Stock Picks Today: HUL, L&T, Swiggy, Varun Beverages, Cipla, DMart, Pine Labs, And More On Brokerages' Radar

Brokerages have identified opportunities across FMCG, engineering and construction, food delivery, pharma, wealth management and plastics, with fresh calls on HUL, L&T, Swiggy, Varun Beverages, Cipla, DMart, Pine Labs, Nuvama, Phoenix Mills, Cholamandalam Finance, Indus Towers, and City Union Bank, while maintaining a constructive view on the auto sector. 

Macquarie on HUL

• Maintain Outperform with TP of Rs 2860
• Broadly in-line 1Q; volume growth moderates QoQ
• Did not like the continued weakness in soaps due to inflationary pressures
• Liked stable FMCG demand outlook going into Q2 despite the inflationary pressures
• Premium continues to grow ahead of mass across markets
• Believe clarity on a volume pickup remains important to near-term performance.

Citi on HUL

• Maintain Buy; Cut TP to Rs 2650 from Rs 2750
• Growth Momentum Sustains
• FY27 Outlook Remains Constructive
• Demand outlook remains stable
• See improving execution, portfolio premiumization and channel transformation.

 MS on HUL

• Maintain Equal-weight with TP of Rs 2480
• Q1: Optimistic Commentary
• Overall demand conditions are expected to be stable
• Inflation has not affected demand so far; Rural and urban demand remains stable
• Monsoon and geopolitical risks remain key monitorables.

Jefferies on HUL

• Maintain Buy with TP of Rs 2850
• 7% share price drop is baffling given the extent of the miss
• There were a few weak spots, but offsetting factors meant the overall miss in EBITDA was small
• Note the consistent improvement in growth & profitability over the past few qtrs.
• Mgmt. commentary was reasonable, with expectations of stable demand & margin remaining in the guided range. 

GS on HUL

• Maintain Buy; Cut TP to Rs 2450 from Rs 2725
• Revenue growth improving, we expect further acceleration in FY27
• Home care growth was strong and is likely to accelerate further as price growth kicks in FY27
• Encouraging recovery in beauty & wellbeing
• Foods steady, weak personal care
• Expects to sustain EBITDA margins despite input cost inflation.

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Citi on L&T

• Maintain Buy with TP of Rs 4650
• Q1: Resilient Performance; Order Inflow Outlook Constructive
• Management commentary suggests supply chain linked cost pressures should remain manageable
• Maintained its full-year margin guidance
• Margin headwinds in Q1 were primarily driven by a bump in Expected Credit Loss. 

Jefferies on L&T

• Maintain Buy; Hike TP to Rs 5000 from Rs 4885
• Margins intact despite revenue miss
• Management maintained its annual 10-12% YoY revenue guidance, implying that H2 will be better
• Believe L&T stock should see a leg up to Rs 4,278 (when the conflict started) if global tensions ease
• With earnings visibility adding to upside thereon.

CLSA on L&T

• Maintain Outperform with TP of Rs 4842
• Q1 order surprise
• Expanding total addressable market to Europe & India industrial capex drive surprise
• Believe L&T's stock weakness on cyclical factors such as the Iran war is an added buying opportunity
• L&T is the most undervalued large-cap India industrials stock
• Its $78bn backlog is up 28% YoY and appears solid in the current environment
• L&T is emerging as a global Capex cycle play.

MS on Swiggy

• Swiggy's Instamart business has been prioritizing profitability over market share in recent quarters
• Think churn at the leadership level may further compound investor concerns around loss of market share
• Also think a change in leadership could bring a strategy refresh and potential path to regain market share loss
• While maintaining break even or profitability at the contribution margin level. 

Bernstein on Nuvama Wealth

• Maintain Outperform with TP of Rs 1800
• Expect growth, but valuations limit near-term upside
• Improved growth outlook & optimism over PAG's exit (private) have driven the re-rating
• Remain fundamentally positive
• Re-rating bakes in optimism on the PE exit being completed in the near-term. 

Macquarie on Avenue Supermarts

• Maintain Underperform with TP of Rs 3250
• Targets 15% store adds, sees SSSg staying at ~8%
• Unchanged outlook on quick commerce:
• Focused on proving the sustainable and profitable nature of DMart Ready
• Believes online and offline consumers are different and hence also does not see merit in integrating DMart Ready and physical stores.

GS on Avenue Supermarts

• Maintain Sell; Cut TP to Rs 3800 from Rs 4000
• Store adds ambition lower than expectations
• Company now more open to long-term leases to open stores
• Like-for-like growth likely unlikely to see acceleration despite increased price inflation on FMCG products
• Gross margin to sustain in 14-15% range; PBT margin a better metric of profitability going forward
• E-commerce scaled back, company will not participate in Quick Commerce and wants to grow business profitably. 

MS on Avenue Supermarts

• Maintain Overweight; Cut TP to Rs 4464 from Rs 4827
• Cut store openings for FY27e to 75 vs. 85 earlier
• Also reduce SSSG to 7% from 8%
• EPS estimates for FY27-29 are lower by 3% each owing to the top-line cut and higher finance costs. 

