The Chatter: Half a century in
Edition #50
Today we’re at the 50th edition.
To everyone who reads it, shares it, replies to it, or simply spends a few minutes with it each time it lands in their inbox — thank you. Your attention is the only reason something like this can exist.
Here’s to the next 50. 🚀
In this edition, we have covered 14 companies across 8 industries, along with an international features.
Engineering & Capital Goods
Supreme power equipment
Oswal Pumps
Finolex Cables Limited
Auto Ancillary
Precision Camshafts
Carraro India Limited
Tourism & Hospitality
Juniper Hotels Limited
Yatra Online Limited
Media & Entertainment
Amagi Media Labs Limited
Chemicals
NOCIL Limited
Textiles
Dollar Industries Limited
Logistics
Shadowfax Technologies Limited
Packaged Foods
Orkla India Limited
International
Oracle Corporation
Costco Wholesale Corp
Engineering & Capital Goods
Supreme power equipment | Micro Cap | Engineering & Capital Goods
Supreme power equipment (SPEL) is a company dedicated to quality and service, engaged in manufacture and supply of oil filled Power and Distribution Transformers of ratings up to 25 MVA/110KV class.
[Concall]
The company is deprioritizing windmill transformer orders due to their lower profit margins, despite repeat business.
“For windmill projects, customers generally place repeat orders, but the margins are lower on windmill transformers. That is the reason they are not prioritised in our order book.”
— V. Rajmohan, Chairman and Managing Director
Management anticipates an increase in government orders and no payment disruptions ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu elections, as authorities are expediting order processing.
“We do not see any payment issues. Actually, I think we will get more orders before the election. This year, the government is processing very fast to release orders before announcing the election dates.”
— V. Rajmohan, Chairman and Managing Director
Government contracts include a price variation clause with no ceiling to protect against raw material cost fluctuations, while private contracts have similar protections for longer delivery periods.
“Government tenders generally have a delivery period of 9 to 18 months, and those include a price variation clause (PVC) with no ceiling. For private buyers, delivery is usually 3 to 4 months. If it goes beyond that, the price variation clause applies. For supplies within 2 to 3 months, we fix the raw material price on the same day we receive the order.”
— V. Rajmohan, Chairman and Managing Director
The company sees massive market demand, evidenced by its substantially increased order book, suggesting that industry-wide expansion will be absorbed by this demand rather than intensifying competition.
“Demand is very huge. Last year our order book was 75 to 100 crores; this year it is 300 to 340 crores. There is another 100 to 150 crores of orders yet to be finalized. Expansion from all manufacturers will be met by this high demand.”
— V. Rajmohan, Chairman and Managing Director
The longer manufacturing cycle for larger transformers will increase working capital requirements proportionally with next year’s revenue target of 300 crores, maintaining working capital at 20-25% of revenue.
“The manufacturing cycle for larger power transformers is 3 to 4 months compared to 2 months for smaller units. As we target 300 crores next year, there will be a corresponding rise in working capital. Usually, working capital is 20-25% of revenue.”
— V. Rajmohan, Chairman and Managing Director
Oswal Pumps | Small Cap | Engineering & Capital Goods
Oswal Pumps specializes in manufacturing solar-powered and grid-connected submersible and monoblock pumps, electric motors (including induction and submersible motors), and solar modules under the ‘Oswal’ brand.
Management says the government’s decision to extend the Jal Jeevan Mission and increase funding is a strong positive for the pumping industry due to the large pump requirement within the scheme.
“The announcement and extension of the Jal Jeevan Mission is definitely a very positive sign for the pumping industry.”
— Vivek Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, Oswal Pumps
Oswal Pumps is not directly involved in EPC contracts under the Jal Jeevan Mission but benefits through pump supply, which forms a major component of the scheme.
“Oswal Pumps is not directly part of the Jal Jeevan Mission EPC projects, but since pumps form a large component within the scheme and the volume of pumps required is very high, it will definitely benefit Oswal Pumps through pump supply.”
— Vivek Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, Oswal Pumps
The existing order pipeline is completely tied to solar pumps and not Jal Jeevan Mission projects.
“At present, our entire order book is related to the solar pumps business. We do not currently have any order book from the Jal Jeevan Mission.”
— Vivek Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, Oswal Pumps
Management indicates the scheme had slowed earlier due to funding and execution issues, which limited participation.
“For some time the scheme was not very active and had been running in a slow mode due to certain issues, including funding delays.”
— Vivek Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, Oswal Pumps
While not directly executing projects, the company supplied pumps to EPC contractors working on the scheme.
“Even earlier, we were indirectly participating by supplying pumps to EPC players who were executing the projects.”
— Vivek Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, Oswal Pumps
The company believes its nationwide distribution network allows it to quickly scale participation in the mission.
“Our network is spread across all states in India, so entering the Jal Jeevan Mission ecosystem and participating more actively should not be an issue for Oswal Pumps.”
— Vivek Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, Oswal Pumps
Management expects improvement in receivable cycles as governments push pump deployments and vendor payments.
“We expect that by the first quarter of next year, receivables across the industry will be in a much more comfortable position.”
— Vivek Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, Oswal Pumps
Since the company supplied pumps to EPC contractors rather than executing government projects directly, receivable issues were limited.
“Our participation has been indirect through EPC players, and in those cases we did not face any major receivable challenges.”
— Vivek Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, Oswal Pumps
Finolex Cables Limited | Small Cap | Engineering & Capital Goods
Finolex Cables is a leading Indian manufacturer of electrical and telecommunication cables with a diverse product portfolio including automotive and solar cables. The company is vertically integrating into optical fiber preform manufacturing to strengthen its position in the telecommunications infrastructure market.
[Concall]
The new solar cable segment has seen rapid adoption with capacity utilization already reaching high levels. This successful diversification provides the company with a strong foothold in the growing renewable energy infrastructure market.
“Big new entrant for us during the quarter was Solar Cables, we are currently hitting close to 80%-85% of our capacity that we built up last year so that’s good news again.”
