The Chatter: The Push and Pull
Edition #23
Welcome to the 23rd 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 24 companies across 9 industries, along with some international features.
Energy
Orient Green Energy
Hindustan Oil Exploration Company
Telecom
Vodafone Idea
Retail
Aditya Birla Fashion
FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd (Nykaa)
Khadim India
Textiles
Vedant Fashions Ltd
Auto Ancillary
Ashok Leyland
RACL Geartech Ltd
Precision Camshafts Ltd
FMCG
United Spirits
Patanjali Foods
Tilaknagar Industries
Consumer Durables
Borosil
Engineering & Capital Goods
Waaree Energies Ltd
CG Power & Industrial Solutions Ltd
Kilburn Engineering Ltd
Chemicals
Kanpur Plastipack
Styrenix Performance
International
NVIDIA Corporation
HP
Formula One
DBS Group Holding
Sony Group
Energy
Orient Green Energy | Small Cap | Energy
Orient Green Power Company Limited is a leading Indian independent renewable energy-based power generation company focused on developing, owning and operating a diversified portfolio of renewable energy power plants. It is one of the largest independent operator and developer of renewable energy power plants in India based on aggregate installed capacity ac. Currently the company’s portfolio includes biomass, biogas, wind energy and small hydroelectric projects at various stages of development.
Signals end of two-year weather headwinds that had suppressed generation, suggesting more predictable earnings ahead:
"The external factor has been the early onset of the wind season which actually has returned to a normal pattern after two years of pretty poor wind. The wind has been sustained throughout Q1 and has also been fairly good even in Q2. So, we have been able to achieve better revenues from our portfolio, revenues going closer to the long-term average of generation. Obviously, this has improved our capacity utilization, our EBITDA and our revenues."
— T. Shivaraman (MD & CEO)
Reveals current economics of energy storage remain unviable for private players:
"So, firstly on energy storage, we are currently evaluating the feasibility of energy storage both on the solar and the wind side. At current battery costs, it looks quite tight, it looks not really viable without some kind of a subsidy which is not available to IPPs unless you go to a government PPA. But we are seeing battery prices dropping continuously. So, this is something that we are closely evaluating and I would think that we would be kind of getting into battery storage sooner rather than later, but the timeline will depend on when the numbers start making sense from an IRR point of view."
— T. Shivaraman (MD & CEO)
Outlines the structural challenges that make organic expansion difficult in Tamil Nadu:
"Organic growth will take more time because these projects take quite some time to develop in terms of land and in terms of evacuation, and especially Tamil Nadu wind land has become an absolute massive bottleneck, because most of the places where the wind is viable have been already filled up, and the few other places that are available there is a grid connectivity bottleneck. So, I think the way to go in Tamil Nadu at least will be only in organic and also repowering."
— T. Shivaraman (MD & CEO)
Hindustan Oil Exploration Company | Small Cap | Energy
Hindustan Oil Exploration Company (HOEC) is engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas in India, both onshore and offshore. The Company is a participant in various oil and gas blocks/fields which are in the nature of joint operation through Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) / Revenue Sharing Contracts (RSC) entered by the company with Government of India along with other entities.
An FSO (Floating Storage and Offloading vessel) stores produced oil and connects to an SPM (Single Point Mooring) system, but operators disconnect them during severe weather like monsoons to prevent damage, causing temporary production shutdowns:
"Production was disrupted in mid-June 2025 due to monsoon fury, and we de-moored the FSO from the SPM for safety, considering the oil in the vessel. We re-moored the vessel in August 2025 and commenced production... We are making every effort to avoid disruptions during the monsoon and acknowledge our inability to ensure continued production during the adverse weather in June and July."
— R. Jeevanandam (MD)
Understanding of oil service cost cycles and strategic timing of drilling campaigns during lower commodity price environments:
"You have to look at 2 other objects also. When oil price is going down, your drilling costs and other -- the input cost of the development drilling and other things will also go down, because we are embarking on a capital program. So the prices of all service and other things will come down. And that is the right time for us to go and complete our drilling program."
— R. Jeevanandam (MD)
Telecom
Vodafone Idea | Mid Cap | Telecom
Vodafone Idea (operating under the brand Vi) is an Indian telecommunications company that provides mobile voice and data services across 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G platforms. The company also offers a range of digital and enterprise solutions, including internet of things (IoT) services, digital content, and various communication and entertainment services for both consumers and businesses.
[Concall]
Partnered with AST SpaceMobile to launch satellite broadband.
"We announced a strategic collaboration with AST SpaceMobile to deliver satellite-based mobile broadband to all smartphones. This will extend coverage reach, delivering seamless voice and data without the need for specialized devices."
– Akshaya Moondra, CEO
Vodafone Idea won a 10-year contract for 5 mn smart meters, marking a major IoT milestone.
"Our IoT business witnessed landmark progress. We secured a 10-year contract with Genus Power Infrastructure for 5 million smart meters, one of India’s largest smart metering wins. This is a strong endorsement of our execution capability in critical infrastructure projects."
