PL Capital

With Dhanteras today and Diwali around the corner, PL Capital has unveiled a basket of eight stock ideas spanning defence, PSU, banks, NBFCs, industrials and consumption sectors including BEL, ICICI Bank, Britannia Industries, and more from large and mid-cap sector.

Among these updates, Samhi Hotels stands out with the highest projected upside of over 34%, supported by robust demand in the hospitality segment, followed closely by Fractal Analytics at 26.8% upside as its AI product business scales rapidly.

KEI Industries' exports are expected to accelerate, supported by a strong Rs 990 crore overseas order book, adds the brokerage.

Nippon Life posted steady quarter but one-off item affects profits for Q2 FY27, says PL Capital

Sai Life is well placed to benefit from the shift toward outsourcing in small molecules, given its integrated capabilities across discovery, development and manufacturing and strong process chemistry expertise, believes the brokerage.

UltraTech's Q2 results have prompted three brokerages out of four, to cut their target prices, even as strong volume growth supported a positive long-term outlook.

Overall, improving execution, margin recovery and diversification beyond thermal power strengthen BHEL's medium-term growth outlook, although timely order conversion and sustained execution momentum remain key monitorables.

TCS' total contract value remained steady at $9.6 billion, excluding the Porsche and Best Buy deals, while annualised AI revenue crossed $3.1 billion, highlighting strong traction in AI-led services, adds the brokerage.

The brokerage highlighted that H2 FY27 is likely to see gradual normalisation in cargo flows, although elevated freight rates and weather-related disruptions remain near-term headwinds.

PL Capital also noted that insurance valuations have corrected significantly amid the prevailing regulatory overhang.

The brokerage prefers select mid-cap IT and BPO companies, which are better positioned to navigate the current environment, supported by steady deal conversions and ramp-up of recent wins. In contrast, large-cap IT companies continue to face structural headwinds from AI-led deflation and leakage in traditional services, while the Middle East conflict and the Fed's rat...

The brokerage remains optimistic about its business prospects given the improving equity performance, which is driving up net equity flow market share, superior equity/debt/liquid yield at 70/25/14bps due to lower distributor payouts; and focus on increasing non-MF revenue, which has seen a healthy 24% CAGR over FY22-26.

Pearl Global is progressing ahead of its previously outlined targets across key operating parameters, adds the brokerage.

Solar Industries has maintained a leading position in India's explosives market, with its market share increasing from 23.3% in FY15 to 26.7% in FY25, supported by strong positioning across the key domestic demand channel, says the brokerage.

NSE's IPO values it at Rs 4.4 trillion, with price-to-earnings of 32 times on FY29E earnings, and the brokerage believes the valuation largely captures the premium.

PL Capital has retained its'Overweight' stance on the Indian cement sector, citing resilient cement prices despite seasonal weakness, while cautioning that weak demand conditions, elevated fuel costs and poor monsoon trends could weigh on margins in the coming quarters.

Fractal's FY26 annual report suggests that despite macro uncertainties, its enterprise clients continue to make AI investments to achieve competitive advantage, operational agility and margin expansion, highlights the brokearge.

Sashidhar Jagdishan's exit would be negative and near-term pressure may persist till succession clarity emerges, although HDFC Bank is attractive at 1.4 times Mar'28E core ABV, but medium-term return would hinge on strategy and execution, adds the brokerage.

Motilal Oswal believes that the pivot towards managing lifecycle engineering can structurally improve the quality of Cyient's revenue; however, the key monitorable remain the success rate and execution within its marquee accounts.

Positive Indigenisation Lists are structurally positive for Indian defence companies as they create a domestic demand pool by mandating local sourcing of identified defence equipment and components, believes the brokerage.