— Mahesh Viswanathan, Deputy CEO and CFO
Global fiber prices are recovering sharply due to increased demand from defense and data center sectors. Rising realizations are expected to significantly improve the profitability of the communication cables segment in upcoming quarters.
“Fiber prices are hardening... from an average of about slightly under $3, which was prevailing during quarter 3, the prices currently as on date, are closer to $5 a month so that’s the extent of the demand pull that has happened over the last few months.”
— Mahesh Viswanathan, Deputy CEO and CFO
The company is aggressively adjusting its selling prices to protect margins against volatile copper and commodity costs. The ability to pass on costs through frequent price hikes demonstrates the company’s strong pricing power in the market.
“Last quarter, we took 5 [price changes], with an overall correction of about 12% in the selling prices. This quarter, between January and today, we have already done two changes.”
— Mahesh Viswanathan, Deputy CEO and CFO
While the company did not win direct BharatNet Phase 3 tenders, it expects to supply fiber to the winning contractors. This indirect involvement ensures the company still benefits from large-scale government infrastructure spending.
“Given the fiber position in the global market at this point in time, we are getting inquiries from participants who have secured positions [in BharatNet Phase 3], so it’s a little too early yet, but we are hopeful that there will be adequate business for us over the next two years.”
— Mahesh Viswanathan, Deputy CEO and CFO
The company is about to finish its major preform manufacturing facility, which will significantly reduce its reliance on imported raw materials. Capitalizing this large investment will transition the project from a cost center to a production asset very soon.
“At the preform factory right now, production trials are ongoing, and we expect to commission the plant by next month, so when that is done, out of the INR 300 crores, about INR 230 crores or INR 220 crores, somewhere around that will get capitalized.”
— Mahesh Viswanathan, Deputy CEO and CFO
The boom in data center construction is creating demand for both high-capacity fiber and heavy-duty power cables. This dual-segment demand provides a unique growth tailwind for the company’s diversified manufacturing capabilities.
“Data centers will have an impact not just the telecom operations, it will also have an impact on our power cable operations because data centers will be massive consumers of power and they will need fairly heavy sized pipes for power consumption.”
— Mahesh Viswanathan, Deputy CEO and CFO
By becoming only the second Indian company to manufacture glass preforms, Finolex is securing its supply chain for optic fiber. This backward integration is likely to lower costs and provide a competitive edge over manufacturers who rely on imports.
“There is only one manufacturer in the country [of preforms], which is Sterlite. We would be the second entity there and so what it means is it reduces import dependence. At the same time, brings a certain self-sustenance part there.”
— Mahesh Viswanathan, Deputy CEO and CFO
Recent high sales volumes were partly driven by distributors stocking up ahead of anticipated price hikes. This suggests that future quarterly growth might slow down as the distribution channel works through its current excess stock.
“The channel inventory would have been higher than it should, I believe yes. Some amount of volumes were pushed by the constant commodity price increases. The trade probably that they would make -- if you buy a low and then as the price is increasing, you would get to sell it at a higher price.”
— Mahesh Viswanathan, Deputy CEO and CFO
Auto Ancillary
Precision Camshafts | Micro Cap | Auto Ancillary
Precision Camshafts Limited is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and supplier of camshafts, a critical engine component, in the passenger vehicle segment based on its estimated global market share by volume. The company supplies several varieties of camshafts for passenger vehicles, tractors, light commercial vehicles and locomotive engine applications.
[Concall]
Strong demand from existing Indian customers contributed to a standalone revenue of INR153 crores and a 14% EBITDA margin, demonstrating the company’s stability despite global economic challenges.
“The Indian market continues to grow and be resilient to global slowdown. In these difficult global times, PCL posted a stand-alone revenue of 153 crores with EBITDA margin of 14% and the stability comes from the increased demand from the existing customers in India.”
— Karan Shah, Whole-Time Director, Business Development
PCL has secured significant new businesses, extending its order book until 2032 and providing long-term revenue visibility.
“PCL has been awarded several new businesses in the last year which will extend our order book till 2032.”
— Karan Shah, Whole-Time Director, Business Development
PCL is investing INR120 crores in capacity expansion, including a new Solapur facility, to support new programs and enhance global manufacturing capabilities.
“To support these new programs, PCL is investing approximately INR120 crores towards capacity enhancement and advanced manufacturing capabilities.”
— Karan Shah, Whole-Time Director, Business Development
PCL’s strategy for electrification involves monitoring growing ICE demand, diversifying into adjacent precision components, and exploring new technology opportunities, rather than a full pivot to EV.
“We recognize that the industry’s transition towards electrification is critical long-term consideration and our strategy to address this is to continuously assess the ICE demand which continues to grow in India and globally, diversification into adjacent precision engineered components, and evaluation of opportunities aligned with these evolving technologies.”
— Karan Shah, Whole-Time Director, Business Development
PCL has slowed its Indian Tata Ace EV conversion business due to regulatory changes and poor visibility, but is continuing development of electric heavy commercial vehicles with imminent customer delivery.
“Turning to our e-mobility business in India, I would like to inform shareholders that PCL has slowed down its Tata Ace conversion business due to changes in regulations and not enough visibility as previously mentioned. However, the development of the electric heavy commercial vehicle continues and we hope to deliver the vehicles to customers in very, very soon.”
— Karan Shah, Whole-Time Director, Business Development
Global EV business has significantly slowed, with OEMs reversing strategies to prioritize ICE and hybrid powertrains, which bodes well for PCL’s core camshaft business.
“The EV business globally has slowed down quite a bit in the last two to three years and we see this very clearly from all our OEM customers whether in India or globally where there has been a nearly reversal of strategy from going all-electric to now looking at ICE and hybrid powertrains for the long-term future.”
— Karan Shah, Whole-Time Director, Business Development
PCL has effectively stopped its Tata Ace EV conversion business due to regulatory challenges, ecosystem complications, and extremely thin profit margins, indicating a strategic shift away from this segment.