– Akshaya Moondra, CEO
Vodafone Idea expanded 5G to 22 cities and raised 4G coverage to 84%, backed by ₹24.4 bn Q1 capex.
"I'm glad to inform that post launch of 5G services in Mumbai in March 25, this quarter has witnessed expansion of our 5G services. Our 5G services are now available in 22 cities across 13 circles. Further expansion to additional key cities across all our 17 priority circles is planned by September 2025. We continue to invest towards expanding our high-speed broadband networks coverage and capacity by adding new 4G sites and upgrading our core and transmission network. In Q1 FY26, we invested rupees 24.4 billion in capex. We added over 4,800 new unique 4G towers during the quarter, reinforcing our focus to deliver superior connectivity. Parallelly, our network densification efforts have also yielded results with a ratio of 2.7x 4G sites per 4G location as of June 2025, highest since merger and improved from 2.3x as of March 2024. We increased our 4G population coverage by 7% to 84% as of June 2025 compared to 77% as of March 2024."
– Akshaya Moondra, CEO
Retail
Aditya Birla Fashion | Small Cap | Retail
Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL) is an Indian fashion retail company which emerged after the consolidation of the branded apparel businesses of Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited (ABNL), comprising ABNL's Madura Fashion division and ABNL's subsidiaries Pantaloons Fashion and Retail (PFRL) and Madura Fashion & Lifestyle (MFL). Post consolidation, PFRL was renamed Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd.
StyleUp store base to nearly double; format profitable at store level though corporate overheads weigh.
"We currently have about 49 stores. We look to add about 40 stores this year. Productivity varies between ₹20–25 per sq.ft per day in lower-performing stores to ₹35–40 in higher-performing stores. At current levels the store network as a whole is profitable, but corporate overheads are not covered. Maybe for the next two to three years we will have some level of losses, but this is a fairly scalable business. Expansion will remain measured to ensure proposition and product are refined."
– Ashish Dikshit (MD & CEO)
Tasva network to reach ~90 stores by FY26; management cautious but confident on viability.
"Our goal was to get 200 odd stores over the next three years. Currently we are likely to go closer to about 90 stores by the end of this year. It is not a value format that you can scale very easily. It is more destination shopping, with large rentals. We want to remain cautious but the retail viability is not in question. It is a format that is working very well."
– Ashish Dikshit (MD & CEO)
FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd | Mid Cap | Retail
FSN E-Commerce Ventures Limited, known as Nykaa, is a digitally native consumer technology platform offering a content-led, lifestyle retail experience. Established in 2012, the company focuses on brand discovery, offering a diverse range of beauty, personal care, and fashion products. Nykaa has its own brand products and provides consumers with an Omnichannel experience catering to their preferences and convenience.
Breaks down the profitability profiles of different business segments, explaining that while dot-com, retail stores, and owned brands are all profitable, the Superstore business is still working toward profitability:
“The dot-com business being more mature, more established, has a stronger profitability than what the weighted average is. And the retail stores also, as I mentioned on my slide, it's a profitable store network. So that business is also profitable. And the owned brands business, as you know, consumer brand space, they have the kind of gross margins are what they are. They're healthy. So even that business has a decent margin profile and an improving one. Finally, the last business is the Superstore business, which is also part of the Beauty segment, and that has a very different profile, as we've mentioned in the past. That's a volume, that's a scale business, but the margins are lower. And I think we've also shared with you that currently, that business is still loss-making, but is on the path to profitability. “
— Anchit Nayar (CEO, Beauty)
Explains that recent growth in average order value (AOV) is primarily driven by customers choosing premium products rather than inflation:
“I think the inflationary AOV growth was some time ago, 6 quarters ago, I think inflation has been held down now for a while. So I think most of the AOV growth is due to premiumization. It's a very small growth because it's on a very large base. And at certain level, new customers are being added from far off markets like Tier 2 and 3 markets. So I think in light of that, all of the AOV growth is based on personalization journeys, which are so much more possible now with improved AI and ability to use all of that into our platforms.”
— Falguni Nayar ( Managing Director and CEO)
Khadim India | Micro Cap | Retail
Khadim India Limited, operating as a footwear retailer in India under the brand Khadim’s, also manufactures and sells footwear. With approximately 260 retail outlets in 22 states, the company offers a range of products including garments, jewellery, and groceries through its retail stores.
Khadim deliberately reduced shipments to franchisees because the franchisees' own sales to end customers (secondary sales) were declining:
"Because since the franchisee sale, in the secondary sale of franchises has already is dipping, so the primary sales from our side was little bit less compared to the last quarter. Because otherwise it tantamounts to holding stock at the franchisee level. So, for that reason, we have deliberately done less primary sales less to the franchisee."
