FMCG shows green shoots of recovery, IT continues to struggle. Hence, experts suggest investors to be stock-specific, focusing on sectors where growth prospects and earnings visibility are bright.

In the same backdrop, Arora said he "likes" pharma and healthcare and may even ''buy more" in the sector. Two of his holdings from the sector are Fortis and Apollo Hospitals.

Most analysts have a positive outlook on pharma and believe that the sector can bring 'pockets of opportunities' for investors.