“No, so the Tata Ace is nearly stopped because of all the challenges that I mentioned before. Again, also it’s a razor-thin margin kind of product so it was very difficult to scale up in the order that in the fashion that we wanted to.”
— Karan Shah, Whole-Time Director, Business Development
PCL is aggressively pursuing M&A and strategic partnership opportunities exclusively within India, focusing on growth in automotive and non-automotive sectors (agriculture, industrial, defense) that leverage its core expertise in casting, machining, forging, and assembly.
“We are very actively looking at opportunities, but these will be necessarily in India. We are not looking at the European or American market for these type of opportunities and we are actively looking in the Indian market where there is growth in the automotive as well as non-automotive sector including agriculture, non-auto, industrial and defense and we are looking at all opportunities which will basically be adjacent to our expertise which is casting, machining, forging and assembly.”
— Karan Shah, Whole-Time Director, Business Development
PCL is focusing on India for M&A due to observed degrowth and financial distress in international markets, preferring the growth, control, and cultural fit offered by the Indian market.
“I think the examples have been very clear in the last few years where the international markets are actually not growing at all. In fact there is degrowth in these markets. Companies that are available for sale are under tremendous financial distress and that’s not something that we would like to take on board. We would rather look at a market which is growing and more importantly in our control and has a cultural fit to what we do as well. So that’s the reason why we look at India very bullishly right now.”
— Karan Shah, Whole-Time Director, Business Development
PCL’s international expansion efforts in Europe and North America are solely for camshaft and machined components, driven by increasing operational costs in those regions that position India as a competitive sourcing alternative.
“Look the comment related to expansion in Europe and North America is purely related to our camshaft business and machined components business. It is not related to the EV business... We see good opportunities there because these geographies are becoming increasingly difficult to operate businesses, increasingly more costly in terms of energy cost, power cost and labor cost and so on, which makes India a very good alternative in terms of sourcing of such critical components.”
— Karan Shah, Whole-Time Director, Business Development
PCL expects its 50-50 split between Indian and export revenue to remain stable, primarily because the Indian market is experiencing near double-digit growth, driving significant domestic participation.
“At this point of time, Indian and export is about 50-50. We see it remaining like that actually, not because we don’t want to grow the foreign export market, but because the Indian market is one which is growing in double digits nearly. And we are of course participating in that growth.”
— Karan Shah, Whole-Time Director, Business Development
Carraro India Limited | Small Cap | Auto Ancillary
Carraro India Limited designs and manufactures high-technology axles and transmission systems for agricultural and construction equipment. The company serves both domestic and global OEMs, focusing on the structural shift towards higher horsepower and four-wheel drive mechanization.
[Concall]
Tax reforms are narrowing the cost difference between basic and advanced tractor models for farmers. This policy shift is a structural tailwind for Carraro as it drives higher volumes for their specialized axle products.
“In the domestic agriculture segment, the GST reduction has accelerated the transition from two-wheel drive to four-wheel drive tractors by narrowing the price gap between pre-GST two-wheel drive and post-GST four-wheel drive models.”
— Dr. Balaji Gopalan, Managing Director
Growth in the export segment is currently driven by construction equipment demand in emerging markets like China and South America. Geographic diversification helps the company mitigate the impact of slowdowns in any single regional economy.
“In case of the last two quarters, the export is mainly, the traction has come from our backhoe loader drive line which were sold in China as well as in Latin America.”
— Mr. Ashok Rai, Director, Sales & Business Development
The business operates with a steady and predictable demand profile rather than extreme cyclical volatility. This stability makes the company a potentially more resilient investment within the broader capital goods sector.
“Carraro is in an industry where things don’t dramatically go up nor do they dramatically drop. So, we maintain a kind of an equilibrium with reasonable ups and downs.”
— Dr. Balaji Gopalan, Managing Director
Management is targeting a significant increase in high-margin spare parts revenue through an asset-light authorized service center model. Success in the aftermarket would provide a higher-margin, recurring revenue stream that balances cyclical equipment sales.
“Looking at the numbers that we have sold, we feel that at least 10% of the revenue should come from spares in India... There is no investment that we have to do; it is done by the service provider himself because he becomes the authorized service center.”
— Dr. Balaji Gopalan, Managing Director
Talbros Automotive Components Limited | Small Cap | Auto Ancillary
Talbros Automotive Components Limited is a leading Indian manufacturer of gaskets, heat shields, forgings, and chassis components for various vehicle segments. The company operates through several strategic joint ventures and maintains a strong presence in both domestic and international OEM markets.
[Concall]
The new FTA with the EU is expected to provide a significant boost to export volumes and strategic partnerships. This positioning helps the company capture market share as global OEMs look to diversify their supply chains toward India.
“The recently signed India-linked EU free trade agreement opens up opportunities for the auto com industry, not only in exports but also technology collaborations and investment-led growth.”
— Anuj Talwar, Managing Director
A massive new order win of INR 1,000 crores provides strong revenue visibility for the next five years. The high proportion of export and EV-related orders indicates a successful shift toward high-value, future-ready global business.
“We secured new orders worth INR 1,000 crores to be executed over the next five years, of which nearly INR 700 crores are export orders, including large orders from very large OEMs, and about INR 100 crores of these orders are for electric vehicle cars.”
— Anuj Talwar, Managing Director
The Forging division is heavily reliant on the international market, with nearly 90% of business linked to global OEMs. This high export exposure makes the division a key beneficiary of global automotive recovery and currency movements.
“Forging export is 56% and this is a direct export. And we have an indirect export of BMW and other European car manufacturers, which is to the extent of 30%. So 85% to 90% is export this business directly, indirectly.”
— Navin Juneja, Director and Group Chief Financial Officer
A significant INR 500 crore forging order from Europe is set to begin production by late 2026. This specific win will likely drive substantial growth in the Forging segment starting from the next fiscal year.