— Indrajit Chaudhuri (CFO)
Price cut was a deliberate strategic decision, aimed at driving volume growth in their core Khadim brand, but it combined with increased promotional discounting to significantly impact margins:
“So mainly it is impacted through, one is that we have taken a price cut in Khadim product which has nearly contributed around 2.5% margin down. That we have already told in the last year that we will be taking a price cut to have an improved volume growth. And secondly, because of the discount trend which has been done.
“In the last year 1st Quarter our contribution of discount sale was around 18%, while this year the 1st Quarter contribution of discount sale is around 33%. Both of these together has impacted the gross margin. But in the next quarter, there will be improvement in the gross margin because the festive week there will be no discount.”
Textiles
Vedant Fashions Ltd | Small Cap | Textiles
Vedant Fashions Limited caters to the Indian celebration wear market with a diverse portfolio of brands. The company’s products include men’s ethnic and celebration wear items such as Indo-western, sherwanis, kurtas, jackets and accessories such as jutti, safa, mala, and women’s ethnic and celebration wear items such as lehengas, sarees, stitched suits, gowns and kurtis.
Explains how retail inflation affects store expansion decisions, with the company accelerating growth in markets where inflation is cooling but slowing expansion where high inflation makes rental costs uneconomical:
“So, to your second part, retail inflation continues to remain high. So, while we see some pockets, the inflation slowing down, these are the pockets where we are again going strong on expansion. But where the inflation continues to be very high, where we do not see that sort of rental yield for us overall, rental lease cost makes sense, those are the markets we are sort of still slow on in terms of expansion.”
— Vedant Modi (Chief Revenue Officer)
Discusses store optimization strategies, including consolidating older locations and correcting past strategic missteps, using the example of relocating a large flagship store in Rajouri Garden:
“When it comes to closure, there is definitely consolidation of older stores. But on top of that we are also rectifying some of the strategic, sort of new things we tried in the past 2 years to 3 years which did not work for us.”
“I will give you one small example. Rajouri Garden as a market is strategically very important for us. But inside the market, the stores are very old and there are no large stores. So, we had a small store doing very good business for us. So, we took a call where we opened a 15,000 square feet to 16,000 square feet store right outside the market. However, that is something which did not work for us. So, now we are moving back into the market with a store which is half the size of this flagship we had opened, so about 7,000 square feet to 8,000 square feet, which is still the largest store inside the market.”
— Vedant Modi (Chief Revenue Officer)
Competitor store expansion has slowed down significantly over recent quarters, as many "me-too brands" are struggling with performance issues:
“So, like we have been mentioning, over the last 8 quarters - 10 quarters, we have definitely seen a large number of store openings. However, given how closely we track them and monitor them, majority of these Me-too brands, the performance is something which makes us question if the intensity of openings can keep up. So, we have already seen it slow down, and our common sense would tell us that this slowness in terms of the openings should be there from now on.”
— Vedant Modi (Chief Revenue Officer)
Auto Ancillary
Ashok Leyland | Mid Cap | Auto Ancillary
Ashok Leyland is the flagship Company of the Hinduja group, having a long-standing presence in the domestic medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) segment. Also, the second largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in India (with a market share of 32.1% in 2016), the third largest manufacturer of buses in the world, and the tenth largest manufacturer of lorries.
[Concall]
New Andhra plant ramps up; Lucknow bus plant to be operational by Q3 FY26.
"We are continuously augmenting our fully built capacity to cater to the growing demand. Our new plant in Andhra Pradesh inaugurated in Q4 of last fiscal is in the ramp up stage and will reach a capacity of 200 units per month by end of the year. Our newest and most modern bus plant at Lucknow which is under construction will be operational from Q3 FY26. We are also looking at enhancing capacity at our bus plants at Alwar and Prithampur."
– Shiru Agarwal (MD & CEO)
Domestic network expanded; target of 2,000 combined MSCV/LCV touchpoints by year-end.
"We continue to expand our domestic network. We added 23 MSCV touch points and 13 LCV touch points during the quarter with most of the additions in north and central part of the country. With these additions, total touch points for MSCV are now at 173 and for LCV at 851. By end of the year, we hope to cross 2,000 touch points for both the product segments combined."
– Shiru Agarwal (MD & CEO)
Exports rose 29% YoY, with strong traction in GCC, Africa, and SAARC.
"Our export volume was at 3,011 units, higher by 29% on a year-on-year basis. Our home markets outside India with GCC, Africa and SAARC are doing well despite all the geopolitical uncertainties. Ashok Leyland products are gaining increasing acceptance in these markets with our approach of developing strong local presence and building products suiting the local requirements."
– Shiru Agarwal (MD & CEO)
RACL Geartech Ltd. | Micro Cap | Auto Ancillary
RACL Geartech Limited is a leading provider of automotive components in India and is a globally renowned enterprise. It is the auto part suppliers catering as Tier 1 to the biggest Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and major system manufacturers, who are functioning as Tier 1 manufacturer. Its client domain is spread across the world with dominance presence in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America.
