Stock Picks Today: HCLTech, Tata Steel, Waaree Energies, ICICI Prudential, APL Apollo, And More On Brokerages' Radar

MS on HCLTech

• Maintain Equal-weight; Hike TP to Rs 1152 from Rs 1105
• Consensus estimates to stay put
• Strong execution was reflected in Advanced AI revenues
• Pipeline is robust, but macro uncertainty still keeps us cautious about inflection in growth
• Lack of consensus upgrades and strong recent outperformance may lead to near-term underperformance
• Think the data center strategy is bold
• It will take time to show up in its stronger positioning within the client base.

Kotak Securities on HCLTech

• Maintain Reduce with TP of Rs 1200
• Strong execution in a weak quarter
• Revenue decline broadly aligns with expectation
• Retains both revenue and margin guidance bands
• Reasonable deal TCV in 1QFY27; expect strong uptick in 2QFY27.

JPMorgan on HCLTech

• Maintain Underweight; Hike TP to Rs 1060 from Rs 1000
• Q1 print - rev beat, margins in line
• FY27 revenue growth guidance maintained
• FY27 margin guide maintained
• Increase earnings by 4-6% from margin upgrades over FY27-29.

Nomura on HCLTech

• Maintain Buy; Hike TP to Rs 1290 from Rs 1250
• FY27 starts on a healthy note with good Q1
• Investment in AI data center to go up the value chain
• Margin normalisation likely in FY27
• Hike FY27-28 EPS estimates by ~2-3% to factor in the 1Q results and JasperSoft (unlisted) acquisition closure.

Jefferies on ICICI Pru AMC

• Maintain Buy with TP of Rs 3770
• Q1 Results: Higher Expenses & Lower Alternates Yield Drive Miss
• Operating profit missed estimates due to lower revenues and higher employee costs
• PAT was a miss due to lower other income
• Cut FY28-29 EPS by 3-4% on account of higher employee costs
• Continue to like ICICI AMC due to its diversification and faster growing alternates business.

MS on ICICI Pru AMC

• Maintain Equal-weight; Cut TP to Rs 3320 from Rs 3410
• Operating profit was 1% below estimates as employee costs were higher
• MF inflows have remained resilient
• Raise FY27 estimates given market recovery but trim FY28 forecasts
• Like the franchise but find valuation full.

Bernstein on ICICI Pru AMC

• Maintain Outperfrom with TP of Rs 3510
• Q1FY27: Healthy operating growth with support from treasury gains
• Healthy markets in Q1 led MF AuM to grow and stronger treasury gains.

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MS on Grasim Industries

• Maintain Overweight with TP of Rs 3900
• Aditya Birla Renewables, a subsidiary of Grasim, has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of Solenergi Power
• See this as positive development for ABReN and Grasim, as this deal provides immediate scale
• Takes closer to 10GWp target well ahead of time
• Management is now targeting to double capacity over the next few years
• See the Sprng acquisition as a timely bet on India's energy security agenda
• Gives the Aditya Birla Group scaled exposure to the accelerating shift towards domestically sourced renewable power.

Citi on Grasim Industries

• Maintain Buy with TP of Rs 3600
• Aditya Birla Renewables to Acquire Assets; Grasim to Infuse Equity to Fund
• Grasim would like to balance capital allocation with scaling up the business
• Understand Grasim will raise debt
• Pending clarity on the impact on Grasim's leverage, the stock could react negatively.

Citi on Oil Companies

• Soft Crude, Strong Refining - Prefer Downstream over Upstream
• See tightened global product balances despite relatively resilient crude supply, supporting elevated refining cracks
• This dynamic of soft crude prices but high refining cracks augurs well for OMCs' integrated margins (IOCL>BPCL>HPCL)
• ONGC too has been called upon for national service following directions from the gov't to develop an SPR facility
• Prefer downstream OMCs over upstream SOEs.

Investec on Seshaasai Tech

• Initiate Buy with TP of Rs 430
• A quality annuity franchise + an emerging growth engine
• India's payment card manufacturing market is oligopolistic, with high entry barriers
• Payment cards should remain relevant
• IoT is new growth engine
• See steady margins and healthy cash conversion.

UBS on Waaree Energies

• Downgrade to Hold from Buy; Cut TP to Rs 3100 from Rs 4400
• Ambitious capex amid sector challenges
• Risk-reward appears balanced amid sector headwinds
• Frontloading of capex likely to drive faster sector consolidation
• Incremental returns on capex, execution to remain key focus for investors
• Medium term challenges persists.

BofA on APL Apollo

• Maintain Buy with TP of Rs 2170
• Volumes down 6% YoY on soft developer/dealer demand
• Margin resilience to cushion earnings
• Valuations attractive; volume likely to pick up in H2.

Jefferies on Financials

• FCNR-B: Comparing Rates & IRRs; Tad Higher IRRs Can Lift Mobilization
• Comparison shows that divergence in rates is higher than in IRRs
• SBI's 3yr-IRR is below peers, but 5yr-IRR is higher
• Foreign banks offer lower rates with high leverage to lift IRR
• Banks need to raise funds for client-leveraging before mobilizing FCNR-B deposits
• Rates are a tad below threshold for 'attractiveness', but banks can raise it by 20-30 bps or adjust for larger clients to lift inflow.

HSBC on Tata Steel

• Maintain Buy with TP of Rs 260
• Netherlands criminal proceedings relate to a limited number of incidents in the past
• TATA's exchange filing highlights the criminal proceedings at TSIJ relate to a limited number of incidents in the past
• Of 135,000 pushes, there was one instance in 2023 and zero instances in either 2024 or 2025.

HSBC on Gujarat Pipavav

• Maintain Reduce with TP of Rs 140
• Containers recovered but only marginally
• Q1FY27 throughput was mixed
• Containers posted the first growth in 10 quarters but missed company guidance
• Bulk and liquids fell with RoRo the only bright spot.

BofA on CPI

• Breached the RBI's target after 17-months
• CPI details: Food, Fuel led inflation higher; core sticky
• Do not see any immediate reversal in fuel price hikes as OMCs recoup the losses
• See headline inflation remaining above 4% going forward as inflation risks turn more domestic owing to weak start of South-West monsoon
• Expect CPI inflation at 4.8% yoy for FY27 with risks evenly balanced.

InCred on Privi Speciality

• Initiate Add with TP of Rs 4796
• Steady growth going ahead
• Sticky customer base and a resilient specialty-chemicals franchise
• Capacity expansion should sustain double-digit growth
• Pine-chemistry integration is the key advantage
• Backward integration and stable margins should lift FY29F EPS
• Healthy earnings growth supports ADD rating on the stocky.

JPMorgan on Paint Sector

• Paint demand witnesses divergent trends across geographies
• Secondary offtakes moderate somewhat
• Price hikes continued in June; Competition stable yet firm
• Limited on-the-ground impact of the JSW-Akzo merger so far
• Order fulfillment faced temporary constraints amid the Middle East conflict.

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