“We have recently received an order of INR 500 crores in the Forging division from Europe... the commercial production will start in the last quarter of the calendar year.”
— Navin Juneja, Director and Group Chief Financial Officer
The company expects the Chassis and Rubber divisions to lead growth, diversifying away from traditional engine-based products. This shift helps mitigate risks associated with the industry’s transition toward electric vehicles.
“I think chassis, rubber, forging, and heat shield from the Gasket division [will outgrow others]... the chassis business will do very well.”
— Anuj Talwar, Managing Director
Tourism & Hospitality
Juniper Hotels Limited | Small Cap | Tourism & Hospitality
Juniper Hotels Limited is a major luxury hotel developer and owner in India, primarily operating large-format assets under the Hyatt brand portfolio. The company focuses on high-yield properties in strategic gateway cities and emerging premium destinations to leverage the structural demand-supply gap in Indian luxury hospitality.
[Concall]
The company operates in a sector where travel demand is growing much faster than the number of available luxury rooms. This structural imbalance provides the company with long-term pricing power and high occupancy potential.
“Industry demand is expected to grow at 9% to 10% CAGR, outpacing expected room supply conditions. Luxury segment in the metro market is accounting for 76% of our revenues and is likely to see limited supply growth of less than 5% of CAGR up to 2030.”
— Arun Saraf, Chairman and Managing Director
The company is on track to significantly expand its capacity in the high-growth Bengaluru market starting next year. This expansion will nearly double the key count at that location, driving future revenue growth.
“In Bengaluru, phase I 235 keys should commence operations in first quarter of financial year ‘27. And phase II of 270 keys additional approvals is now being processed... the property will comprise of 508 big box hotels.”
— Arun Saraf, Chairman and Managing Director
Management is exploring ways to unlock the value of valuable unused land next to its flagship Mumbai property. Successful monetization of these assets could provide a major boost to the company’s net worth and cash flow.
“We also hold 2 prime land parcels adjacent to Grand Hyatt Mumbai. We are carefully evaluating the optimal development strategy for this site to ensure effective monetization and long-term value creation.”
— Arun Saraf, Chairman and Managing Director
Management is intentionally moving away from low-margin business contracts to focus on higher-paying individual travelers and events. This shift in customer mix is designed to maximize the revenue earned from every available room.
“Across the portfolio, we continue to execute our focused strategy of exiting lower-yielding contracts and reallocating capacity towards higher ARR and more profitable customer segments, which are transients and groups.”
— Tarun Jaitly, Chief Financial Officer
Rental income from non-hotel assets is more than enough to cover the company’s interest expenses. This provides a strong financial safety net that reduces the risk of the company’s debt burden.
“Our standard annuity assets also performed consistently, contributing approximately INR 42 crores during the quarter, equivalent to nearly 1.9x our finance cost for the quarter itself.”
— Tarun Jaitly, Chief Financial Officer
Using solar and wind power is helping the company reduce its utility expenses for heating, light, and power. Lower operating costs lead to higher profit margins and better sustainability metrics.
“Higher share of renewable energy in Andaz and Mumbai... will continue to support the HLP costs contraction for the company as we go forward as a percentage of revenue.”
— Tarun Jaitly, Chief Financial Officer
Future profit growth at the main Mumbai hotel will likely come from increasing room prices rather than just filling more rooms. Since the hotel is already nearly full, raising rates is the most direct way to grow the bottom line.
“Occupancy does stabilize at 80% to 82%... More if you’re actually looking for upside, I think you have to look more from the rate point of view. I think the rates are still subdued.”
— Varun Saraf, Chief Executive Officer
The company will not have to pay significant cash taxes for several years due to past losses that can be used as credits. This significantly increases the amount of cash available for debt repayment or new projects.
“The tax at INR 18.1 crores is being set off against brought forward losses, and therefore, there is no cash flow impact of the same. We have today more than INR 1,000 crores of tax shield.”
— Tarun Jaitly, Chief Financial Officer
Yatra Online Limited | Small Cap | Tourism & Hospitality
Yatra Online Limited is a leading Indian travel services provider specializing in corporate travel, air ticketing, and hotel bookings. The company integrates AI-driven booking platforms and expense management software to serve over 800 large corporate customers and a growing SME base.
[Concall]
The new expense management software is gaining traction quickly and serves as a vital entry point for new corporate accounts. This tool increases customer stickiness and opens significant cross-selling opportunities for travel bookings.
“The early response to our expense management solution has been very, very encouraging. We have onboarded 8 new customers in one quarter itself.”
— Siddhartha Gupta, Chief Executive Officer
A large majority of corporate travel in India is still handled through manual, offline processes, presenting a massive growth opportunity. Yatra’s digital platform is positioned to capture this inevitable shift toward automated procurement.
“Online penetration in the corporate travel market is just about 23%. We have laid a very strong foundation for chasing this potential.”
— Siddhartha Gupta, Chief Executive Officer
The company is now acting as a supplier to other travel platforms and offline agents by providing access to its deep hotel inventory via APIs. This creates a high-margin revenue stream that leverages existing assets with minimal incremental cost.
“We are beginning to monetize the inventory capabilities that we have built over the course of the last decade.”
— Dhruv Shringi, Executive Chairperson and Whole-Time Director
Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) bookings provide exceptionally high profit margins compared to standard flight tickets. Investors should view growth in this segment as a primary driver of overall corporate profitability.
“MICE is a very margin accretive business... from a net contribution point of view, it’s a business with contribution margins in excess of 50%.”
— Dhruv Shringi, Executive Chairperson and Whole-Time Director
Management opted to use short-term bank debt to manage temporary working capital spikes rather than breaking long-term fixed deposits. This indicates a preference for maintaining a stable cash reserve while handling operational disruptions.
“We do have overdraft facilities with the banks. And those are what we have dipped into during this period.”