Explains how being an approved vendor with BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited) provides a competitive advantage by allowing direct business through RFQs (Request for Quotations):
“You know normally in all PSU's the business happens through gems portal. It means it's a tendering process, but for very precise components or some critical components, they have a separate procedure where this to you as an approved vendor. Now technically we can be one to one RFQ from this customer BHEL to us. So technically we have got an upper edge or advantage that we need not to go to the tendering process, you know in a particular tendering process sometimes when we are on the next sector and low-end competition will start coming in then the rising L1 or L2 becomes a credit or when you are approved vendor.”
“So, then we have got a privilege that if any urgent requirement is there, any business is there, BHEL can simply send us another queue send the offer and then that's it and if we get the nomination, we start producing. So, this is a slightly again, we say that we maintain our preimmunises. So even without BSU regardless separate kind of direct entry business. So, no need to enter through the tendering business.”
— Gursharan Singh (Chairman & Managing Director)
Precision Camshafts Ltd | Small 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 from its manufacturing facilities in Solapur, Maharashtra.
Signals severe financial distress at a European subsidiary due to a 30%+ demand drop, potentially leading to write-downs or restructuring costs:
“However, I must share that due to these extremely challenging times in Europe, the automotive market continues to deteriorate. This has had a direct impact on the continued working of our group company, MFT. While MFT recorded a total income of Rs.29 crores in this quarter, the company is faced with critical liquidity issues due to a sudden drop in customer demand by over 30%. Key customers in the automotive sector have indicated significant volume drops for the rest of this year.”
— Karan Shah (Whole-time Director, Business Development)
FMCG
United Spirits | Mid Cap | FMCG
United Spirits Limited, a subsidiary of Diageo plc, is a leading beverage alcohol company in India. It manufactures, sells, and distributes iconic global and premium Indian brands while focusing on responsible production and marketing.
Explains the macro and industry headwinds, specifically detailing the policy challenges facing the alcohol industry and how Maharashtra's recent policy changes represent the most significant regulatory disruption the company is currently facing:
"The most notable and recent one being from the state of Maharashtra, significant hikes in excise duties impacting IMFL has led to spikes in the consumer MRP almost in the range of 30% to 40%. This is despite the company making some decisive and bold moves of not passing the complete burden to the consumer.”
“In addition, the state has introduced something known as MML, which is Maharashtra Made Liquor. While this is not the first time that any state has made this move to encourage local industry, this step looks extreme and will potentially impact the consumer value proposition for the segment in the state. Overall, Maharashtra as a consumer market is significant for us. Our national value salience in the state hovers in the mid- to high teens or thereabout. However, at this stage, it is too early for us to assess the complete impact of the announcement as there are many moving parts around the MML entry."
— Praveen Someshwar (MD & CEO)
Provides historical context showing that protectionist alcohol policies have failed in other states:
"I'm told Rajasthan had it some years back. Much before that, UP experimented with it. And in both cases, they realized over a period of time that it didn't make any substantial impact, and it just impacted the taxes and duties, and they completely changed it over the next few years."
Provides specific advance warning of a cost headwind that will impact Q2 results:
"Glass inflation was mitigated through alternative sourcing, alternative packaging solutions and long-term vendor contracts and therefore, contributed positively to COGS and gross margin. That said, we do expect some supply-related disruptions in the upcoming quarter on glass, owing to planned furnace shutdowns from key suppliers, both in the East and the West of the country."
— Pradeep Jain (Executive Director & CFO)
Patanjali Foods | Mid Cap | FMCG
Patanjali Foods Limited, formerly Ruchi Soya Industries Limited, processes oil-seeds, refines crude oil, and produces food products and value-added items. It also operates in FMCG and FMHG sectors with products like food, biscuits, and nutraceuticals. The company is involved in wind energy power generation, trading in diverse products, and has manufacturing plants throughout India.
Explains the structural challenges facing private players in the staples business:
“The whole idea was that the rice and dal and -- so what has happened is that there's a massive intervention of the government across the board on the core staples. So whether it's wheat, rice, pulses and sugar and salt. Edible oil by virtue of being very largely import-led, there is not many times the government -- the only tool it has is of the duty structure, custom duty. It doesn't have a pricing control really but it's trying to do that now. I don't know if you're aware, that asking every single company to declare their physical stocks to the government every week or 15 days and which is quite an onerous task for a very distributed industry like this.
“So what has happened is that the space available for the private trade to really create a value on account of the -- for the sort of supply chain investments that they do or the amount of work they do towards the branding and distribution side or the strength they have on the origination that they might build up, I think that space is getting increasingly crowded by the government. So not that it is only the shape of things to come. But right now, that is the situation.”
— Sanjeev Asthana (CEO)
Provides realistic assessment of D2C potential versus hype, showing it's still early days despite high growth rates:
“So the D2C is -- would be a very small sort of fraction of around 1% right now. But we are working on it because we have got our own Order Me app under which we operate. We have our own website. So both through the social media and otherwise, our own website, people can place orders. The delivery is becoming a lot more efficient. We have got partnerships done with various companies. So that is going on pretty efficiently right now. But it is -- in absolute terms, it is small. But growth-wise, if I were to give you a percentage that's growing at about 40%, on a very small base, it would mean nothing.”
