The Chatter: Playing the Long Game
Edition #38
Welcome to the 38th edition of The Chatter — a weekly newsletter where we dig through what India’s biggest companies are saying and bring you the most interesting bits of insight, whether about the business, its sector, or the wider economy. We read every major Indian earnings call and listen to the interviews so you don’t have to.
We’re always eager to improve—please share your ideas on how else we can innovate “The Chatter” format to better serve your needs.
In this edition, we have covered 18 companies across 10 industries, along with an international features.
Financial Services
Central Depository Services (India) Limited
National Securities Depository Limited
Packaging
Creative Graphics Solutions (India)
Auto Ancillary
Studds Accessories
RACL Geartech
Tenneco Clean Air India
Emerald Tyre Manufacturers
Healthcare
Earkart Limited
Textiles
Purple United Sales
Services
Jain Resource Recycling
Diversified
DCM Shriram
Building Materials
Greenlam Industries
Chemicals
Deepak Nitrite
FMCG
Sula Vineyards
International
Adobe
Alibaba
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment
Oracle Corporation
Financial Services
Central Depository Services (India) Limited | Small Cap | Financial Services
Central Depository Services (India) Limited is the leading securities depository in India in terms of BO accounts and registered DPs. It ranks as the second largest depository by market share. The company’s revenue sources include transaction charges, account maintenance charges, settlement charges, annual fees, corporate action charges, and e-voting charges. Established in 1999, the company aims to offer convenient, secure, and cost-effective depository services to market participants.
[Concall]
The Indian depository industry has surpassed 200 million demat accounts, with CDSL adding 6.5 million accounts in Q2 FY26 to reach 165 million, maintaining an 80% market share.
“I am also glad to report that we crossed 20 crore demat accounts as an industry. CDSL saw more than 65 lakh accounts opened in the quarter, bringing CDSL’s total number of demat accounts to 16.5 crore, maintaining our 80% market share.”
— Nehal Vora, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
CDSL holds a 30-32% market share in unlisted companies, and the upcoming live ISIN system, currently under testing, is expected to create a level playing field between depositories, potentially increasing CDSL’s unlisted market share.
“So, the market share in unlisted is about 30% to 32%. The ISIN system is under testing between the two depositories. As soon as it is made live, we are hopeful that then there will be a clear level playing field across both depositories.”
— Nehal Vora, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Centrico Insurance Repository is expanding its revenue channels beyond insurance companies to include direct customer online portals, which were opened six months ago, and is actively developing a third broking channel for future growth.
“So just to give you a perspective, there are three channels from where the business comes. One is from the insurance companies. Second is directly from the customers. And the third channel is the broking channel. So we have opened the second channel, first channel was always there. The insurance companies’ business has been our basic revenue model. We have opened the online portal 6 months back, and we have seen a steady trickling of numbers from there. The third broking channel is which we are working on, and we expect that the future growth should come from the broking channel.”
— Latesh Shetty, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer – Centrico Insurance Repository Limited
CDSL Ventures has not yet observed any impact from KFintech’s recent entry into the KYC brokerage client market, despite reports of some Fintech brokers joining them.
“I mean if you are referring to KFintech, they have just started operation. And we have not really seen any impact as on date. I believe they have also stated that some of the Fintech brokers have joined them.”
— Sunil Alvares, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer – CDSL Ventures Limited
CDSL admitted 3,593 unlisted companies in the quarter, contributing to annual issuer charge income.
“So, in this quarter, we have admitted 3,593 unlisted companies, and that has accrued the relevant income in our annual issuer charge.”
— Girish Amesara, Chief Financial Officer
National Securities Depository | Small Cap | Financial Services
National Securities Depository is the largest depository in India, offering IT-enabled solutions through its subsidiaries NDML and NPBL. It provides services in e-governance, payments solutions, regulatory platforms, KYC solutions, insurance repository services, and digital banking solutions.
[Concall]
NSDL reinforced its leadership in the unlisted issuer equity segment with a 73% market share, onboarding over 11,500 companies and surpassing 100,000 total issuers.
“In the Unlisted Issuer Equity segment, our leadership strengthened further with a market share of 73% and over 11,500 companies were admitted on the NSDL network during that quarter, and a milestone that we crossed as at September 30, 2025 is that we had more than 1 lakh issuers onboarded on us.”
— Vijay Chandok, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
NSDL Payments Bank reached over 3 million customers and INR 400 crore in deposits, achieving Scheduled Payment Bank status in July 2025, enhancing its operational and regulatory standing.
“We have crossed 3 million customers in one of our subsidiaries, NSDL Payments Bank with customer deposit crossing INR 400 crores. Furthermore, the inclusion of NSDL Payments Bank in the second schedule of RBI Act marks a significant milestone elevating its operational capabilities and regulatory stature. The bank was officially accorded the status of Scheduled Payment Bank in July 2025.”
— Jigar Shah, Chief Financial Officer
The onboarding rate for unlisted issuers is expected to slow down as the market approaches saturation with 140,000 issuers already onboarded, although NSDL aims to maintain its 70-72% market share.
“As far as the unlisted issuers are concerned, I think we are clearly seeing from a market point of view, things are sort of peaked out and it is slowing down. The reason is because we have now close to 1.4 lakh issuers who have already onboarded. So, have taken ISINs and dematerialized their shares. So, going forward, the run rates are definitely expected to slow down. As far as market share is concerned, again, giving no guidance, we are broadly in the ballpark of that 70%-72% range, which is where it is.”
— Vijay Chandok, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
NSDL’s market share growth strategy focuses on onboarding large, promising new-age brokers, anticipating significant future account additions as these partnerships mature.
“Our strategy is not completely predicated on that, right. Our strategy is predicated on finding. See, even today, there are some potentially very, very large new age brokers who are getting started. We have engaged and we have started the process of onboarding them. Their numbers are yet to play out... I think if these people in the next few quarters complete their integration and start onboarding and gain momentum, they could be very, very meaningful numbers coming to our kitty.”
— Vijay Chandok, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
NSDL clarified its revenue mix, stating recurring revenue (including new DLT fees) is approximately 43% of total, with listed and unlisted custody fees equally contributing to the recurring portion, and non-recurring revenue (57%) comprising six line items including joining fees.
“Recurring is approximately 43% of our total revenue. 57% of our total revenue is non-recurring... Out of our recurring, you have recurring fee coming from listed and unlisted. And in the current quarter, you would have added a third dimension, which is DLT fees, which is recurring. This together is on the ballpark of about 43%... While the DLT fees is very new and raw, so it will be a small amount, the recurring fee arising out of custody of listed and unlisted is broadly equal. 58% has got 6 line items, 1 of the line items is joining fees.”
— Vijay Chandok, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
Packaging
Creative Graphics Solutions (India) | Micro Cap | Packaging
Creative Graphics Solutions India Ltd. (CGS) is a leading pre-press company specializing in manufacturing flexographic printing plates for packaging, also offering premedia services and specialized pharmaceutical packaging through subsidiaries, serving major brands across India and internationally. They are India’s largest processor of digital flexo plates, providing essential printing blocks (like Digital Flexo, Metal Back, Coating Plates) for FMCG and pharma industries, focusing on innovation, quality, and integrated packaging solutions.
The company is very bullish on the flexography business in India, expecting steep growth driven by its eco-friendly nature, low current penetration, and increasingly stringent Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) norms.
