Stock Picks Today: United Spirits, Paytm, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv On Brokerages' Radar

United Spirits Ltd., the NBFC companies, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., Paytm, Bharti Airtel Ltd., and Bajaj Finserv Ltd. are among the companies and sectors garnering brokerage commentary on Friday.

Analysts have shared their insights and, in several cases, revised their target prices based on their updated fundamental outlooks. Here are the key analyst calls to watch out for today:

• Maintained Underperform with a target price of Rs 1,250.

• Noted that Pernod India saw upto 9% sales growth in the June 2025 quarter.

• Market share was flat against Pernod, although there were losses versus Radico Khaitan.

• Pernod India expects tax increases in Maharashtra to significantly impact sales in the September-ended quarter.

• Loan demand remains subdued.

• GST rationalization could lift demand in select segments and help small truck operators.

• Price deflation will be negative for disbursements and LTV (Loan-to-Value).

• Stress has increased across segments, including MSME, due to a slowing macro environment.

• Tariffs could increase stress in select pockets.

• A pickup in economic activity and lower rates should ease the pressure in H2.

• NIMs (Net Interest Margins) should expand and cushion earnings.

• Top picks remain Bajaj Finance, Chola Finance, and Shriram Finance.

• Muthoot Finance is considered a defensive play.

• Shriram Finance's valuations at 1.6x appear attractive.

• A $55-60 billion direct hit to the economy is expected due to US tariffs.

• Most negatively impacted sectors are textiles, shoes, jewellery, and gems, which are employment-intensive.

• The tariff issue is significant because growth has already slowed.

• The main reason for the nominal slowdown is that headline CPI inflation was at an eight-year low.

• More fiscal easing is likely.

• The RBI has turned "unambiguously dovish" since new governor Sanjay Malhotra took over.

• The renewed combination of fiscal and monetary easing has caused analysts to factor in a pickup in nominal growth next fiscal year.

• 50% tariffs are a massive potential negative for SMEs, which can negatively impact microfinance and consumer finance companies.

• The report continues to view India as the most dynamic capital market outside of America.

• The portfolio has been changed to add M&M and remove Aditya Birla Real Estate.

• Maintained Buy with a target price of Rs 2,420.

• Jefferies hosted Sanjiv Bajaj and the management team of Bajaj Finserv for a roadshow in the US.

• Management targets for Bajaj Finserv are to see customer franchise, top-line, and profits grow at a 15-22% CAGR over the next 5 years.

• Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company will target improving margins to match peers.

• Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company aims to sustain over 15% earnings growth, and other platforms will achieve scale.

• Expects BFS to grow core earnings at a 22% CAGR over FY25-28.

• Valuations are considered reasonable.

• Steel production cuts in China have been made official, which is a positive for Indian steel.

• This move removes market concerns about the authenticity of the production cuts.

• It should support China's steel prices and spreads over the medium term.

• This, in turn, should support Indian steel prices.

• Expects steel stocks to perform well in the near term.

• The BofA India IT Services Indicator shows a stable reading after nine months of a dip.

• The stable reading was helped by macro components of the indicator.

• Global Services PMI, Global Economic Research Report, and US Business applications contributed positively to the reading.

• This helped offset the weaker reading in industry-specific components.

• The indicator is a proprietary tool designed to identify directional trends in the constant currency revenue growth of the top four Indian IT Services companies: TCS, Infosys, HCL, and Wipro.

• Maintained Overweight with a target price of Rs 2,190.

• Takeaways from the CEO at Singtel Investor Day highlighted a continued focus on ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) repair and growing the Homes, Cloud, and Data Centre businesses.

• There is still scope for ARPU to rise to Rs 350-400 over time.

• Recent entry-level plan changes are a step in the right direction but will not have a material impact on ARPU.

• Views Homes as a significant multi-year opportunity.

• The combination of fiber and FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) could more than double Airtel's business.

• Incremental focus areas for capital deployment are deleveraging, dividend increases, capex towards cloud and data centers, and balance sheet leverage in digital lending.