— Sanjeev Asthana (CEO)
Tilaknagar Industries Ltd. | Small Cap | FMCG
Tilaknagar Industries Ltd. (TI) is one of the India’s oldest and leading manufacturer of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) primarily dominating southern and western parts of India catering to all categories straddling across various price points to suit diverse pockets.
Tilaknagar Industries (TI) acquiring Imperial Blue for €413m, India’s 3rd largest Whisky brand.
“We have executed definitive agreements with Pernod Ricard India to acquire the Imperial Blue business division on a slump sale basis for approximately EUR 413 million. IB is the 3rd largest Whisky brand in India by volume with 25+ years of brand heritage. It sold more than 22 million cases across 27 states and union territories along with a strong international footprint.”
– Ameya Deshpande, President – Strategy & Corp. Dev.
TI raised stake in Spaceman Spirits to 21.4%, with options for more.
“We have announced our investment of more than Rs. 10 crore in Spaceman, taking our shareholding to 21.36% from 12.98%. Our agreement with Spaceman gives us the option to further invest or acquire additional stake from shareholders at a pre-determined valuation, subject to Spaceman attaining pre-agreed milestones.
–Amit Dahanukar, CMD
TI expanded into luxury spirits and premium portfolio via Spaceman tie-up.
“Monarch Legacy Edition Brandy, our first luxury foray, is now available in Maharashtra, Goa, and Puducherry. Q1 has also seen the commencement of our distribution of Samsara brands on the back of our usership agreement with Spaceman Spirits Lab. Spaceman's premium portfolio, featuring Samsara Gin, Sitara Rum and Amara Vodka, is well positioned to be a key growth driver within our super-premium segment.”
– Amit Dahanukar, CMD
Prag Distillery capacity to expand 6x with Rs. 59 cr investment.
“We have now received approval from our Board of Directors to go ahead with the expansion for an investment of around Rs. 59 crore. Post this expansion, Prag capacities would have increased to around 36 lakh cases per annum, up from around 6 lakh cases per annum as of today.”
– Amit Dahanukar, CMD
Consumer Durables
Borosil | Small Cap | Consumer Durables
The company is engaged in the business of manufacturing and trading of Scientific and Industrial Products (SIP) and Consumer Products (CP). SIP consist of laboratory glassware, instruments, disposable plastics, liquid handling systems and explosion proof lighting glassware. CP consist of microwavable and flameproof kitchenware, glass tumblers, tableware and dinnerware, Appliances and Storage products
Highlights a structural shift away from plastics driven by both consumer awareness and regulation:
"Secondly, the accelerated rejection of plastics, concern around BPA, microplastics, and other harmful chemicals are prompting consumers, especially urban millennials and Gen Z, to move away from plastic. Add to that government-led single-use plastic bans and growing sustainability awareness. This would make the shift towards materials like steel, glassware, and opalware inevitable."
— Shreevar Kheruka (MD & CEO)
Reveals how regulatory changes (Bureau of Indian Standards certification requirements) are creating immediate market access issues for established products:
“BIS compliance requirements affected our hydra bottle sales, as some of the channels are only accepting BIS-certified steel products. Our team has recognized these headwinds and is actively reshaping the overall strategy to mitigate this impact. As part of this, in the previous quarter, we had announced the establishment of a new manufacturing facility in Rajasthan through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Stylenest India Limited, for vacuum-insulated stainless steel flasks, bottles, and containers."
— Shreevar Kheruka (MD & CEO)
Reveals an important but often overlooked demand driver for consumer durables in India - the cultural significance of marriage seasons:
"I mean, I think market sentiment in general has been quite weak. So, that has been I would say the main reason for the muted growth. There were no marriages or very few marriages, let us say, in this 1st Quarter where opalware there is a lot of gifting for that.”
“We have this UCPMP pharma guidelines, which prevent gifting to end users of the pharma products, which has traditionally one of our let us say channels which has not had much sale in Q1. These are the two main reasons although we look forward to a better Q2, Q3, and so on."
— Shreevar Kheruka (MD & CEO)
Engineering & Capital Goods
Waaree Energies Ltd | Mid Cap | Engineering & Capital Goods
Waaree Energies is the largest manufacturer of solar Photo-voltaic (PV) modules in India. They offer a portfolio of solar energy products including multicrystalline modules, monocrystalline modules, and Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TopCon) modules such as flexible modules, bifacial modules, and building integrated photo voltaic (BIPV) modules.
Discusses how battery technology is following the same cost reduction trajectory that solar energy experienced:
“So, for -- in the history of solar, for instance, when solar started, it was almost 10 times as expensive as what it was right now. In fact, around 2010-2011 time, it was almost felt as if why do you get into solar business because it's so much more expensive than the conventional sources of energy. And in 10-12 years’ time, of course, things change.”