“You’re right, when it comes to flexography, you know I’ve already described so many times, but once more there are different types of packaging printing. The flexography is the worldwide the most eco-friendly, the most economical and the fastest growing segment. Largely in India, it is still at a very, very low level of penetration... So, India is bound to grow, when it comes to flexography. As we have into flexographic printing plates, we have built our largest infrastructure base across all over the India. We are very, very bullish that with the growth coming with the EPR norms are going to be stringent, there will be definitely steep growth, it will be seen into the flexographic sector.”
— Deepanshu Goel, Managing Director and Promoter
The increase in working capital is primarily due to a strategic shift towards larger customers in the pharma sector, who typically have 90-day debtor cycles.
“Manhar, on the working capital front, as I mentioned, a large part of our sales has started to come from the top 20 customer base that we have... because the size of the order is larger, you will continue to see a larger increase in working capital. The debtor days in most of the pharma space is 90 days. So, we are seeing an increase in our debtors, specifically on the working capital front.”
— Pulkit Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer
The company has achieved significant growth, with H1 sales of 175 crores approaching a 1 crore per day run rate, up from 40 crores annual sales a few years ago.
“Compared to last year, just to put things in perspective, a few years ago the group annual sales were 40 crores. Now we are doing 175 crores in six months. So, we are really very near to the run rate of 1 crore in sales per day.”
— Pulkit Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer
The company’s aggressive growth plan is focused on becoming a leader in the pharmaceutical packaging sector, with no immediate plans for diversification outside of packaging and flexographic business.
“Yeah. So, we have been very clear when it comes to the vision of company. We have a very aggressive growth plan. So, we would like to be the leader in the pharmaceutical packaging center. So, when it comes to the different diversification together there is nothing on cards as it now, we’re totally focusing. Right now on to the packaging and our Creative Graphics flexographic business.”
— Deepanshu Goel, Managing Director and Promoter
Auto Ancillary
Studds Accessories | Small Cap | Auto Ancillary
Studds Accessories is a leading Indian company that designs, manufactures, and sells two-wheeler helmets and motorcycle accessories, known globally as the world’s largest by volume, offering safety gear under brands like ‘Studds’ (mass market) and ‘SMK’ (premium)
Studds secured a strategic engagement with Decathlon to supply bicycle helmets for their India requirements, highlighting strong manufacturing capabilities.
“In October, we entered into a strategic engagement with Decathlon, adding a marquee global brand to our customer portfolio... we will fulfill Decathlon’s India requirements for bicycle helmets initially.”
— Sidharth Khurana, Managing Director
A new warehouse in Spain is being established to enhance European distribution, service levels, and market access for exports.
“As part of this, we are in the process of establishing a new warehouse in Spain. This facility will act as a strategic logistics base for Europe and is expected to meaningfully improve regional distribution capabilities, service levels and delivery timelines...”
— Sidharth Khurana, Managing Director
The company projects a long-term revenue target exceeding INR 1,000 crores by FY30, driven by structural levers.
“Looking ahead, we remain confident in our long - term growth trajectory and have articulated a revenue aspiration of more than INR 1,000 crores by financial year 30.”
— Sidharth Khurana, Managing Director
The INR1,000 crore revenue target by FY30 represents a conservative yet achievable 15-16% CAGR, significantly outpacing historical global market growth.
“I think if you look at the CAGR until 2030 on a INR1,000 crores plus kind of a guidance, the CAGR is about 15 to 16% CAGR, right? Whereas the global market has historically over the last five years grown by about 6%... I would say that, yes, we have taken a conservative view. Could be better, but I think we prefer to give guidance, which is quite doable.”
— Sidharth Khurana, Managing Director
A draft regulation proposing two mandatory helmets with every new motorcycle sale, instead of one, currently has no update on its implementation date.
“So it was a draft regulation, wherein at the moment in nine states, the rule is implemented that with every motorcycle sold, the two - wheeler manufacturer gives one helmet to the motorcycle to consumer... there was a draft regulation of June 2025, which said instead of one helmet, you have to now give two helmets with the motorcycle sale... There is no update on that draft regulation. So, we don’t know right now when that will be implemented.”
— Sidharth Khurana, Managing Director
The company strategically focuses on the entry to mid-market segment (EUR 70-300 retail) globally, as it represents 85% of the market volume.
“We intend to play in the bucket that we are because that’s where almost 85% of the market is globally. So that’s where the volumes are going to come from.”
— Sidharth Khurana, Managing Director
The company is shifting its e-commerce strategy to focus on higher-margin products and plans to increase online advertising spend by 70% this year to improve market share.
“I think on e - commerce, we have changed our strategy since last year a little bit... We are more focusing on products wherein we have more margins and we can advertise stronger... this year, our advertising spend online would be almost 70% higher than last year.”
— Sidharth Khurana, Managing Director
Studds has historically been the market leader in pricing, initiating price changes, especially increases, and competitors typically follow its lead, demonstrating strong brand power.
“The last 20 years, I can say that we have been the leaders. We always initiate the price change... if the competition they want to change prices, increase especially, decrease as they can do. But if they want to increase prices, they will typically wait for us to go in that direction.”
— Sidharth Khurana, Managing Director
The company is optimistic about smart helmets globally, especially Bluetooth-enabled ones for music and calls, but notes domestic adoption is uncertain due to Indian audibility regulations.
“So I’m, to be honest, optimistic on smart helmets. On the domestic side, I’m not very sure because of the audibility rules in India for helmets... Globally, we see an uptick on the smart helmets, but there have been a lot of developments in terms of intercoms, Wi - Fi mesh, and cameras. But the real thing that has just picked up till now is pure Bluetooth, where people want to hear music, and they want to have a call.”
— Sidharth Khurana, Managing Director
RACL Geartech | Micro Cap | Auto Ancillary
RACL Geartech is a leading Indian auto component manufacturer specializing in complex transmission gears, axle shafts, and sub-assemblies for a wide range of vehicles, including motorcycles, scooters, cars, tractors, and commercial vehicles, serving major global OEMs. They also produce industrial gears for electrical switchgear, winches, and are actively expanding into e-mobility components, like reverse steering for electric sports cars, focusing on high-precision engineering for future mobility needs.
The Chairman & Managing Director expresses optimism for significant economic improvement in both India and globally in the coming year 2026.
“Indian economy is really resilient economy. Things are really getting better by each passing day. Keep passing order and globally. Also, despite all the challenges. Global situation is also proving a lot, so we really see that coming year 2026 will be full of improvement...”
— Mr. Gursharan Singh, Chairman & Managing Director
Europe is expected to rebound positively from a 2024-2025 plateau, driven by large infrastructure, defense, and energy spending, which bodes well for the automotive and commercial truck sectors.
“globally Europe achieved a plateau in 2024 and 2025. So, whatever now is going to happen, it is going to happen in the plus direction only because of political scenario. Europeans are spending in a big way into infrastructure projects, particularly in the defence projects and particularly energy sector... I personally feel in automotive segment or I’ll say in the commercial trucks on this business, things are going to look up and show a positive out.”
— Mr. Gursharan Singh, Chairman & Managing Director
Current revenue growth is predominantly fueled by recovery and increased orders from existing customer projects, many of which are now delivering volumes that were anticipated last year, rather than from new project contributions.
“So, there is absolutely no new project which has contributed to being revenue growth. BMW cars prototyping is happening somewhere. The pickup is good there. Second many for existing projects which were earlier... many for existing projects from customers have shown good recovery signs... So that is where that improvement has come in and value why what you also see to be very honest last year was not that good. So percentage wise a bit higher also because it has a base effect, but in general many of the projects which should have delivered last year were delivering now.”