— Dhruv Shringi, Executive Chairperson and Whole-Time Director
By allowing corporate clients to see both their private negotiated rates and Yatra’s retail rates, the company has successfully increased hotel booking volumes. This transparency overcomes the traditional reluctance of corporate procurement teams to switch providers.
“The inertia was broken by bringing in flexibility in our technology platform to incorporate corporate rates as well and retail rates.”
— Dhruv Shringi, Executive Chairperson and Whole-Time Director
Media & Entertainment
Amagi Media Labs Limited | Small Cap | Media & Entertainment
Amagi Media Labs is a global leader in cloud-based software solutions for the media and entertainment industry, providing a glass-to-glass platform for content production and distribution. The company specializes in cloud modernization, streaming unification, and advertising monetization for major broadcasters and content creators.
[Concall]
Amagi provides an end-to-end cloud software platform that manages every sAmagi Media Labs Limited | Mid Cap | Media Technology & SaaStage of media production and viewing. This holistic approach makes the company a critical infrastructure partner rather than just a niche tool provider.
“Amagi’s fundamental value that we add is to provide a single software platform on cloud infrastructure which covers what we call glass-to-glass, starting from the camera screen, the camera till the final screen where consumers watch content.”
— Baskar Subramanian, Managing Director and CEO
The company successfully handled the technical infrastructure for the Super Bowl, one of the world’s largest live sporting events. Handling such high-stakes events proves the reliability and scalability of Amagi’s cloud technology to global investors.
“We operated the Super Bowl just about 72 hours back for all of the US was watching content through an Amagi’s infrastructure.”
— Baskar Subramanian, Managing Director and CEO
Most television channels still rely on physical hardware, and Amagi expects a massive shift as the remaining 90% move to the cloud. This represents a massive total addressable market for the company’s cloud modernization services.
“The biggest tailwind in this business for us is that only 10% of the TV channels have moved to the cloud. All others are in hardware and there are billions of dollars, if you look at it, almost 16.9 billion dollars of TAM is today sitting a large part in hardware.”
— Baskar Subramanian, Managing Director and CEO
All AI development costs are recorded as immediate expenses rather than assets, which keeps the balance sheet conservative. This approach means future profits will be ‘cleaner’ as there won’t be large amortization charges hitting the books later.
“We don’t capitalize any of our sort of AI expense it’s all incurred. So on one side on the platform side we’ll be harvesting R&D that will generate leverage and hopefully fund some of these AI investments.”
— Vijay NP, Chief Financial Officer
Management is proactively renegotiating contracts with its largest clients to secure longer-term revenue even if it impacts short-term pricing. This strategy reduces the risk of losing major accounts and provides better long-term revenue stability.
“The top five customers wouldn’t be routine course of business. It’s something that we’ve intentionally made a call to look at our concentration risk and de-risk that a little bit.”
— Vijay NP, Chief Financial Officer
The company claims a unique competitive advantage by bridging the gap between old broadcast hardware and new streaming formats on one platform. Being a first-mover in this transition allows Amagi to capture market share from aging competitors.
“Amagi is the only platform in the world today to provide a unified capability across their existing traditional operating environments moving to the cloud and eventually enabling them to stream to the new world.”
— Baskar Subramanian, Managing Director and CEO
Chemicals
NOCIL Limited | Small Cap | Chemicals
NOCIL Limited is India’s largest manufacturer of rubber chemicals, supplying critical additives to the global tire and automotive industries. The company operates advanced manufacturing facilities in Navi Mumbai and Dahej and maintains a dominant domestic market share.
[Concall]
Management is projecting a significant recovery in the second half of the year to offset earlier losses. This implies a strong sequential momentum that could carry into the next fiscal year.
“Based on our quarter 3 performance and the current trends, we expect to end financial year ‘26 with a volume growth of 3% to 4% in spite of a minus 5% degrowth in H1 FY ‘26 on a year-to-year basis.”
— V.S. Anand, Managing Director
The company is seeking regulatory protection against low-priced imports that are currently hurting realizations. A favorable outcome would likely improve domestic pricing power and overall profitability.
“To address the price dumping, as stated in our previous call, we have filed antidumping petitions on select key products with the Government of India. Seeing merit in our submissions, the authorities have initiated detailed investigations, and we expect the outcome of these proceedings in the coming months.”
— V.S. Anand, Managing Director
The investigation into anti-dumping duties is reaching its final stage with a decision expected shortly. This timeline gives investors a clear window for when a potential catalyst for the stock might occur.
“As per the protocol and the statute, they have taken a 3-month extension as it is available on the DGTR website. So, we hope that in the next 1.5, 2 months, they should conclude the findings.”
— P. Srinivasan, Chief Financial Officer
Global trade barriers on Chinese products are creating competitive openings for other regions, including India. Management is monitoring these shifts to position NOCIL as a preferred alternative supplier.
“The U.S. market today are -- at least last 6 months, our view is that since with all those tariffs, there have been more increased volumes going in from Europe and less from China because China was also inhibited due to the tariff situation, very similar to us.”
— V.S. Anand, Managing Director
Global capacity additions for rubber chemicals are concentrated in China, leaving the rest of the world reliant on a few key players. NOCIL’s investments outside China enhance its value proposition as a supply chain diversifier.
“Outside of China, there hasn’t been too much of investments in the antioxidants and accelerators. It’s largely been more in China. There have been some capacities... that have come in the last 12 to 15 months.”
— V.S. Anand, Managing Director
Management believes they can transfer rising raw material costs to customers without significant friction. This pricing agility is essential for maintaining stable margins during inflationary cycles.
“So, we are looking at so that we will be able to pass on because it is an overall gradual increase that’s been happening since the beginning of this year.”
— V.S. Anand, Managing Director
NOCIL maintains a dominant 40% share of a sizable and growing domestic rubber chemicals market. This leadership position ensures the company benefits directly from the growth of the Indian tire industry.
“We consider the -- we have a 40% share... otherwise, if you include intermediates, it’s 60%... the market in India could be closer to 80,000, 85,000 tons.”