“Battery is actually going through a very similar curve. In fact, we are having a situation where lithium prices have gone down. The prices of cells are coming down. The prices of packs are also coming down. And all of that taken together, we will actually see a substantial reduction in the price point. In terms of government regulations and how would the trajectories be, we would anticipate something like that. But that's a question, I guess, better asked to the government authorities. I mean, if I were to answer the question, I would say, yes, why not? But I think the question really has to be directed towards the government authorities. “
— Amit Paithankar (Director, CEO)
Explains how recent U.S. legislation (the "Big Beautiful Bill") actually benefits his company despite initial concerns:
“So, Big Beautiful Bill, the one way to interpret it is that there is a lot of negative around renewables. But on the ground, there are some very interesting things that are going on. Number one, 45X has been retained for manufacturing. And so, therefore, that helps us. I mean, it has been advanced by a year, but that has been retained. So, that kind of helps us.
“Number two, FEOC regulations have been clearly elucidated, and they are actually beneficial to us because we will be in a position to comply to all of these FEOC regulations being completely owned by India and Indian entities and by ensuring that the entire supply chain is free of FEOC. So, in fact, Ashish it’s going to be helpful to us, is what I would say. We have actually seen a slew of orders coming in because of some of the constructs of the Big Beautiful Bill.”
— Amit Paithankar (Director, CEO)
CG Power & Industrial Solutions Ltd | Large Cap | Engineering & Capital Goods
Discusses the potential impact of recent UK Free Trade Agreement developments on their exports:
“I think this is of high level because this has just happened. And so we have to see what does it mean in terms of exports. Honestly, we are not very, very big. So yes, we have to evaluate and then look at it. And if you see, honestly, this free trade agreement and tariffs, et cetera, it doesn't impact us too much, because if you look at our model for exports, it's mostly FOB or Ex Works kind of thing. So it still goes to customer. And when we interact with customers, most of them are like, any change like that happens, we will have to pick it up. So they don't dump it back on us. So we won't be too worried about these macro economical changes.”
— Amar Kaul (Managing Director & CEO)
Outlines their long-term vision for expanding into comprehensive service contracts, including innovative models like "motor-as-a-service":
“But as of today, if you tell me, give me a clear road map of Service business till 2030, my answer is I am not ready right now. But is that the business that will show us results in future? Absolutely. And are we working on that? Yes, for at least 3 or 4 business leaders in this call. They are actively working with their teams, along with me and the strategy team to develop a model which will be unique.”
When I say Service business is actually a multistage service business. It's not simple that you get a spare part order or you get a service order, and that will continue to happen. What I am talking about is full-fledged 5 years, 10 years contract, and taking the full responsibility of the products that we are supplying or also at some stage, we get into, for example, motors. Like the way you have SaaS, we have motor-as-a-service kind of a package where we make the investment for you and we sell you the energy efficiency. So those are the steps where we will get into. But yes, we are not prepared already on that right now, because it requires a lot of hard work, which we are doing.”
— Amar Kaul (Managing Director & CEO)
Kilburn Engineering Ltd | Small Cap | Engineering & Capital Goods
Kilburn Engineering Limited, an India-based manufacturing company, specializes in process design, engineering, and installation of equipment for various industries including chemical, petrochemical, and oil and gas. They are known for manufacturing solid, liquid, and gas drying systems, as well as skid-mounted packages for offshore platforms, with a focus on Rotary Dryers/Calciners. Their product range includes systems for food, agriculture, heat transfer, and material handling.
In a capital-intensive engineering business targeting rapid growth, skilled manpower shortage could become a critical bottleneck:
"I think we face a challenge on, you know, getting the right manpower. That's one of the areas of concern for us both on the blue collar as well as on the white-collar retaining talent is a challenge, but we are working on all these areas. On the factory front as I mentioned, nowadays, there is scarcity of labor, so that is one of the areas where again we are working."
— Ranjit Lala (Managing Director)
Provides concrete data on how US trade tensions affect smaller engineering companies - minimal impact due to low exposure and high switching costs for specialized components”
“I think as a company our exposure to the US is less than 2%. I think it's very, very normal for Monga Strayfield also, as we mentioned, it's 10-15-20 crores in a year and that also, as Mr. Monga just mentioned, the product is a very low value, small part of the larger product. So, even a 50% or 100% duty increase doesn't tilt the needle in terms of cost pressure for the client because the product we are providing is a very, very small percentage of the final product we are making."
— Amritanshu Khaitan (Director)
Explains revenue visibility challenges and seasonal patterns that investors need to understand for quarterly forecasting:
"Also, I would like to add that the tea dryers which Kilburn supplies where we have a 80% plus market share, those are short cycle orders, which typically come in, in the month of November and is supplied largely by March. So, you have 20-30 crores of revenue there, which comes in which doesn't factor into your order book plus in Monga Strayfield there, typical order cycle in delivery is only three months."
