February 24, 2026

TOP NEWS

Infosys: US tech stocks plunge amid fears of AI disruption. Infosys adr down 5 percent, wipro down 3.1 percent, cognizant down 6 percent, Accenture down 6.6 percent. Investors fretted that AI would upend the industry, in a sell-off that cascaded to private capital groups that have lent heavily to tech companies. Negative momentum for IT stocks. 

Pace Digitek: Pace Digitek Ltd's subsidiary Lineage Power Private Ltd secured a ₹1,587.10 million order from Reliance Industries Ltd for lithium-ion battery packs to be executed by Aug 31 2026. The contract entails the supply of Li-ion battery packs of specification 48V, 15S1P, 314 AH.

Lupin Ltd. : The company has received approval for Ranluspec (ranibizumab), following the recent positive opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use. Ranibizumab is indicated for the treatment of patients with neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration, macular edema following retinal vein occlusion, diabetic macular edema, proliferative diabetic retinopathy, and choroidal neovascularization. Lupin's biosimilar ranibizumab will be commercialised by Sandoz across the European Union (excluding Germany). In France, the product will be commercialised by two companies, Sandoz and Biogaran.

Bharti Airtel today announced major plans for its Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC), Airtel Money Limited, underscoring its commitment to narrow the credit gap in India. The NBFC subsidiary will be capitalised with Rs 20,000 crore to be injected over the next few years. Airtel will contribute 70% with the promoter group via Bharti Enterprises Limited, bringing in the balance 30%.

BPCL: Received a Rs 1,816.65 crore excise demand order from the Commissioner of Central Tax and Central Excise, Kochi.  This includes an excise duty demand of Rs 476.94 crore, in addition to applicable interest of Rs 1,339.70 crore and a penalty of Rs 95,000. BPCL will analyse and file an appeal against the order before the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT).

MACRO WRAP

• The major US equity indices tumbled on Mon on the back of ongoing concerns surrounding US President Donald Trump’s decision to raise his global tariffs. AI disruption worries also hovered following a research paper on how the AI boom could hurt the broader economy, as it would lead to 10% unemployment. This led to weakness in software stocks. Similarly, stocks linked to trucking and logistics, commercial real estate and financial services have similarly suffered losses. Sentimentally negative for broader markets
• The DJIA, the S&P500, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.7%, 1.0%, and 1.1% respectively. The Eurostoxx 50 fell 0.3%. The Dollar Index dipped 0.1% to 97.71. EUR-USD was flat at 1.1780.
• The US 2Y yield fell 4bp to 3.44% and the 10Y yield fell 5bp to 4.03%. The German 10Y yield fell 3bp to 2.71%. The UK 10Y yield fell 4bp to 4.31%. Brent crude oil prices fell 0.4% to USD71.49. Gold rallied 2.4% to USD5,227. Silver gained 4.2% to USD88.20. Bitcoin fell 4.5% to USD64,560.
• The EU has paused trade talks with the US and will maintain the current deal for now. President Trump warned that any attempts to play games would lead to higher tariffs. 
• US manufactured goods orders dropped 0.7% to $617.5 billion in December 2025, close to expectations. Durable goods fell 1.4%, mainly due to lower transportation equipment orders. Increases were seen in computers, machinery, and metals. Nondurable goods orders were stable at $297.6 billion.
• Data watch: US will release of the weekly ADP employment change; the Philadelphia Fed non-manufacturing activity index for Feb; Richmond Fed business conditions and consumer confidence indexes for Feb; the Conference Board consumer confidence data for Feb.

INVESTMENT CALL

Stock update: Abbott India LtdQ3FY26 (Consolidated) result update – Novo phase-out a near-term blip; outlook healthy

Reco: Buy                  Reco. Price: Rs. 26,425                  Price Target: Rs. 30,715

• Faster phase-out of Novo portfolio to hit near-term revenues. Margins to not be impacted much.
• Company plans to launch of 75+ products over the next few fiscals.
• We expect topline growth to be at ~ 8% in FY27E and FY28E, margins expected to improve on account of new launches.
• We roll forward our valuation to FY28E and value stock at 37x on FY28E EPS of Rs. 889.1, arriving at a PT of Rs. 30,715.

