Earnings Central: Airtel beats Street, Morepen hits upper circuit, and Greaves takes a beating

Dear Reader,

Tuesday's earnings cut across sectors, with telecom, FMCG, beauty, e-commerce and auto components all reporting. It was a session that had a bit of everything — record quarters, a 20% upper circuit, upbeat management commentary and one stock that was punished relentlessly.

The heavyweights set the tone

Bharti Airtel got the ball rolling with a quarter that beat the Street on both revenue and operating profit, even though net profit came in slightly below expectations. EBITDA rose 4.8% quarter-on-quarter to ₹33,599 crore, comfortably ahead of the ₹32,568 crore analysts had pencilled in, while operating margin stood at 57.4%.

The numbers beneath the headline were perhaps even more encouraging. Airtel added one million postpaid customers — its highest-ever quarterly addition — alongside five million smartphone users, while ARPU climbed to an industry-leading ₹264, up from ₹250 a year ago. It's another reminder that premiumisation remains firmly intact in India's telecom market.

Pidilite Industries followed with another clean quarter. Revenue rose 21.3% to ₹4,551 crore, while EBITDA grew 27% to ₹1,194 crore, comfortably ahead of Street estimates, supported by 11.3% underlying volume growth. The company said price increases across categories helped offset input cost inflation, while its core Consumer and Bazaar business expanded by over 22%.

Marico added to the FMCG momentum, with profit climbing 27% to ₹652 crore, comfortably beating estimates. The quarter also marked the acquisition of a majority stake in Vietnam's Skinetiq, giving the company a stronger foothold in South East Asia's fast-growing skincare market.

Strong quarters... and one painful miss

Nykaa reported another solid quarter, with profit more than tripling to ₹79.7 crore as revenue grew over 29%. The company also expanded its wellness portfolio through the acquisition of a majority stake in Aminu Wellness.

Morepen Laboratories stole the market's attention. Its shares hit a 20% upper circuit and a fresh 52-week high after reporting the strongest quarterly performance in its history. Profit more than quadrupled, while operating margin expanded sharply to 14.5% from 5.7%, driven by robust growth across APIs, exports and its contract manufacturing business.

Not every company enjoyed the same reception.

Greaves Cotton emerged as the day's biggest disappointment, with the stock tumbling more than 15% — its steepest single-day fall since March 2020 — after reporting a quarter in which almost every key metric, barring revenue, weakened from a year ago.

Beyond the numbers

There were plenty of updates outside the headline earnings as well.

Godrej Properties reiterated that it remains on track to meet, or even exceed, its full-year guidance after reporting a 22% rise in booking value to ₹8,651 crore, its strongest-ever first quarter, even as profitability remained under pressure.

Management commentary also offered a glimpse into what's ahead.

Aarti Drugs' CFO Adhish Patil said the company's metformin capacity expansion is expected to come online within eight to ten months, with a US FDA-focused facility to follow. KEI Industries' Anil Gupta maintained guidance for over 25% revenue growth in FY27 as the Sanand facility ramps up.

Meanwhile, Jindal Stainless CEO Tarun Khulbe said the company is sticking to its FY27 volume and margin guidance for now, choosing to wait for greater visibility despite delivering a stronger-than-expected June quarter.

That's Tuesday's earnings round-up.

You can follow all the latest Q1 earnings, management commentary and market-moving developments on our live blog.