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JPMorgan on Cipla

• Maintain Overweight with TP of Rs 1600
• First DPI approval from US plant
• Competitive market but sizeable and stable
• Moving in the right direction on FY27 guidance
• Execution remains key. 

Kotak Securities on Cipla

• Maintain Buy with TP of Rs 1675
• gAdvair approval marks another milestone toward achieving US guidance
• Expect Cipla to generate US$22/28 mn US sales from gAdvair in FY27/28
• Stays one of our top picks. 

MS on Varun Beverages

• Maintain Overweight with TP of Rs 557
• Positive Commentary on July Trends
• Expects growth momentum to continue beyond July
• Mgmt sounded confident in sustaining double-digit growth momentum and maintaining margins at current levels
• Sharp stock reaction today factors in the weaker-than-expected growth in India
• Positive management commentary and the relatively lower valuation vs. peers, should support near-term stock recover.

Citi on Varun Beverages

• Maintain Buy; Cut TP to Rs 580 from Rs 640
• Q2 Below: India Growth Debate Persists; Mgmt. Remains Constructive
• International business: Strong growth continues
• Believe the category remains attractive over the long-term and competitive intensity could be gradually easing. 

Jefferies on Varun Beverages

• Maintain Buy with TP of Rs 615
• Growth Scare or Buying Opportunity?
• India's business volume growth disappointed the market
• Softer volume base kept expectations high on growth
• Mgmt clarified that weather conditions impacted April, while the other two months delivered >20%
• International ops helped offset some of the weakness
• Mgmt remains confident, esp as July saw strong momentum
• Believe the correction is excessive.

Citi on Pine Labs

• Maintain Buy; Cut TP to Rs 215 from Rs 235
• Growth In Line; Margins Lower on Mix & Growth Investments
• Revenue growth led by distribution sub-segment within the Issuing and Acquiring business
• Sales-Fleet Additions Should Contribute to higher H2 growth. 

Citi on Supreme Industries

• Maintain Sell; Hike TP to Rs 3150 from Rs 3050
• Q1: Strong Margins Offset Weak Volumes
• See downside Risk to FY27 Volume Guidance
• MIP Should Prevent Further Destocking
• See increased competitive intensity following backward integration by a major competitor. 

Macquarie on Phoenix Mills

• Maintain Outperform with TP of Rs 2100
• Rent catch-up begins
• Retail growth print driven by occupancy at newer malls and revenue-share flow-through from higher consumption
• Improving pre-leasing occupancies numbers at repositioned malls is encouraging
• Remain concerned about slow pace of ramp up in offices. 

MS on Phoenix Mills

• Maintain Overweight with TP of Rs 2000
• Q1 EPS Miss Driven by Weak Residential Revenue
• Project completion for PMC Bangalore expansion and Surat is delayed. 

Macquarie on Chola Finance

• Maintain Underperform with TP of Rs 1495
• Steady Quarter
• Q1: Operating leverage drives an in-line quarter
• Growth momentum intact; margins defensible
• Seasonal stress, improving loss trajectory. 

MS on Chola Finance

• Maintain Equal-weight; Hike TP to Rs 1900 from Rs 1720
• Q1: good quarter
• Raise FY27 forecasts sharply – these were depressed by macro concerns that now appear manageable
• See limited upside and relatively higher vulnerability of growth to macro risks and NIM to higher rates. 

Citi on Chola Finance

• Maintain Buy; Hike TP to Rs 2100 from Rs 1945
• Growth/NIMs/Credit Cost Held Firm in a Seasonally Weak Q1
• Asset Quality — Pace of Seasonal Deterioration Slow; Credit Cost at Guided Level
• NIMs Likely To Hold Above Guidance
• Opex Growth Following Asset Growth; Investment Phase Continuing.

Jefferies on Chola Finance

• Maintain Buy; Hike TP to Rs 2100 from Rs 1960
• Q1: Profit Beat; Broad Based Momentum; Provision Surprise Positively
• Healthy broad based AUM growth
• Stable margin outlook
• FY27 credit cost may undershoot guidance
• Stays among top picks in NBFCs

Macquarie on City Union Bank

• Maintain Outperform with TP of Rs 250
• Growth momentum intact
• Broad-based growth drives the beat
• Near-term margin pressure
• Cleaner balance sheet supports RoA upside. 

Jefferies on Auto Sector

• 2W demand shifting to premium bikes and EVs
• TVS gaining share in 2Ws
• Cars make a comeback in Jun-Q
• Market share stabilization key for Maruti Suzuki
• HYUNDAI slipping; TaMo PV rises to #2, but lower margins
• EV adoption accelerates
• Have Buys on TVS, Eicher, Maruti & M&M, but Underperform on HYUNDAI & TaMo PV. 

Macquarie on Indus Tower

• Upgrade to Neutral from Underperform; TP at Rs 350
• Still lacklustre growth; up to Neutral on valuation
• Continue to forecast a lacklustre growth Indus Towers
• Indus' Africa foray could add to revenue growth but will likely be ROIC dilutive given initial single tenancy visibility
• Upgrade to Neutral following recent share price pull-back
• Positive thesis will need stronger EBITDA growth outlook.

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