Nearly three-fourths of the Indian blue-chip companies in the country's benchmark NSE Nifty 50 index reported financial results that matched or surpassed analyst estimates in the third quarter.
The Big Picture
- Beat Estimates: 12
- In line: 24
- Miss Estimates: 13
Ambuja Cements Ltd. yet to report earnings.
No bank earnings, the most represented sector in the Nifty, managed to surpass analyst estimates. India's largest bank State bank of India and private lender ICICI Bank Ltd. both missed estimates, while rest reported earnings that matched forecasts.
Oil companies had a mixed quarter, with three outperforming and three falling short of estimates.
Overall, the number of companies beating estimates was the lowest in at least the last four quarters, while the ones that missed or met forecasts rose compared to the previous quarter.
Sectoral Highlights
Agriculture
- The only agriculture company in Nifty, UPL Ltd. reported weaker-than-expected financials.
- That was mostly due to volatile weather in Latin America and pricing pressures.
Automobiles
- Autoparts maker Bosh Ltd.'s earnings beat expectations while automakers reported a mixed set of numbers.
- Two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto Ltd. and India's largest commercial vehicle manufacturer Tata Motors Ltd., both missed expectations.
- Tata Motors was hurt by lower sales of premium Jaguar Land Rover cars while higher costs dented Bajaj Auto's margin.
- All other automakers reported in line earnings.
Cement
- Higher input costs weighed on the operational performance of UltraTech Cement Ltd.
- Ambuja Cements Ltd. yet to report earnings.
Construction
- Larsen and Toubro Ltd. results surpassed analyst estimates, and the engineering conglomerate maintained its guidance.
- The quarter was marked by higher order inflow for L&T.
FMCG
- The earnings performance of all three - ITC Ltd., Hindustan Unilever Ltd. and Asian Paints Ltd. - were also in line with expectations.
- While ITC's sales volume growth disappointed analysts, HUL and Asian Paints reported stronger growth.
Oil and Gas
- Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. missed estimates due to higher operating costs
- Reliance Industries benefitted from higher petrochemicals business and telecom arm Jio reporting a profit. The refining business remained subdued.
- Among the oil marketers, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. underperformed due to lower inventory and marketing performance gains. Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. outperformed.
Financials
- SBI and ICICI Bank's financials missed estimates and asset quality worsened.
- Non-banking financial firms like Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd., Bajaj Finance Ltd. and HDFC Ltd. beat estimates.
Information Technology
- All five IT companies met estimates and reported largely stable guidance.
Metals and Minerals
- Tata Steel's strong domestic business drove operational performance.
- Higher e-auction Application Service Providers and volume aided Coal India as it beat estimates.
Pharmaceuticals
- Drugmakers, except Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and Lupin Ltd., reported earnings which were in line with estimates. This was on the back of a lower base in the same quarter last year.
- The largest pharmaceutical manufacturer Sun Pharma was weighed down by its subsidiary Taro Pharma's performance as well as a one-time tax outgo.
An earlier version of this story was corrected to state that Ambuja Cements Ltd. has not yet reported earnings and hence the number of companies reporting earnings inline with analysts' estimates stands revised to 24.
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