Page 5 - Compass

Godrej Properties to maintain growth; new launches treble in 6 years

Falling operating cash flows could make it difficult to meet return on equity target, say analysts

ONGC, OIL earnings hinge on upside in crude prices as production stagnates

With not much upside in output and gas prices weak, earnings are expected to be under pressure

Despite volume uptick, Maruti's rally may fizzle out on multiple headwinds

Competitive pressures, lower share of utility vehicle segment and margins are key worries

ICICI Pru Life Insurance: Focus on growth critical to curb underperformance

While the product mix has improved, sharp de-growth in premium is a worry

Info Edge: Fall in billing a worry, investors should await management views

Q1 was better than estimates, but the 44 per cent drop in billing points to a weak revenue and margin outlook

New launches in key categories to trigger AstraZeneca Pharma's growth

Higher share of patented products, scope for margin improvement and chronic portfolio are key positives

Page Industries: Muted earnings visibility, high valuation hurt sentiment

Muted earnings visibility is a key reason for the stock's decline

Strong US portfolio to drive revenue growth for Aurobindo Pharma

Margins expected to improve on product mix and volume growth

OMCs on stronger wicket, oil producers stare at losses as crude plunges

Refiners like Reliance Industries may also see inventory losses adding pressure on already weak refining margins

Hotel stock investors fear June quarter due to coronavirus impact

Hotel stocks are likely to remain under pressure until the situation comes under control

YES Bank fiasco, double-blow for Max Financial; analysts caution investors

Max Life has Rs 2,000 crore exposure to YES Bank's tier-2 bonds and the latter accounts for 11 per cent of its bancassurance channel

SKF India may face pressure on revenues and margins amid weak demand

Trading at 30x its FY21 earnings, there is limited upside

Cummins India: A value trap for investors or value buy? Analysts cautious

Likely to be effective from 2022, analysts at IIFL say Cummins India is ahead of the curve to cater to these products

Crompton Consumer on a firm footing, led by growth in electrical appliances

Improving profitability in durables, tax cuts to drive earnings

Dabur's growth potential justifies premium valuation of its stock

Focus on power brands and rural expansion augur well for the stock, trading at 43 times its FY21 estimated earnings

Experience speaks: How startups like Uber, Airbnb master art of business

The companies are armed with centralized knowledge and act consistently based on those experiences.

YES Bank stocks remain under pressure as CG power fraud stumps investors

In the last two trading sessions, the stock has shed over 10 per cent with the latest worry stemming from CG Power, a listed company in which YES Bank holds 12.8 per cent stake

Will Jubilant FoodWorks deliver on analysts' optimism?

The Jubilant FoodWorks (Jubilant) stock surged as much as 7.6 per cent on Thursday due to an upgrade by leading foreign brokerage Goldman Sachs, which now has a Buy recommendation on the stock versus Neutral earlier. Its one-year target price has also been raised by 36 per cent to Rs 1,228 apiece. Most other analysts also remain bullish as they believe that Jubilant can overcome near-term demand hurdles and grow strongly post that. Bloomberg consensus estimates the company's standalone net profit to grow 18 per cent in FY18. While the number looks good, it comes on a low base.Moreover, rising competitive pressures coupled with slowing consumption demand have weighed on Jubilant's financial performance for some time now. Its same store sales growth or SSSG has come off from growth of 3.2 per cent in FY16 to a decline of 0.8 per cent for the nine months ending December 2016. SSSG denotes the sales growth from the stores that were operational in the comparable period. Jubilant's ...

Future Retail gleams in new avatar

With 45 per cent stock appreciation in February and almost 100 per cent in 2017, Future Retail stands as an unexpected winner on the bourses. While some part of the rally may be fuelled by impending public issue of Avenue Supermart (which operates DMart retail chain), the improvement in the company's financial performance post the restructuring exercise is also rewarding the stock.Future Retail was re-listed in August 2016, and has seen its net profit surge consecutively for the last three quarters-total profit for nine months of FY17 was Rs 245 crore. In its new avatar, the company is projected as a pure-play retailer focused on increasing same-store sales, improving product offerings and more importantly maximising capital deployment. In other words, unlike its earlier model of taking debt to expand business, Future Retail will predominately be asset-light, incurring only working capital costs. From FY15 till now, working capital days has reduced from 168 days to 104 days and ...

Falling rubber to lift Apollo Tyres

Tyre stocks have been major gainers over the last two trading sessions on falling international rubber prices as well as expectations of more price hikes by tyre companies. Global rubber prices (Bangkok RSS3) have shed 22 per cent since the start of February. In India, prices have fallen by a similar margin to about Rs 164 a kg on the back of higher supplies from Thailand.Although most tyre companies stand to gain, analysts see more gains from Apollo Tyres.Rubber accounted for 52 per cent of Apollo's sales. The impact of raw material costs on margins can be gauged from the fact that the company lost 239 basis points year-on-year in operating profit margins to 14.6 per cent in the December 2016 quarter, when prices were ruling firm. Apollo Tyres had indicated that it would need about 6-7 per cent price hike to absorb the higher raw material costs. The company has taken a price hike of 1-2 per cent in January, and was able to increase volumes and prices as Chinese tyre imports had ...