— P. Srinivasan, Chief Financial Officer
Textiles
Dollar Industries Limited | Small Cap | Textiles
Dollar Industries Limited is a prominent Indian manufacturer of innerwear and casual wear with a strong presence in both mass and premium markets. The company operates a backward-integrated production model, allowing it to maintain efficiency across its diverse brand portfolio.
[Concall]
The premium brand Force NXT is growing rapidly and becoming a larger part of the company’s total sales. Investors should view this as a positive sign because premium products typically carry higher profit margins.
“Force NXT continued its strong momentum, registering a year-on-year value growth of 26.5% and volume growth of 48.1% in quarter 3 FY ‘26.”
— Gaurav Gupta, Vice President – Strategy
The company is finding it hard to raise prices because the market is so competitive. This means that profit growth will have to come from cost savings rather than charging customers more.
“Until and unless there’s a very high rate increase or price increase in raw materials, ASP hike is very difficult, given the competitive nature of what the industry is going through right now.”
— Gaurav Gupta, Vice President – Strategy
The marketing strategy is shifting toward digital platforms to better target consumers while controlling costs. This more targeted approach could improve the return on marketing investment.
“We are limiting our advertisement costs or shifting our advertisement cost to digital media as well. A huge chunk goes to digital media now, which didn’t use to go earlier and focusing on our premium products.”
— Ankit Gupta, President – Marketing
Management is refusing to join a price war by offering excessive discounts like its competitors. This disciplined approach protects brand value and profit margins at the risk of slower short-term sales.
“If someone is involved in the deep discounting of, let’s say, 4% to 5%, we are in -- like we are giving around 1%, 1.5%. We are not going down to 5% kind of a thing.”
— Ankit Gupta, President – Marketing
The merger of group companies will save several crores in annual expenses and simplify the business structure. This move improves corporate governance by reducing transactions with related parties.
“Overall, we analyze around INR 5 crores to INR 7 crores of expenses is to be rationalized due to this merger. And more than this, the net worth of the company... increased.”
— Ajay Patodia, Chief Financial Officer
While management expects some increase in raw material costs, they do not anticipate the extreme inflation seen in previous years. This suggests a more stable and predictable cost environment for manufacturing.
“The yarn market might become a little tighter for sure, but we do not expect it to become way tighter, what happened during COVID... where the yarn prices shot up by, say, 30%, 35%.”
— Gaurav Gupta, Vice President – Strategy
Logistics
Shadowfax Technologies Limited | Small Cap | Logistics
Shadowfax is a technology-led third-party logistics company providing last-mile delivery services for e-commerce, quick commerce, and food delivery sectors. It utilizes a crowdsourced network to offer specialized logistics solutions including same-day delivery and reverse logistics across India.
[Concall]
Management is prioritizing market share expansion within the express parcel segment over the next two years. This aggressive capture of market share could lead to increased scale and competitive dominance.
“What we believe is that the next four to eight quarters, we will continue gaining market share... gaining market share in Express Parcel is going to be paramount strategy for us as a business unit.”
— Abhishek Bansal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
The company is aggressively expanding its physical footprint by opening roughly 100 new delivery centers monthly. While these costs currently weigh on margins, they build the necessary infrastructure for long-term scalability.
“Every single month, we are launching 80 to 100 last mile facilities. Every time you launch a facility, a truck as part of our network will go to that facility and we will service that network. When you are looking at our profitability, our profitability includes the cost of all of this expansion.”
— Abhishek Bansal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
A major marketplace client previously restricted by investment conflicts has now been onboarded following the IPO. This new partnership is expected to drive meaningful revenue growth in the upcoming fiscal quarters.
“On the large marketplace, which is coming in... across both quick commerce as well as e-commerce, the integrations are done. In Q3, you won’t see any revenue benefit... but we expect subsequent quarters to have revenue benefit from that.”
— Abhishek Bansal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Direct-to-consumer delivery is currently the company’s fastest-growing segment with triple-digit growth. Success in high-speed delivery models (same-day/next-day) is creating a significant competitive edge in this high-margin vertical.
“D2C as a segment for us is growing at a triple-digit basis on a year-on-year basis. And the same-day delivery model and the next-day delivery model that we have cracked is something which is the fastest-growing vertical for us as an organization.”
— Abhishek Bansal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Management has identified a gap in their current reach covering only 15,000 out of 19,000 Indian pin codes. Closing this geographic gap represents a clear path to capturing untapped demand.
“Today, we are present in about 15,000-odd pin codes. India has about 19,000 pin codes. We believe we still do not serve about 15% to 16% of the customers, and that is an area where we are completely missing out on demand.”
— Abhishek Bansal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
The company is expanding its capabilities to handle large, volumetric items like furniture and appliances. This diversification allows Shadowfax to capture more spend from existing customers who already sell these products.
“In FY ‘27, we are going to launch white goods as a category. So when I say volumetric, typically, we would be delivering suitcases, diapers, small furniture, electrical appliances. Delivering white goods is something now we are venturing into in the next couple of quarters.”
— Abhishek Bansal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Shadowfax will avoid owning a fleet of trucks to maintain a higher return on capital employed (ROCE). By utilizing India’s abundant third-party truck supply, the company keeps its balance sheet light and flexible.
“What we don’t intend to do is - buy trucks right now. Based on whatever first principle analysis we have done, we don’t foresee at least in our business model that buying trucks is going to help us create better operating margins. Having trucks is something that creates a poor ROCE business in a case like ours.”
— Abhishek Bansal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Capital expenditure has spiked to 4% of revenue this year to support rapid growth but is expected to stabilize at 2.8-3% soon. This guidance helps investors model future cash flow and investment requirements.
“Historically, our Capex intensity has been around 2% - 2.5%. This year, because we had to grow so fast... on a full year basis, it’s going to be roughly about 4% odd... a business like ours over the next couple of years should be rightfully investing 2.8% to 3%.”