— Mr. Gursharan Singh, Chairman & Managing Director
RACL holds long-term ambitions to diversify beyond gears and automotive into futuristic technologies like robotics and humanoids, though current focus remains on growing the automotive business for the next three years.
“Our company is really thinking on many, many such avenues [beyond automotive]... of course ambition is why to just gears, why can’t we make the entire humanoid right? So that’s we shouldn’t be always work with it is not one year to where it is 10 years.”
— Mr. Gursharan Singh, Chairman & Managing Director
Euro appreciation had a net positive impact of INR 8-10 crores on the company’s H1 financial performance.
“But so overall, if you look at the picture is then about the overall euro in H1 it’s about between 8 to 10 crores of impact.”
— Mr. Jitender Jain, Chief Financial Officer
RACL Geartech is strategically entering the defense manufacturing sector, viewing it as an initial step towards sustainable long-term growth as India emerges as a defense hub.
“This is a kind of initiative which we get entry in a sustainable level in the near future because India is fast becoming a hub for defence manufacturing. So, this is a kind of initial first step where we are trying to take into this, let’s really see how it takes.”
— Mr. Gursharan Singh, Chairman & Managing Director
Tenneco Clean Air India | Small Cap | Auto Ancillary
Tenneco Clean Air India is a leading automotive component manufacturer, specializing in emission control systems (catalytic converters, mufflers), powertrain parts (spark plugs, bearings, seals), and advanced suspension systems (shock absorbers, struts), serving both domestic (BS-VI compliant) and global markets, integrating high tech from its US parent (Tenneco Inc.). They are known for making vehicles cleaner and rides smoother, recently listing on Indian stock exchanges.
Key new bookings include a strategic entry into a major Japanese passenger vehicle OEM for clean air products and strengthening market leadership in shock absorbers with a prominent Indian OEM.
“These bookings include a strategic clean air business entry into a leading Japanese passenger vehicle OEM, which was previously untapped white space for us. It also includes another major advanced ride technologies win with a prominent Indian OEM, thereby further securing our number one position in shock absorbers in India.”
— Arvind Chandrasekharan, Whole-Time Director and Chief Executive Officer
The company maintains a highly capital-efficient, debt-free business model, demonstrated by a negative 22-day cash conversion cycle and funding all capex and working capital from internal accruals.
“Our cash conversion cycle for H1 FY26 stood at negative 22 days, underscoring the capital-efficient nature of our business model. We continue to stay debt-free and have been meeting all our requirements in terms of capex as well as working capital to internal accruals.”
— Mahender Chhabra, Chief Financial Officer
Exports are expected to significantly outpace domestic business growth from a low base, contributing to improved overall margins due to higher profitability.
“Exports is going to grow much, much, much faster than our domestic business simply because they’re starting from a low base... And the other great thing about exports is exports are coming in at nice margins.”
— Arvind Chandrasekharan, Whole-Time Director and Chief Executive Officer
India’s technological parity, especially in clean air and advanced ride technologies (e.g., BS 6.2 comparable to Euro 6), enables exporting the same advanced products to global markets.
“Five, ten years ago, India was always behind technology. But now, in both clean air powertrain and in advanced ride technologies, if you look at what products we sell to our local OEMs, in clean air, for example, which is BS 6.2, the same product with same technology and the same legislation can also be exported to Europe as part of Euro 6, right? And their own version of real driving emissions.”
— Arvind Chandrasekharan, Whole-Time Director and Chief Executive Officer
India’s Advanced Ride Technologies market is undergoing significant disruption from conventional shock absorbers to advanced suspension systems, driven by Indian OEMs benchmarking global competitors for affordability.
“So, Himanshu. Advanced ride technologies in India right now, 95% plus of the business is conventional shock absorbers, right?... What’s happening in India right now is a massive disruption, okay? I think primarily driven by benchmarking that’s done by our Indian OEMs finding out that their competitors overseas are able to make advanced suspension in vehicle prices that are quite affordable.”
— Arvind Chandrasekharan, Whole-Time Director and Chief Executive Officer
Key headwinds for the company are primarily macroeconomic, including a slowdown in commercial trucks and certain passenger vehicle segments, along with uncertainties surrounding new labor code announcements.
“Our headwinds are more about the general market. What happens to commercial trucks . For example, the road infrastructure, we’re going through a 5 - year low and commercial trucks don’t seem to be growing in a big way. Or maybe there’s a slowdown in the passenger vehicles, especially the B, C, D segments. There is also potential, some headwinds around this labor code announcement, but that just happened a few days ago.”
— Arvind Chandrasekharan, Whole-Time Director and Chief Executive Officer
Margins in Advanced Ride Technologies are expected to increase as the company holds a competitive advantage in supplying pre-validated, advanced suspension technologies with integrated electronic controls, facing limited competition.
“Our margins will also track up simply because there are not that many suppliers out there who can provide such advanced technologies, including electronic controls, who can systems integrate, etcetera. So, we have that natural advantage and the best news is these technologies are already pre-validated.”
— Arvind Chandrasekharan, Whole-Time Director and Chief Executive Officer
Emerald Tyre Manufacturers | Nano Cap | Auto Ancillary
Emerald Tyre Manufacturers is an Indian company specializing in Off-Highway Tyres (OHT), manufacturing and supplying a wide range of industrial tyre-wheel solutions, including solid and pneumatic tyres, for material handling (forklifts, loaders), airport ground support, port trailers, mining, and agricultural equipment under the brand name “GRECKSTER,” serving both domestic and global markets.
US customers are unlikely to quickly switch suppliers despite 50% tariffs on Indian tyres due to the long approval process for safety-critical products and the significant time and effort required to establish new supply chains.
“In the short term, in the near short-term period, you know tyres are a safety product. You cannot, you know, even if US wanted to, you know, develop a parallel, a secondary source, it is going to take a lot of time, money and effort to come up with this, which is not going to happen even for us in the last so many years with every customer, the time taken to get an approval is one 1 - 1/2 years. It doesn’t happen overnight. So, for them to change the supply chain is going to take them as much time you know they are not going to, you know, switch over tomorrow morning because there is a 50% tariff coming in. So that way you know none of our customers are pulled out of us.”
— Chandhrasekharan Thirupathi Venkatachalam, Chairman & Managing Director
The company expects to maintain current operating margins, as marginal US export margin reductions are offset by cost savings from the new mixing unit, impacting profitability for only three months this fiscal year.
“I think we can expect the same margin. I think when you talk about reduction in margin on the export front in US customers, it was very marginal. As far as the mixing -- the cost savings that comes out of the mixing unit will accrual only for three months, because almost nine months have gone by, so there won’t be any major impact in the profitability that you would expect. We’ll continue the same trend.”
— Varadarajan Krishnaram, Chief Executive Officer
Africa is considered a “blue ocean” mining market with significant unexplored opportunities for Emerald Tyre, as part of the company’s strategy to expand into underdeveloped regions.
“See, basically the African market is, yeah, mining market. It’s a it’s a blue ocean. Today, Europe, US and all are already developed. The major mining happens in the African market, so one of the targets that of Emerald, is to work in unexplored area. That’s why we were suggesting to you that we could have some opportunities in Africa.”
— Varadarajan Krishnaram, Chief Executive Officer
The company aims to be a major, but not exclusive, OEM supplier to maintain pricing power, preferring a balanced mix of OEM sales for visibility and aftermarket sales for better margins.