— Amritanshu Khaitan (Director)
Chemicals
Kanpur Plastipack | Micro Cap | Chemicals
Kanpur Plastipack Limited, based in India, specializes in the manufacturing of HDPE/PP Fabric, Sacks, FIBC Bags, and MFY. They operate in fabric, sacks, and FIBC manufacturing segments, as well as being consignment stockists for Indian Oil Corporation Limited. Offering a diverse range of products and services, their FIBC division produces over five million bags annually with a capacity for seven million.
Reveals fundamental global manufacturing realignment creating structural tailwinds for Indian FIBC manufacturers as China moves up the value chain:
"So yes, as China and Far East continue to enhance their manufacturing capabilities into electronics and pharma and other products, their focus on labor-intensive manufacturing goes down. And then the only other alternative that's there today is in India. India also is currently very well positioned in the geopolitical system and in the diplomatic relations across the world at the moment with the right policies for manufacturing in India. That has also helped us."
— Shashank Agarwal (Deputy MD)
Critical insight that their key raw material is now decoupled from crude oil volatility:
"So more or less, polymer and crude oil have become delinked now, because the supply chain of polymer and the supply chain of crude remains independent of each other, the supply-demand gap as well. So we have seen a very high level of stability, and rather the polymer has actually reduced in the last couple of months."
— Shashank Agarwal (Deputy MD)
Assessment of logistics limitations constraining Japanese market penetration despite $500 million opportunity:
“The big shift from Japan to India will happen whenever there is a structural change in Chinese manufacturing capability and capacity. So, today, China is only five days from Japan, but India is about 30 days from Japan. This is something that we will not be able to overcome very quickly... But to say that this will happen in the next two, three years, I think it is a very, very, very uphill task. I think we are talking about 1% market share, 0.5% market share, 1.5% market share in the next one or two years at the moment."
— Shashank Agarwal (Deputy MD)
Styrenix Performance | Small Cap | Chemicals
The company is engaged in manufacture, trading and sale of 'Engineering Thermoplastics'. The company has manufacturing facilities at Nandesari, Moxi, Katol and Dahej and Research and Development centre at Moxi in Gujarat.
Reveals the complex rebranding challenge post-acquisition, explaining why Thailand volumes remain flat despite capacity availability:
"So, in Thailand, there are multiple challenges when we have taken over the business. We have also had to go back to several customers with revalidating our brand. As you know, earlier, the earlier company was operating under a different brand. We are operating under our own brand. So all those changes are taking place with different customers across Asia... So, several geographies. And there is a significant effort involved in revalidating some of the products at times and also reaching out to those customers, ensuring that they understand who we are in terms of the product profile and also in terms of the confidence which has to be built across those customers."
— Rahul Agrawal (MD)
Despite 50% of ABS still being imported, management sees opportunity for domestic players through government incentives and value-added services:
"So obviously, for certain grades of products, there is a parity between imports and domestic products because of the nature of the product being sold globally. However, for many grades and specifically even for the regular products, there is obviously certain additional value, which domestic manufacturers offer to customers for which we are able to realize slightly better pricing.”
“If you look at total imports in the country, there is still a significant portion of imports coming into the country, where -- wherein there will always be a preference for domestic locally manufactured products on account of various schemes and incentives also by the government, which have been put in place and also the value, which is added by domestic manufacturers.”
— Rahul Agrawal (MD)
International
NVIDIA Corporation | International
NVIDIA is a technology company that specializes in designing and manufacturing high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs), which are crucial for AI and accelerated computing, along with the systems, software, and platforms that support them.
[Concall]
Nvidia excluded H20 China sales from guidance; up to $5B could unlock if licenses clear.
“In late July, the US government began reviewing licenses for sales of H20 to China customers. While a select number of our China-based customers have received licenses over the past few weeks, we have not shipped any H20 based on those licenses. USG officials have expressed an expectation that the USG will receive 15% of the revenue generated from licensed H20 sales. But to date, the USG has not published a regulation codifying such requirement. We have not included H20 in our Q3 outlook as we continue to work through geopolitical issues. If geopolitical issues reside, we should ship 2 to 5 billion in H20 revenue in Q3. And if we had more orders, we can bill more.”
– Colette Kress, CFO
CEO forecasts $3–4 trillion AI infrastructure buildout this decade, anchoring Nvidia’s long runway.
“We see three to four trillion dollars in AI infrastructure spend by the end of the decade. The scale and scope of these buildouts presents significant long-term growth opportunities for NVIDIA. The GB200 NVL system is seeing widespread adoption with deployments at CSPs and consumer internet companies. Lighthouse model builders including OpenAI, Meta and Mistral are using the GB200 NVL72 at data center scale for both training next generation models and serving inference models in production.”
– Jensen Huang, CEO
CEO quantifies China AI market at ~$50B this year, growing 50% annually — Nvidia lobbying hard.
“The China market I've estimated to be about $50 billion of opportunity for us this year if we were able to address it with competitive products. And if it's $50 billion this year, you would expect it to grow say 50% per year as the rest of the world's AI market is growing as well. It is the second largest computing market in the world and it is also the home of AI researchers. About 50% of the world's AI researchers are in China.”