— Abhishek Bansal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Smaller businesses and direct brands offer significantly higher profit margins than large enterprise marketplaces. Shifting the client mix toward these segments is a key lever for overall margin expansion.
“D2C and SME typically have about 20% to 25% higher yields than our regular large horizontal or vertical platforms. So as we gain market share in D2Cs and SMEs, our realization should go up.”
— Praveen Kumar KJ, Chief Financial Officer
Packaged Foods
Orkla India Limited | Mid Cap | Packaged Foods
Orkla India is a leading food company specializing in spices and convenience foods under the iconic MTR and Eastern brands. The firm leverages deep regional heritage to dominate the South Indian market while expanding its footprint through digital channels and international exports.
[Concall]
The company prioritizes regional taste preferences to maintain dominance in its core South Indian markets. This hyper-local focus protects market share from larger national competitors who lack specialized regional flavors.
“Orkla India is a South India focused multi-category food company built around strong heritage brands with deep consumer trust... brands with strong local relevance consistently outperform generic national-level offerings.”
— Sanjay Sharma, Managing Director and CEO
Management expects spice prices to rise following a prolonged period of declining raw material costs. This shift toward inflation should boost revenue growth as the company adjusts its pricing to reflect higher input costs.
“In spices, I would like to reiterate the fact that we’ve had two straight years of deflation. This unprecedented price movement of over 30% was led by chili... Early indicators are suggesting that there will be an inflationary trend in spices in the coming year.”
— Sanjay Sharma, Managing Director and CEO
Strong demand for the company’s spice products is currently masked by lower prices due to commodity deflation. Investors should focus on the double-digit volume growth as a true indicator of increasing market share.
“Our spices portfolio continues to deliver a fantastic volume growth of 10.1%. However, the revenue growth remains modest because of deflation in key raw materials.”
— Sanjay Sharma, Managing Director and CEO
Online sales channels are growing rapidly and now account for nearly one-tenth of total revenue. Strengthening digital presence allows the company to reach younger, tech-savvy consumers beyond its traditional physical distribution network.
“Digital commerce, one of the fastest-growing channels, has expanded by 43.4%... Today, we get 9.5% of our sales from digital.”
— Sanjay Sharma, Managing Director and CEO
The company is entering the premium spice market with a specialized brand aimed at affluent metropolitan consumers. This move toward premiumization could lead to higher margins and a more upscale brand image.
“To serve this emerging need, we have recently launched MTR Prakriti, MTR’s first-ever digital-first brand... single-origin, handpicked, produced in small-batch spices promising a distinctly superior experience.”
— Sanjay Sharma, Managing Director and CEO
The fresh batter segment has become profitable and is ready for a nationwide rollout in major cities. Successful expansion of this high-frequency product could create a significant new recurring revenue stream.
“MTR’s fresh Idli-Dosa batter business... business model with its margin has reached a position where we can now look for expansion of the same to other metro towns.”
— Sanjay Sharma, Managing Director and CEO
The company has successfully localized its products to appeal to both the Indian diaspora and local populations in the Middle East. Deepening penetration among non-Indian consumers significantly expands the addressable international market.
“In UAE, Eastern is now the number one Indian spice brand in household reach across all households... Arabic range now contributes to one-third of brand Eastern’s household penetration in Saudi Arabia.”
— Sanjay Sharma, Managing Director and CEO
The company is actively seeking acquisitions to expand its business footprint beyond current regional strongholds. Successful mergers could accelerate growth by allowing the company to enter new geographies or product categories quickly.
“As far as M&A is concerned... I can assure you that that has now become a major priority for us and we are working quite aggressively with a few opportunities that we are looking at.”
— Sanjay Sharma, Managing Director and CEO
Applying lessons from the Eastern acquisition has allowed the MTR brand to capture significant market share in basic spices. This cross-brand synergy validates the acquisition strategy and helps convert unbranded users into branded customers.
“In 2022, MTR learned from Eastern how to play the pure spices category. Since then, over the last three years, we’ve more than doubled our volumes and driven penetration for MTR from 20.3% in 2022 to 30.6% in 2025.”
— Sanjay Sharma, Managing Director and CEO
International
Oracle Corporation | International
Oracle Corporation is a leading American multinational technology company specializing in cloud computing, enterprise software, and database technology.
[Concall]
On Q3 headline performance — framing a milestone not seen in over a decade.
Q3 was the first quarter in over 15 years where both organic total revenue and organic non-GAAP EPS grew at 20% or better in USD.
— Doug Caring, PFO
On the new asset-light model for AI infrastructure expansion — decoupling CapEx from Oracle’s own balance sheet.
A combination of bring-your-own-hardware and upfront customer payments enables us to continue expanding without any negative cash flow from Oracle Corporation. We have signed more than $29 billion of contracts since our last earnings call using that new model.
— Clay McGouyrk, CEO
On the operational efficiency of delivering AI capacity — and what the profitability drag actually is.
The limitation on profitability is not on the capacity we have delivered. The reason we are not even more profitable right now is because we have so much under construction at one time. When we deliver it, it is all already contracted for at a very profitable rate.
— Clay McGouyrk, CEO
On data center location strategy and the latency question — reframing the actual bottleneck in inferencing.
When you talk to customers about use cases where they need lower latency, the latency problem right now is not actually the location of the hardware — it is the type of hardware being deployed. That is why you are seeing so much innovation around AI accelerators.
— Clay McGouyrk, CEO
On the scale of growth in the two fastest-moving segments — with a sharp contrast in growth rates.
Multicloud database revenue grew 531% year over year. AI infrastructure revenue grew 243% year over year. Both have demand that exceeds supply and a clear execution plan that will rapidly turn that demand into profitable recurring revenue.
— Clay McGouyrk, CEO
On the “SaaS apocalypse” thesis — directly rebutting the idea that AI coding tools will kill enterprise SaaS.