“Sir, no OEM has one single supplier at any point of time. Normally we will be, yeah, we’ll be one of the major share, a major share we’ll have in the OEM. We also don’t want to be an exclusive full supplier to OEM because pricing is always under pressure with the OEM. We would like to have a judicious mix of both after sales and OEM. The OEM gives you visibility. When the forklift rolls out or the equipment rolls out, it comes with your tyres. That gives a popularity but that but.”
— Varadarajan Krishnaram, Chief Executive Officer
The company has seen significant growth in Europe and is strategically focusing on expanding volumes in Australia, Latin America, Saudi Arabia, and Southern Africa.
“Europe has shown significant increase in performance. And I think there are two, three other markets which are in the cusp of major improvement in volume which are Australia, Latin America and Saudi Arabia and southern Africa. All these three markets we have taken as a strategy to focus.”
— Varadarajan Krishnaram, Chief Executive Officer
Emerald Tyre successfully grew its US business despite challenging market conditions by offering solution-oriented products.
“in spite of the difficult market situation in US and other markets, I think Emerald is one company which has registered an increase in the US business. This is purely because we have been able to provide products as solutions rather than mere tyres.”
— Varadarajan Krishnaram, Chief Executive Officer
Healthcare
Earkart Limited | Nano Cap | Healthcare
Earkart Limited is a health-tech company in India focused on making hearing care accessible by manufacturing, distributing, and trading affordable hearing aids and accessories, plus offering mobility aids and educational kits for the disabled, using innovative models like shop-in-shop kiosks and telehealth to reach Tier 2/3 cities. They have their own BTE/RIC hearing aid line, partner with other brands, and use tech like remote audiometry for better reach.
Earkart addresses the significant lack of audiologists in India’s remote areas by providing remote diagnostic technology and affordable, high-quality hearing aids.
“The very fact that almost 60% plus population of India lacks access to an audiologist... With that in mind, Earkart came into being. To handle two things, One the shortage of audiologists in remote cities And we came out with a device which can help do the diagnosis and hearing tests in the remotest part of the world... But we also started producing high-quality hearing aids, which can perform very well at a very economical price also.”
— Mr. Rohit Misra, MD and CEO
Earkart is strategically expanding through a shop-in-shop model with ENT doctors, utilizing OMNI devices to provide diagnostics and leverage the higher availability of ENTs over audiologists.
“We are expanding very significantly with the shop-and-shop model with the ENT doctors. Now, the fun part is that ENT doctors are available all across India there are about 16,000 ENT doctors, they are practicing in India, whereas just about 6,500 audiologists are reported to have their practices in India. So, we are going to the ENT doctors and installing our device called OMNI, to perform all kinds of diagnostics.”
— Mr. Rohit Misra, MD and CEO
Earkart’s revenue mix has significantly shifted, with government sales decreasing to 45% and private sector sales increasing to 55% in H1 FY26 compared to the previous year.
“in government sector we have done 45% revenues from government sales side. And 55% is from private sector. Compared to last year, it was 69% from government and 31% from private sector.”
— Mr. Ajay Giri, Chief Financial Officer
Earkart’s OMNI technology is globally unique, with no direct competitors, and has attracted acquisition interest from major international hearing aid companies.
“India, there is nobody, and globally, there is nobody. In fact, we were invited not too long ago, by one of the behemoths of Hearing World. They were interested in our technology. And, they wanted to acquire us.”
— Mr. Rohit Misra, MD and CEO
A WHO report predicts that by 2030, 1 in 10 people will suffer from induced hearing loss due to excessive use of headphones, indicating a growing future market for hearing solutions.
“I do remember having read one of the WHO... information, which said by 2030... 1 in every 10 person will have an induced hearing loss because of excess usage of headphones and AirPods.”
— Mr. Rohit Misra, MD and CEO
The company targets 500 OMNI installations by the end of 2028, with each clinic expected to generate 80,000 rupees in monthly revenue after 15-18 months of reaching full operational capacity.
“Our expectation per clinic per month is actually 80,000 rupees on a fully installed capacity, which might take anything between 15 to 18 months by the time they come to that number. And, Our expectation is to have 500 installations by the end of 2028.”
— Mr. Rohit Misra, MD and CEO
Earkart operates at 60-70% of its current single-shift annual production capacity of 200,000 hearing aids, leaving room for increased output.
“We can produce about 200,000 hearing aids a year, and Ajay will correct me if it is for one shift or two. ... So that is for one shift of 8 hours, Monday to Saturday. Means 6 days, 6 days a week. ... We are currently using almost 120,000 to 140,000 units capacity as of now.”
— Mr. Rohit Misra, MD and CEO & Mr. Ajay Giri, Chief Financial Officer
Textiles
Purple United Sales | Micro Cap | Textiles
Purple United Sales is a company that specializes in kids’ apparel, footwear, and fashion accessories. They operate through retail, E-commerce, and wholesale channels with a wide distribution network across India. Their product range includes a variety of clothing items like t-shirts, jackets, dresses, as well as footwear such as shoes, sandals, and accessories like caps and bags.
The company identifies a significant market opportunity in kids’ footwear due to a lack of organized players and aims to increase its contribution from this segment.
“we see a greater, bigger market gap in the footwear as a segment Because very few organized players in the kids’ footwear segments are operating in our country And we are hopeful that we’ll be able to increase the contribution of footwear in our retail space, which is currently, I think, 18%, approximately”
— JD Seth, Managing Director
The company’s extensive expansion in Punjab is driven by the region’s strong NRI connections, high disposable income during festive seasons, decent sales generation, and relatively lower rental costs.
“Punjab is an economy that is directly connected to developed economies like US, UK, Canada, or Australia. Now, what is happening in Punjab? That after every 70, 80 kilometers, you see high street moves And, they capture to the, let’s say, catchment area of roughly 100 kilometers in that vicinity So, and name any national or international bank, it is there And, and what is happening? When, when, because most of these are the NRI belts, when these people come to, our country during the festivity season...So, they have very decent disposal income, they are very… and, sales are… we are able to generate very, decent number as far as sales is concerned And comparatively, the pricings, the rentals are also on the lower side”
— JD Seth, Managing Director
The company identifies a significant market gap in the 5-14 year old kids’ fashion segment due to a lack of organized domestic players and limited one-stop shops.
“there’s no organized, players in that segment, or there are certain international players, like Tommy or Gap kids, etc. So, that is the opportunity that we’re looking for. There is no one-stop shop for the kids’ fashion. We are from 0 to 14. So, that’s why we are focusing.”
— JD Seth, Managing Director
Government policies like BIS implementation are shifting the footwear market towards organized, domestic manufacturers, which is expected to boost the company’s footwear segment contribution.
“thanks to government policies, because after implementing BIS, dependency is becoming more on the organized channelers, factories located in India. Earlier, there used to be the unorganized channelers who used to import goods from China, and that has… that is not happening. So, shift is happening from our knowledge to organize. That will definitely help us in increasing our, contribution of the footwear as a category.”
— JD Seth, Managing Director
The Indian kids’ apparel market is projected to grow at a 3% CAGR over the next 4-5 years, reaching approximately USD 29.34 billion, indicating a substantial market opportunity.
“This slide depicts about the market size of the kids’ apparel industry. It is approximately 29.34, and it’s going at a CAGR of 3% in the next 4 to 5 years. These figures are in USD billion.”