Valuation (Consolidated)                                                                                         Rs. crore

Results (Consolidated)                                                                                         Rs. crore                                                   

View Point Update - REC Ltd: Soft Q3

Reco/View: Positive CMP: Rs. 354 Price Target: Rs. 450

• PFC-REC merger to create a stronger, unified balance sheet that enables larger-scale financing. We thus stay Positive on REC with an unchanged PT of Rs. 450.
• Gross NPA fell 107 bps y-o-y 18 bps q-o-q to reach 0.88%. Net NPA hit a low of 0.2%, reflecting a healthy and stable credit profile.
• NII rose 2.9% y-o-y and fell by 4.1% q-o-q as margins shrunk due to higher borrowing costs. PPOP up by 4.1% y-o-y and down by 8.1% to Rs. 5,228. It was also below estimates due to muted NII and higher Opex.
• Credit cost stood at 0.08% of AUM, up by 14 bps y-o-y and fell by 2 bps q-o-q. PAT lagged estimates at Rs. 4,043 crore, down 8.6% y-o-y however was flat q-o-q.

Sector Update- Capital Goods and Power Q3FY26 result review: In line performance

• Strong order book providing healthy revenue visibility, robust balance sheets that offers room for capex, and policy support keep sector in good stead.
• Companies in our coverage saw revenues rise ~13% y-o-y, in line with estimates, with project based companies’ number averaging 11% with major companies posting a stronger growth mid-teens- to higher teens except for companies like Thermax, Cummins, Ratnamani and Honeywell posted a muted growth and product-based companies clocking an 18% revenue growth.
• Removal of ban on Chinese players bidding for government contracts would have a very limited impact due to critical conditions of manufacturing facility in India.
• Power PSUs’ numbers were a mixed bag - NTPC’s APAT grew 5.2% while PowerGrid saw a weak quarter (But upgrade to capex announcements). Tata Power’s operating profit rose 12.0%.
• We expect the order backlog of our coverage universe to remain strong, given broad-based order awarding activity in railways, power, infrastructure and defence for the next few years. Hence, we remain positive and cautiously selective on the medium to long-term prospects on the capital goods sector.

Preferred picks: – Amber Enterprises, L&T, Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd. (KOEL), Va Tech Wabag, Cummins India (KKC), Kalpataru Projects International Ltd (KPIL), KEC International, Polycab India, KEI industries and Dee Development. In power, we like NTPC, Powergrid and Tata Power.

OTHER NEWS

Concor: Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd, a Government of Kerala undertaking, have signed a non-binding and non-exclusive Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Thiruvananthapuram for the development of a Container Freight Station (CFS) in the vicinity of Vizhinjam International Seaport, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Waaree Energies: Secured a one-time domestic order for supplying 500 MW of solar modules to a renowned solar power developer and Independent Power Producer (IPP). Supply is scheduled across FY 2026-27.

Patel Engineering: Lowest Bidder (L1) for a Rs. 133.25 crore contract for the works involving construction of head works, pump houses, switch yards, rising mains, delivery chambers, and installation of pumping machinery, together with allied civil, mechanical, and electrical works. It also encompasses the development of a closed-pipe distribution system under the Tasgaon Lift Irrigation Scheme and the Guruvarya Late Laxmanraoji Inamdar Lift Irrigation Scheme. The project is to be completed in 48 months.

Sigma Advanced Systems: The company  has secured fresh defence orders worth ~₹100 crore from the Ministry of Defence and associated defence PSUs.The contracts cover missile systems (SAM, anti-tank, anti-radiation), naval platforms, and airborne applications, including supply of control electronics, precision guidance, actuation solutions and flight data systems.The orders will be executed for key defence entities such as Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).

Signpost India: The company has secured exclusive outdoor advertising rights from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation under the Kolkata Streetscape Renaissance project on a PPP basis.The 10-year contract (extendable by 2 years) covers key stretches like Park Street and Camac Street, with estimated gross advertising revenue of ~₹450 crore over the concession period.

Tata Steel: Tata Steel aims to source half of its iron ore from captive mines after 2030, down from the current 100%—marking a change in strategy due to rising auction prices. But higher dependence on imports and market purchases is likely to raise input costs, potentially squeezing margin for a company after 2030. Neutral