AI tools would be a threat if we were not adopting them — but we are, and very rapidly. We are using the best AI coding tools and the best developers not only to accelerate our SaaS business, but to deliver solutions that enable entire ecosystems. Smaller engineering teams are now delivering more complete solutions more quickly.
—Mike Cecilia, CEO, SaaS
On why AI actually strengthens Oracle’s SaaS moat rather than threatening it — framing embedded AI as a feature, not a product.
We have already delivered well over 1,000 agents right inside our horizontal and industry applications — at no additional cost. These are AI features built into our applications as part of quarterly upgrades. Rather than thinking AI spells the death of SaaS, I think it actually helps our SaaS position.
—Mike Cecilia, CEO, SaaS
On what customers are actually asking about AI — contrasting enterprise reality with investor narrative.
I have not yet met a customer who tells me they are ready to give away their core banking system or electronic health records, and that some cobbling together of niche AI features will replace all of that overnight. What they are asking is: how can we consume as much AI out of the box as possible and get it live as quickly as we can?
—Mike Cecilia, CEO, SaaS
On the autonomous close — one of the most concrete agentic use cases mentioned on the call.
In our Fusion accounting system, we will have a complex agent that does something called the close. In the not-too-distant future, you will close your books by simply telling the AI agent to go ahead — and then you will get your results. No human beings involved.
—Lawrence Ellison, CTO
On data gravity as Oracle’s structural AI advantage — explaining why mission-critical data proximity matters for agents.
If you are going to build AI agents, where would you start? You would start inside the system of record — because that is the data, from an inferencing and RAG standpoint, that is going to be highly relevant, highly specific, and add a bunch of context to AI. Data gravity matters. Mission-critical data gravity matters even more.
—Mike Cecilia, CEO, SaaS
On what enterprise AI adoption actually looks like in practice:
“In the early days, a lot of people thought most customers would be doing specific training of their own large language models. That has largely proven to not be the case. What is incredibly popular and growing is people taking the best models and wanting to combine that in a private way with their private data.
— Clay McGouyrk, CEO
Costco Wholesale Corp | International
Costco Wholesale Corporation is a leading global membership-based retailer (founded 1983) operating hundreds of warehouse clubs, primarily in the US, Canada, and internationally. Known for high-volume, low-margin sales, Costco offers a limited selection of branded and Kirkland Signature private-label goods, plus services like gas, pharmacy, and travel.
[Concall]
On Costco’s structural advantages in navigating tariff complexity — framing their limited-SKU model as a competitive moat.
Our expertise in buying and our limited SKU count model puts us in a position to manage this as well as anyone. Our strategies include moving the country of production, consolidating buying globally to lower cost of goods, leaning in on Kirkland Signature where we have the most control of the supply chain, and sourcing more items domestically.
— Ron Vachris,CEO
On the commitment to pass tariff refunds back to members — preemptively addressing a question investors had not yet asked.
When legal challenges have recovered charges passed on in some form to our members, our commitment will be to find the best way to return this value through lower prices and better values. We will be transparent in how we plan to do this if and when we receive any refunds. At Costco, we always want to be the first to lower prices and the last to raise them.
— Ron Vachris,CEO
On the financial mechanics of deflation — explaining why falling prices can actually be a near-term tailwind for Costco’s margins.
When we see prices coming down, as we saw in some deflationary items, often that is a time that is helpful to us — because we can lead the world down with lower prices for our members, but because we turn the inventory so quickly, we also tend to get some financial benefit there.
— Gary Millerchip, CFO
On the slight membership growth slowdown — correctly attributing it to absence of large new-market openings rather than any structural softness.
When we open in a Japan or a China, there is a dramatic increase and spike in new members. We have not had a meaningful number of those in the last year or so. If you look at our long-term growth rate, it really is in more of that 5% growth range. There is still plenty of opportunity — through new benefits, existing warehouses maturing, improving renewal rates, and lower executive penetration in international markets.
— Gary Millerchip, CFO
On Costco’s AI strategy — articulating a deliberately focused approach rather than chasing every AI use case.
Our focus with AI is where can it make us better at who we are. We are not really trying to chase things that are not core to Costco. We think that has been key to what allowed us to navigate previous technology and digital evolutions. We are focused on where AI can make us better for our members, deliver more value, and help our employees be more productive so that we can pay them better.
— Ron Vachris,CEO
On gold bars as a business driver — revealing that the halo effect on digital awareness and cross-selling is as valuable as the direct sales.
Gold bars have certainly been a tailwind, but the amount of interest and traffic it drives to our websites, and the cross-selling it drives there — it has actually helped elevate other parts of our business too by raising more awareness of the things we have to offer online. It has been a nice surprise.
— Gary Millerchip, CFO
On entering dense urban markets — describing a meaningful shift in Costco’s real estate model to unlock previously inaccessible locations.
We are being a little more creative with the use of things like parking decks and residential above our locations in places like Los Angeles. If we want to get into some of these inner cities where you are not going to find 25 acres, we need a unique model. We have proven these models in Asia and Europe. It is a little newer to the US but we can maintain the full Costco experience while being more creative than a standard 25-acre site.
— Ron Vachris,CEO
On China specifically — reframing apparent stalling as deliberate, methodical market entry consistent with how Costco has entered every other country.
I would not say it was stalled. It is more by design. It is very customary to what we have done when we have gone into every other country — we get in, we learn about the culture, we learn about doing business in that country, and then we are on a good steady growth pattern. We see great opportunities in China and feel we can compete with anybody in the country as we do internationally.
— Ron Vachris,CEO
That’s it for now! Your feedback will really help shape how The Chatter evolves. Drop it down in the comments below!
Quotes in this newsletter were curated by Meher, Vignesh & Kashish.
Disclaimer: We’ve used AI tools in filtering and cleaning up these quotes so there maybe some mistakes. Now, if you are thinking why we are using AI, please remember that we are just a small team of 5 people running everything you see on Zerodha Markets 😬 So, all the good stuff is human and mistakes are AI.
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