— JD Seth, Managing Director
Services
Jain Resource Recycling | Small Cap | Services
Jain Resource Recycling and its subsidiaries specialize in recycling non-ferrous metal scrap and producing lead, copper, and aluminium alloys. Its lead ingots are London Metal Exchange-registered, ensuring international quality standards. The company also trades non-ferrous metals and commodities.
On sustained momentum in base metals:
“The momentum yes of course will continue because we are dealing in the base metals and base metals are the ones which actually drive the economy or are directly driven by the growth of the economy. So this momentum will continue.”
— Mayank Pareek, Managing Director
On Q2 working capital spike:
“It is a natural increase because we are working hard to jack up our volumes and when you jack up your volume suddenly you have lot of inventory coming in which has to be processed. So there is a transition period when you have increase in working capital as number of sales deals.”
— Mayank Pareek, Managing Director
On the path to higher profitability:
“When we increase the volumes in the same plant the fixed costs actually get apportioned among the larger volume and then profitability of course increases. But then we also work on enhancing the efficiencies creating the value addition by for example we started taking out tin from lead. The same tin was going as alloy alloying element along with the lead. So these types of innovations actually create addition in the profitability.”
— Mayank Pareek, Managing Director
On geopolitical risks and export exposure:
“Most of our exports if you see are to the east Asian countries and I don’t see any impact due to geopolitical situations. The customers are doing good. There is good demand and we are exporting.” — Mayank Pareek, Managing Director
On balancing domestic vs. export markets:
“We have focus on both the markets. It is actually the price that drives and occasionally it is India market who gives better realization and the sales is diverted to India market. Our product is well recognized well established in export markets. So it is pretty easy to sell in export markets... as far as the copper is concerned it is India market where it is catching up and the sale in domestic market will keep growing as a percentage in Indian market while on lead I suppose it will be more export dominated.”
— Mayank Pareek, Managing Director
On raw material security:
“In our business the story actually starts with the sourcing of the raw material and that is the key to success. We have put in a lot of effort in improving our sourcing and it has started giving results. We have good inflows and is going good.”
— Mayank Pareek, Managing Director
Diversified
DCM Shriram | Small Cap | Diversified
DCM Shriram Limited is a conglomerate with diversified business interests including Chloro-Vinyl, Sugar, Farm Solutions, Bioseed, Fertilisers, Building Systems, Cement, and Kisaan Bazaar. The company operates manufacturing facilities for fertilizers, Chloro Vinyl, and Cement in Kota and Bharuch. It also runs coal-based captive power plants in these locations and has sugar factories in Uttar Pradesh.
When asked about the intent behind the MOU and future revenue potential from the collaboration.
“More than 50% of DCM Shriram’s revenues as well as bottom line comes from agri businesses and part of these agri businesses is the output which is sugar business and a large part is also agri inputs business which is farm solutions and bio seeds.”
— Sanjay Chhabra, Executive Director
Explaining why DCM Shriram sees synergy with Bayer Crop Sciences and the complementary strengths of both organizations.
“Shriram farm solutions is India’s largest wheat seed player and we have a deep rooted research in the wheat crop whereas you know Bayer has research in other crops. So both the organizations feel that right now biggest challenge facing the farmers is climate change. And we need to come up with new technology solutions to help the farmers deal with this climate change.”
— Sanjay Chhabra, Executive Director
Elaborating on the primary objective of the collaboration beyond just product development.
“The primary intent of this collaboration is to since we are both like-minded organizations and we believe that we need to it’s our responsibility to make sure that we bring in new technology products to farmers... and not just new technology products also how to reach to because these new technology products have to be taken to the farmers and farmers have to adapt these new technologies.”
— Sanjay Chhabra, Executive Director
Discussing the complementary distribution networks and rural reach of both companies.
“DCM Shriram has a deep rooted presence in the rural areas. Bayer crop science has an equally good presence and plus Bayer has an initiative called better life farming alliance which actually reaches the hinterland and the poorest of poor farmers. So we believe that if we work together in all these areas there’s a much greater possibility of coming out with synergistic output.”
— Sanjay Chhabra, Executive Director
When pressed for specifics on products and partnership structure, management outlined broad focus areas.
“The products largely the areas will be crop protection in the area of seeds these will be large areas where we will be doing this collaboration.”
— Sanjay Chhabra, Executive Director
Building Materials
Greenlam Industries | Small Cap | Building Materials
Greenlam Industries is engaged in manufacturing laminates. Its products include greenlam laminates, digi junior, compact laminates, xtraordinaire super premium laminates, 0.6 millimeters (mm) green gloss laminates, 0.8 mm green touch laminates, post forming laminates, switch board panels, chalk and marker grade laminates, green decoliner 0.7 mm and fire retardant laminates.
Greenlam achieved significant revenue and gross margin growth in Q2 FY26.
“As you probably have seen, we have crossed Rs. 800 crores of revenue in Q2 FY ‘26 and the business has grown by about 18.7% on a year-on-year basis. And even at the gross margin levels, we have done about 54.6%, it is one of the highest we have done in terms of gross margins.”
— Saurabh Mittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Net profit in the first half of the year declined due to interest, depreciation, and foreign currency costs.
“Net profit was down to Rs. 16 crores in this half year as against Rs. 54 crores in last year due to higher interest and depreciation and foreign currency losses on new project which was commissioned in Q4 of last year.”
— Ashok Sharma, Chief Financial Officer
Greenlam is undertaking a brownfield expansion in its Laminates business in Andhra Pradesh.
“So, on the Laminates business, we have also announced a Brownfield expansion of 2 million sheets and boards. This is two lines of Laminates we are expanding at our facility at Andhra Pradesh, Naidupeta. And these two lines of 2 million sheets and boards will generate about, in the range of Rs. 375 crores to Rs. 400 crores of revenue. We are expecting commercial production in Q4 of FY ‘27.”
— Saurabh Mittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
The Laminate segment achieved higher margins than its the long-term guidance of 16% due to higher volumes and a flagship brand launch.
“Laminate’s margin in this quarter is around 18% before the FOREX fluctuation. We have given a guidance of around 16% on a longer tenure basis. This quarter, apart from the volume, if you saw, there is an increase and this quarter we had a launch of our flagship brand of Greenlam also. So, as of now, we will continue with the around 16% growth. It can go up also depending upon the volume, but let us say we continue with the 16% guidance on a yearly basis kind of a thing.”
— Ashok Sharma, Chief Financial Officer
The company anticipates its Chipboard business to reach EBITDA breakeven in FY27, with the Plywood business also nearing breakeven.
“So, Chipboard, really, I think the way things are moving, we think we should be able to break even EBITDA in FY ‘27. And ply also, again, we are very close. You see a little bit of more push on the numbers and it should happen. So, yes, maybe be around there.”
— Saurabh Mittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
A significant market opportunity for Chipboard exists in India.
“So, but again, like it is a very open-ended question. So, clearly there is a market opportunity which exists in Chipboard. And market opportunity exists to win more market share from the unorganized market and from bagasse board manufacturers. And also, win some business from the other panel products because at the price point, the quality, the physical performance, the dimensions with the Chipboard product offers brings in more value for the customers.”
— Saurabh Mittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Due to increased US tariffs, Greenlam is passing some of the cost rise to customers, and absorbing most of it for its relatively small US export business.