– Jensen Huang, CEO
HP Inc. | International
HP Inc. develops and sells personal computers (PCs), printers, and related supplies and services. The company offers a range of products for individual consumers, small and medium-sized businesses, and large enterprises across different sectors, including home and office use.
[Concall]
HP has largely shifted North American manufacturing out of China, diversifying to Vietnam, Thailand, Mexico, and the US.
"This quarter, as planned, nearly all products sold in North America are now built outside of China, helping to further reduce trade-related costs. We continue to ramp up production across Vietnam, Thailand, Mexico, and the US. Most importantly, we have done what we said we would. We have demonstrated we can remain agile in responding to external pressures while staying focused on our long-term strategy."
– Enrique Lores, CEO
HP is on track to achieve $2B in annualized savings by FY25-end, freeing up capital for AI investment.
"We are well on track to hit our total program goal of at least $2 billion in annualized gross run rate savings by the end of our fiscal year. These incremental structural savings enable our continued investment in our key growth areas and AI innovation as well as help us to mitigate macro uncertainties."
– Karen Park, CFO
Formula One Group (Liberty Media Corp) | International
The Formula One Group is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation that is responsible for the commercial aspects of the FIA Formula One World Championship, including promoting the sport, managing its commercial rights, and operating associated racing series like Formula 2, Formula 3, and F1 Academy. In essence, the Formula One Group is the commercial arm that controls the TV rights, sponsorships, race promotions, and other related income streams for the global motorsports series.
[Concall]
Liberty closed the MotoGP acquisition and outlined immediate strategic priorities for growth.
"And finally, we completed our acquisition of Moto GP on July 3rd. We are now beginning wholesome work in helping management set their strategic direction to enhance the company's growth. Fortunately, the sport and ecosystem are both in a strong position, providing the foundation to build on for future success. While it's early, I'd like to outline what we see as near and medium-term priorities for Moto GP."
–Derek Chang, CEO
Las Vegas GP is expected to generate materially higher financial contributions from 2025 onward.
"Vegas is progressing very well according to our plan. Starting with lower prices this year, we made clear they would not drop, and packages sold are following this direction. We definitely believe that from this year onward, the contribution of the Grand Prix to internal economics will be much more important than in the first two years."
– Derek Chang, CEO
F1 hospitality demand is surging, with upgrades like Budapest’s paddock club driving growth.
"Demand is very strong. We are making sure that we have different products for partners and fans. Hospitality programs are being positioned as unique entertainment offerings recognized as unlike anything else. A great example is Budapest’s upgraded paddock club facility, which speaks to both quality and quantity."
– Stefano Domenicali, CEO of F1
DBS Group Holdings Ltd | International
DBS Group is a leading Asian financial services group that offers personal banking, wealth management, business banking, and institutional banking services.
[Concall]
DBS benefits from falling USD rates given its 40bn floating liabilities.
“We have a net total liability of about 40 billion in other currencies, primarily US dollars, floating. As long as US dollar rates go down, that gives us savings. We hope to keep growing that liability, as growing deposits in Sing or USD is a big focus for the team.”
– Phil Fernandez, Treasurer
DBS sees limited need for crypto payments in Asia but scalable opportunities in infrastructure/B2B.
“In Asia, real-time payment rails like FAST, UPI, Faster Payments work well. Our GlobeSend harnesses domestic rails cross-border. Stablecoins may serve a purpose in emerging markets lacking stable currencies. But regulators still want to control monetary policy. We’ll play where regulations allow, focusing on infrastructure and B2B flows. It’s scalable, and demand is rising.”
– CEO and Sun Chong, Head of GTS.
Sony Group Corporation | International
Sony Group is a diversified multinational corporation primarily known for its electronics and entertainment businesses, which include consumer electronics (TVs, cameras, audio), gaming (PlayStation), and entertainment content (movies, music, animation).
[Concall]
Sony cut its FY25 tariff impact estimate to ¥70B (down ¥30B), citing production diversification.
"Taking this into consideration, we have decided to present the impact of the additional tariffs as an estimate for all of our continuing operations. As was the case in the previous forecast, we expect the impact on operating income for FY25 to be approximately 70 billion yen, which is a decrease of 30 billion yen from the previous forecast based on the tariff rates announced as of August 1st. We had nearly completed the diversification of the production locations of our main products by the end of the quarter and we expect to complete the measures we are planning by the end of the first half of the fiscal year."
–Lin Tao, CFO
Sony and Bandai Namco deepened partnership to co-create IP and expand anime/manga monetization.
"Through this partnership, we plan to accelerate our collaboration with Bandai Namco even more than before, working to do such things as co-create new IP, collaborate on video production, distribution, and merchandising in the anime and manga fields, as well as strengthen marketing through the sharing of data."
– Lin Tao, CFO
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Quotes in this newsletter were curated by Meher, Prerana & 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.
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