“So, the way to look at it is that of the increase, as far as we are concerned, our business in US is about, I think, 4% - 5% of our export business, maybe 6%. So, that is just the number you should know. In terms of the increase of tariff, if you take the entire tariff increase, clearly the cost benefit, will not be there unless it is a specified item by an architect ideally. So, what we have done, of the increase which is impacted to us because we ship to our subsidiary, which then does custom clearance and ships to the customers, of the increase, about 40% is something we are passing on to the market, and we are absorbing about 60% of the cost. And we are obviously all hopeful that something, gets resolved with a tariff issue. So, if you take a entire 50%, then the cost competitiveness is not there.”
— Saurabh Mittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
While Greenlam’s US sales were maintained in Q2, the company observed an increase in local US production and other countries with lower tariffs gaining market share.
“So, I do not know with certainty, but like, if I talk about ourselves, in Q2 our sales in the US has been maintained. But I do hear in the market that local production has increased, and there are other countries, who have been imposed with lower tariffs, like Turkey and maybe Italy and some other markets.”
— Saurabh Mittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Greenlam has no plans for outsourcing, and while there might be temporary tightness, the announced expansion and ability to run plants at higher utilization will manage future volume.
“No. So, there is no plan for outsourcing because the product spec and the quality standards we need, we have tried in the past, does not work out. But since we have already announced expansion and in the past also, we have been able to utilize plants at a higher level. So, our sense is that we should be okay with our volume. There could be a tightness for a few months, maybe. But by and large, we should be under control.”
— Saurabh Mittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Chemicals
Deepak Nitrite | Small Cap | Chemicals
Deepak Nitrite Limited is a rapidly growing Indian company known for manufacturing Phenol, Acetone, and Iso Propyl Alcohol (IPA) at its advanced facility in Dahej, Gujarat. Trusted by leading downstream companies worldwide, it offers a diverse product portfolio for various industries with sustainable operations and a focus on meeting evolving customer needs.
Deepak Nitrite reported a sequential increase in consolidated revenues and EBITDA in Q2 FY26.
“In Q2 FY26, Deepak reported consolidated revenues of INR 1,922 crore, higher on a quarter-on-quarter basis. This was accompanied by an improved profitability as we reported a 5% quarter-on-quarter increase in consolidated EBITDA at INR 224 crore. “
— Maulik Mehta, Executive Director & CEO
The Phenolics business demonstrated resilient performance with sequential revenue and EBIT growth.
“Our Phenolics business continues to show performance in continuously challenging times, reporting a revenue growth of 2% on a sequential basis, accompanied by a strong 23% improvement in EBIT. Top line growth was aided by higher throughput, including achieving a record quarterly production and sales of Isopropyl Alcohol.”
— Maulik Mehta, Executive Director & CEO
The company anticipates improved performance in the Advanced Intermediates (AI) segment from Q4 FY26, driven by higher agrochemical volumes, debottlenecking, and fully operational upstream integration assets.
“In terms of outlook, we are optimistic about our prospects given the strong traction in Phenolics. And further in the AI segment, we anticipate an improvement in performance on the back of better volumes for agrochemical-linked intermediates from Europe as well as other geographies, enhanced contribution from capacities that have undergone debottlenecking and an improved ability to capture contribution across the value chain with our upstream integration assets, which are expected to be fully operational in Q4 FY26.”
— Maulik Mehta, Executive Director & CEO
Deepak Nitrite commissioned a hydrogenation asset for INR 118 crore and inaugurated a new INR 100 crore R&D center at Savli, enhancing its capabilities in specialty chemicals and innovation.
“A key development to share is the commencement of our hydrogenation asset at Deepak Chem Tech on 26th September, 2025, which came at an investment of about INR 118 crore as well as the inauguration of our state-of-the-art research and development center at Savli, which is alongside its sister concern, which is focused on polymer compounding.”
— Maulik Mehta, Executive Director & CEO
Deepak Nitrite is actively transitioning its energy consumption to renewable sources, aiming for 60-70% renewable energy dependence, demonstrating a commitment to sustainability.
“We’re transitioning towards achieving 60% of our energy consumption coming from renewable sources, which may exceed 70% once regulations and policies about banking are made clear. We’ve already achieved a significantly reduced emission score and increased our intensity in a meaningful way in H1 FY26.”
— Maulik Mehta, Executive Director & CEO
Agrochemical intermediate volumes were negligible in Q2 FY26 due to prolonged inventory destocking by customers who were focused on clearing their finished goods inventory.
“In the second quarter, regardless of the peak volumes, the volumes that we sent were essentially 0 or close to 0. And this is because there was an intense, I think, 4 or 5 quarters of inventory destocking that took place. And hence, what ended up happening is that customers were essentially not even producing. They were only trying to release their own inventory of finished goods product. Now all of this also meant that the intermediates from our side were impacted, so basically, let me put it this way, that these products are conspicuously absent in our Q2 results.”
— Maulik Mehta, Executive Director & CEO
The company expects increased traction and material movement for agrochemical intermediates in H2 FY26, with volumes projected to be higher than Q2’s near-zero levels, exploring diversified geographies.
“So what we are seeing definitely is that moving forward, the number is no doubt higher than the 0 that it was in Q2. We are not aware of what it will grow to or plateau up to. But right now, what we have in clarity is that material movement is to begin from, I think, this month or next month onwards. And then there are discussions that are ongoing with regards to volumes with regards to diversified geographies where now even China and other regions like India have come into play. So there are multiple conversations that are taking place. Rest assured that on these fronts, especially on these kinds of agrochemical intermediates, we are looking at more traction in H2 than in H1.”
— Maulik Mehta, Executive Director & CEO
Deepak Nitrite is significantly increasing its ammonia storage capacity from historically a few days’ consumption to about 15 days of higher consumption from Q4 onwards.
“Now our ability to store his torically over the last 30, 40 years was limited to a very minuscule volume, which was close to maybe just a couple of days of consumption. Now moving forward, I think from the end of Q3 onwards, anyways, we’ve already commissioned a storage facility about last year, which about doubled our storage against our consumption. And now I think it will be roughly about 15x how much we would have had over these many years.”
— Maulik Mehta, Executive Director & CEO
The ₹2,000 crore capex is primarily allocated to specialty chemicals and upstream integration projects like Nitration, Hydrogenation, Fluorination, Nitric Acid, R&D, multi-purpose plants, MIBC, and MIBK, with most expected to be commissioned by March 2026.
“So I think 95% of this would not have anything to do with polycarbonates or phenol. So Nitration, hydrogenation and fluorination in Dahej, this would be over Nitric Acid in Nandesari. This would be over the R&D facility. This would be over a couple of other multi-purpose plants. So the R&D facility was commissioned. The hydrogenation was commissioned. Nitration will be commissioned at some point either this month or early next month. Nitric Acid will be commissioned this quarter. It’s in the process of being commissioned, in fact. And then you will have some balance, the multi-purpose plants, which are going to be commissioned between March and May 2026. And finally, MIBC and MIBK, which will be commissioned by March 2026. And that will be then taking care of all of that INR 2,000 crore that we had announced into specialty chemicals and upstream integration.”
— Maulik Mehta, Executive Director & CEO
The company faces substantial pressure from Chinese dumping in products like sodium nitrite, DASDA, and nitro aromatics, requiring a balance between market share and price premium.
“So the significant amount of dumping that we are finding from China would be in products such as sodium nitrite, would be in products such as DASDA, which is an intermediate to make optical brighteners and in a couple of cases of nitro aromatics. So the pressure from Chinese dumping is substantial. Now obviously, it is always going to be a fight about maintaining wallet share versus maintaining a price premium. And this is a balancing act.”
— Maulik Mehta, Executive Director & CEO
FMCG
Sula Vineyards | Small Cap | FMCG
Sula Vineyards Limited is the largest wine producer and seller in India, dominating all price segments and types including red, white, and sparkling wines. They distribute popular brands like ‘Sula’, ‘RASA’, ‘Dindori’, ‘The source’, ‘Satori’, ‘Madera’, and ‘Dia’, with ‘Sula’ being the category creator in the Indian wine market.Sula Vineyards Limited is the largest wine producer and seller in India, dominating all price segments and types including red, white, and sparkling wines. They distribute popular brands like ‘Sula’, ‘RASA’, ‘Dindori’, ‘The source’, ‘Satori’, ‘Madera’, and ‘Dia’, with ‘Sula’ being the category creator in the Indian wine market.
Sula’s Wine Tourism business achieved record growth in Q2 and H1 FY26, highlighting a strong performing segment.
“The biggest bright spot is our Wine Tourism business, which delivered yet another record quarter in Q2, reporting 8% growth in Q2 and 15% growth in H1. In an exciting development here, we have just launched our third resort, The Haven by Sula near our York Winery in Nashik. This is just a little bit further down the road from our main Nashik campus, which, as you know, has our Source resort and SulaFest and other such facilities.”
— Rajeev Samant, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Maharashtra, their most crucial market is recovering and returned to growth in Q2.
“In other good news, Maharashtra, our most important market, after going through a pretty challenging phase over the last 12 months has shown signs of decent recovery coming back to growth in Q2, which bodes very well for H2 as well as the coming years.”
— Rajeev Samant, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Sula is gaining back market share in the Premium & Elite segments despite competitor’s unsustainable discounting.
“I’m very happy to say Q2, I do believe, is the beginnings of a turnaround... And I would also like to say that our market intelligence says that we are gaining market share, espec ially in Premium & Elite... notwith standing the fact that our competition continues to give much higher and unsustainable discounts, we are still gaining market share even by giving lower discounts, which is definitely a very good scenario.”
— Rajeev Samant, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
“The Source” brand consistently shows strong double-digit growth and now accounts for 10% of own brand revenue, poised to be a key future growth driver.
“The Source has really been our star performer in terms of our brands, clocking double - digit growth for many quarters in a row. It now forms 10% of our own brands revenue, which is a pretty big jump from a year ago.”
— Rajeev Samant, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Own Brands faced a slight Q2 decline mainly due to market disruption in Telangana, which is a significant market for the company.
“Own Brands showed a marginal decline in Q2, which was primarily due to the temporary route - to - market disruption in Telangana, which emerged recently as our third largest market. Specifically, here, the expiry of retail licenses in November 2025 led retailers to focus on destocking during Q2 ahead of the new license issuances in December.
It’s worth noting that Telangana accounted for nearly 15% of our sales in Q2 and H1 last year. And hence, this disruption has had a notable impact on our Q2 performance. That said, with the license auction process in Telangana proceeding well and expected to conclude soon and with supply transition to new holders commencing in December next month, we anticipate a strong recovery towards the latter half of H2 FY ‘26.”— Rajeev Samant, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
However, Sula expects a strong recovery in Telangana sales as retail license disruptions resolve.
“That said, with the license auction process in Telangana proceeding well and expected to conclude soon and with supply transition to new holders commencing in December next month, we anticipate a strong recovery towards the latter half of H2 FY ‘26.”
— Rajeev Samant, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
The Sula Muscat Blanc, India’s first premium low-alcohol wine, has received positive market response and shows strong future potential.
“Our latest wine launch, the Sula Muscat Blanc is India’s first premium low alcohol wine, which has received a very positive response from the market in its first quarter of launch, and this is also showing really good potential for future.”
— Rajeev Samant, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Sula plans to re-expand its imported wine distribution business.
“Given that duties are expected to come down and the minimum import price is expected to come down, we are now actively exploring to once again step back in and expand our imported wine distribution business.”
— Rajeev Samant, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
A change in the Wine Tourism sourcing model optically reduced gross margins by 400 basis points but did not impact absolute Gross Profit.
“The second key factor was change in the sourcing model for Wine Tourism... This change, while optically reducing the gross margin by around 400 basis points, does not affect Gross Profit or EBITDA at an absolute level as the increase in cost of goods sold is offset by a corresponding increase in sales.”
— Abhishek Kapoor, Chief Financial Officer
Sula anticipates a 250 basis points year-on-year improvement in operating margins.
“Looking ahead, we expect to see a year - on - year improvement of 250 basis points in our operating margins in second half of this year. This improvement is expected to be driven by a combination of a higher WIPS accrual, sustained traction in wine tourism and phasing out of high-cost liquid inventory from last year.”
— Abhishek Kapoor, Chief Financial Officer
International
Adobe | International
Adobe is a multinational software company that provides tools for creativity, marketing, and document management, primarily through its Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro), Document Cloud (Acrobat, PDF tools), and Experience Cloud (customer experience management) platforms, empowering individuals and businesses to create, manage, and deliver digital content and experiences, heavily leveraging AI (Firefly) now.
[Concall]
Adobe views integrations with LLMs like ChatGPT as a crucial top-of-funnel strategy to acquire new users and convert them into paid subscribers by leveraging unique engagement opportunities.
“They represent in our mind a great top of funnel. They let us reach new users that we to typically wouldn’t have reached with some of the the traditional markets that we go go through. and we can engage them in new ways and it gives us and the the journey work that’s already in there gives us the opportunity to to flow them into our full paid plan. So it’s a it’s a real top of funnel game with a conversion opportunity on the back end of that.”
— David Wadwani, President of Digital Media
A media company’s ARR expanded from $10 million to $17 million after adopting Firefly Services and Foundry, illustrating the significant upsell potential of Adobe’s enterprise AI offerings.
“Let’s take uh uh media comp media and entertainment company we’re working on and I’m rounding the numbers here but to give you a little bit of a of context uh let’s say that that uh organization was spending $10 million with us arrs that we’ve been uh been selling with them you know we ran a uh ran a sales process with them and uh eng engagement with them for about six months uh we were able to sell them Firefly um services and Firefly Foundry for about 7 million so pretty significant ificant step up in terms of you know the engagement that we have with with the the customer. They’re already seeing increased in efficiency in content production. they’re able to generate more production uh content and they’re now getting into opportunities that are revenue bearing opportunities like increasing the types of content they they produce for social shorts and personalizing more of it for fan engagement with integration with our real-time CDP and of course that’s with just a few of their franchises more opportunities to expand beyond that.”
— David Wadwani, President of Digital Media
75% of digital media net new ARR came from subscriptions and upsells rather than pricing, demonstrating healthy customer acquisition and expansion dynamics.
Over 75% of digital media net new ARR was driven by continued growth in subscriptions and cross-sell and upsell with the remainder from value-based pricing reflecting the success of our customer acquisition strategy. Total Adobe ending ARR across business professionals and consumers and creative and marketing professionals of 25.2 billion growing 11.5% year-over-year. Cash flows from operations of 10.03 billion and ending cash and short-term investment position of 6.6 billion. RPO of 22.52 billion exiting the year growing 13% year-over-year or 12% in constant currency and CRPO growing 11% as reported or 10% in constant currency.
– Dan Durn, Executive Vice President and CFO
Alibaba | International
Alibaba is a massive Chinese tech conglomerate focused on e-commerce (B2B, B2C, C2C), cloud computing (Aliyun), digital media (Youku), and fintech, with its flagship being the global B2B platform, Alibaba.com, connecting businesses worldwide to wholesale manufacturers for bulk sourcing.
[Concall]
Alibaba Cloud’s revenue growth was significantly driven by robust demand for AI and public cloud services, with AI-related products showing consistent triple-digit growth.
“Sustained strong demand for AI and rising usage of public cloud drove Alibaba’s uh cloud’s 34% revenue growth this quarter, while revenue from external customers accelerated by 29%. AI related products continued to post tripledigit year-over-year growth for the ninth consecutive quarter.”
— Eddie Wu, Chairman
Alibaba Cloud is rapidly gaining market share in hybrid, financial, and AI cloud segments, positioning itself as a leader in China’s AI cloud market.
“Alibaba cloud is gaining market share across multiple segments. In the hybrid cloud market, Alibaba Cloud has become a key player, growing more than 20% year-over-year, outpacing the industry and steadily expanding market share. Our financial cloud business is also growing faster than the market with market share continuing to rise. In China’s AI cloud market, we’re also the clear leader with a market share larger than the combined total of the second to fourth largest providers.”
— Eddie Wu, Chairman
Alibaba launched the Qin AI assistant app, quickly gaining 10 million downloads in its beta, signaling the company’s dual focus on enterprise and consumer AI applications.
“Last week, we officially launched the QN app, which aims to be the most advanced personal AI assistant powered by our latest models. In the first week of its uh public beta, the Qin app has already surpassed 10 million in new downloads. The launch of the Qin app marks Alibaba’s commitment to both AI for enterprise and AI for consumer.”
— Eddie Wu, Chairman
Quick commerce AOV grew double-digits since August with non-beverage orders exceeding 75% of mix, while per-order logistics costs fell below pre-investment levels.
“First in terms of order mix optimization, over the past two months the share of higher average order value orders has increased. According to the latest data, non-beverage orders now account for over 75% of total orders. Most recently, AOV for quick commerce has grown by double digits compared to August, which has contributed to an increase in quick commerce’s overall GMV share. On the second point about logistics, as the order volume scales, quick commerce is realizing very clear economies of scale in fulfillment logistics. Delivery speed is now faster than the same period last year while average logistics cost per order has declined significantly. In fact the average cost per order is now lower than it was before we started making large-scale investments in quick commerce.”
– Jiang Fan, CEO of Alibaba E-commerce Business Group
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment | International
Dave & Buster’s is a popular American restaurant and entertainment venue known for its unique blend of Eat, Drink, Play, and Watch, featuring a massive arcade with VR & ticket games, sports bar atmosphere with big screens, diverse food menu (burgers, wings, global options), craft cocktails, and areas for private parties, especially popular for adults and families seeking fun experiences.
[Concall]
Dining room traffic increased meaningfully year-over-year with October food sales being the best month of the year, improving further in November, while eat and play combo attachment reached double-digit guest penetration.
“We are pleased that during the quarter, traffic in our dining rooms was up meaningfully year over year with October same store food sales being the best month of the year. A trend that has only further improved in November. As we discussed earlier this year, we brought back the eat and play combo and we continue to see positive momentum from this promotion which we believe provides a highly compelling value to our guests. We’ve continued to improve this offering throughout the year and guest attach to EPC has improved significantly to a double-digit percentage of our guests since the beginning of the year, demonstrating the attractiveness of the offering.”
– Terrun Lal, Chief Executive Officer
Management plans to introduce 10 new IP-driven games in 2026, with consumer testing indicating strong marketability and repeat visitation potential.
“While we aren’t ready to make an announcement, we are highly confident that our upcoming 2026 lineup has highly relevant cultural IPs which will maximize awareness, engagement, and traffic. As previously discussed, we’ve renewed our focus on regularly introducing exciting new games, which we were able to do in 2025, but which we will be able to do even more effectively in 2026. We have significantly improved our process and plan to introduce 10 new games throughout the year. We are confident based on tests that are in the market that the games are highly marketable and will resonate well with our customers. We expect these games to drive significant repeat visitation based on data from robust customer tests.”
– Terrun Lal, Chief Executive Officer
Guests are currently spending more time and money in the midway, indicating strong consumer engagement and healthy spending trends in the entertainment segment.
“we’re continuing to see very healthy spend um and in fact our guests are um you know spending a bit more and um and they are spending more time in in the midway as well. So um we we we continue to see um very healthy spending from the consumer there.”
— Darren Harper, Chief Financial Officer
Oracle Corporation | International
Oracle Corp is a global tech giant focused on cloud computing, enterprise software, and database management, providing integrated solutions (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) for businesses, including ERP, CRM, HR, and AI platforms, running on its own robust cloud infrastructure (OCI) and famous for the Oracle Database, Java, and MySQL.
[Concall]
Oracle can reallocate data center capacity between customers in hours, not months, mitigating concentration risk from large AI customer contracts.
“When you ask the question of how long does it take to transfer capacity from one customer to another, it’s on the order of hours. And something else I would say that I think a lot of people don’t realize about our cloud is this is actually happening all the time. We have lots of customers that might sign up for a few thousand of one type of GPU and then they’ll come back and say, well, actually, I’d like to get even more capacity somewhere else. Will you take this back? And we do that all day every day. And we’re constantly moving customers around and adding aggregate net capacity. We have the technology, we have a secure base from which to do that, and we also have a customer base of a lot of demand such that whenever we find ourselves with capacity that’s not being used it very quickly gets allocated and provisioned.”
– Clay McWork, Chief Executive Officer
Multicloud database consumption surged by 817%, with Oracle rapidly expanding its multicloud regions across major hyperscalers to 45 live regions.
“Multiloud database consumption has increased 817% year-over-year. We launched 11 multiloud regions this quarter bringing us to 45 regions live across AWS, Azure, and GCP with 27 more planned over the next months.”
— Clay McWork, Chief Executive Officer
Oracle delivered 400 MW of data center capacity and 50% more GPU capacity than Q1, with 96,000 Nvidia GB200 chips deployed at the Abilene super cluster.
“In the last quarter, we handed over close to 400 megawatts of data center capacity to our customers. We also delivered 50% more GPU capacity this quarter than Q1. Our super cluster in Abilene, Texas is on track with more than 96,000 Nvidia Grace Blackwell GB200 delivered. We also began delivering AMD MI355 capacity to customers this quarter. Our pace of capacity delivery continues to accelerate.”
– Clay McWork, Chief Executive Officer
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, Krishna, Manie, Kashish, & Vignesh.
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.
We’re now on Reddit!
We love engaging with the perspectives of readers like you. So we asked ourselves - why not make a proper free-for-all forum where people can engage with us and each other? And what’s a better, nerdier place to do that than Reddit?
So, do join us on the subreddit, chat all things markets and finance, tell us what you like about our content and where we can improve! Here’s the link — alternatively, you can search r/marketsbyzerodha on Reddit.
See you there!
Have you checked out Points and Figures?
Points and Figures is our new way of cutting through the noise of corporate slideshows. Instead of drowning in 50-page investor decks, we pull out the charts and data points that actually matter—and explain what they really signal about a company’s growth, margins, risks, or future bets.
Think of it as a visual extension of The Chatter. While The Chatter tracks what management says on earnings calls, Points and Figures digs into what companies are showing investors—and soon, even what they quietly bury in annual reports.
We go through every major investor presentation so you don’t have to, surfacing the sharpest takeaways that reveal not just the story a company wants to tell, but the reality behind it.
You can check it out here.
Great information