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Informist, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Brokerages downgrade Cipla on weak earnings view, lower margin

 

MUMBAI--0845 IST--Nirmal Bang Equities has downgraded its rating on Cipla to 'hold' from 'buy' and cut the target price to INR 1,654 from INR 1,871 due to mixed results in the September quarter. On Thursday, the stock ended at INR 1,540.10 on NSE, down 2.6% from the previous close. 

 

"Cipla's September quarter results were a mixed bag; revenue beat consensus but (the company) missed on (the) margin front due to higher raw material costs...Revenue beat was on account of double-digit growth in One Africa and EU & emerging markets business(es), Nirmal Bang said in its report. The company has almost exhausted its quota of Lenalidomide for 2025-26 (Apr-Mar) and reduced its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation margin guidance to 22.5-24.0% for FY26, the brokerage said.

 

On account of elevated R&D spends, slower-than-industry growth in the India business, and slower-than-expected ramp-up in the generic of Abraxane, we see limited near-term visibility on earnings, the brokerage said. It remained positive on the stock for the longer run, adding that overall growth, going ahead, will mainly be driven by outperformance in the domestic market and limited-competition launches in the US. 

 

Brokerage firm Prabhudas Lilladher also downgraded the stock to 'accumulate' from 'buy' and reduced the target price to INR 1,675 from INR 1,730 due to the management's outlook of lower margin for FY26. The change in key personnel after Managing Director and Global Chief Executive Officer Umang Vohra stepping down is also likely to weigh on the stock, the brokerage said. Timely launch of critical high-value products in the US in the second half of FY26 and in FY27 will be key, the brokerage added. 

 

Morgan Stanley kept an 'underweight' rating on the stock with a target price of INR 1,396 due to muted outlook on the stock's earnings per share, NDTV Profit reported. The brokerage sees earnings slowing down in the near term and limited earnings visibility until the second half of the current financial year.

 

Citi, however, maintained a positive outlook on the stock with a ‘buy' rating and a target price of INR 1,800. The brokerage sees the company having multiple levers such as approvals for drugs in the US and improving sales in India for improving margin in FY27, NDTV Profit reported. The brokerage also added the change in management was in line with its expectations.  (Akash Mandal)

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Equity Alert: Asian mkts remain mixed after US inks trade deal with China

 

MUMBAI--0836 IST--Asian markets remained mixed for the second session in a row Friday after the US signed a trade deal with China Thursday. The much-awaited trade deal eased worries about a full fledged trade war between the two countries and de-escalated the dispute over rare earth magnets. The MSCI Asia-Pacific index, excluding Japan, was flat at 924.08 points.

 

"Both sides (the US and China) appear to be maintaining leverage for future negotiations by keeping these measures as bargaining chips," Chaoping Zhu, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management told CNBC-TV18. However, uncertainty persisted after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell Wednesday said another interest rate cut in December is "far from assured". While the equity market in Japan hit a new record Friday and led the gains in Asia, the Chinese market fell on likely profit booking after the country signed the trade deal with the US. 

 

Japan's Nikkei 225 and Topix hit fresh record highs during the day and were up 1.2% and 0.4%, respectively. The market rose after the Bank of Japan kept its policy rate unchanged at 0.5%, in line with expectations. Gains were led by shares of information technology companies in Japan. Investors are closely watching any progress in Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's policy steps to boost the economy, Dow Jones Newswire reported. 

 

On the other hand, among the laggards in the region were FTSE Singapore Straight, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, and China's CSI 300, which were down 0.2-0.9%. Investors will continue to track the ongoing earnings season and further updates from the US with respect to trade and tariffs. 

 

Following were the levels of key Asian indices at 0836 IST:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
CSI 300 Index	4664.4431	(-)0.97
Hang Seng Index	26105.31	(-)0.67
Nikkei 225 Day	51948.26	1.21
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	3313.71	0.39
KOSPI	4108.66	0.53
FTSE Singapore Strait Times	4429.04	(-)0.19
S&P/ASX 200 Index	8904.5	0.21

 

(Anjana Therese Antony)

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Equity Alert: Indices likely to fall Fri but overall view remains positive 

 

MUMBAI--0804 IST--Benchmark indices may fall more on Friday but the overall view remains positive as the market is seen rallying in the near term, analysts said. On Friday, the Nifty 50 is likely to move in a range of 25700-26000 and may face a strong resistance at 26000-26100 levels. 

 

The 50-stock index may fall to the 25700 level during the day before rallying again and heading towards its all-time high of 26277.35 points, Kunal Shah, senior derivatives analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan, said in a note. Shah expects the index to reach a record high as early as next week. 

 

"...as long as the market (Nifty 50) is trading below 26000, the weak sentiment is likely to continue on the downside, with the market potentially slipping to 25800," Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities, said in a note. On Thursday, the Nifty 50 ended at 25877.85 points, down 176.05 points or 0.7%. The BSE Sensex closed at 84404.46 points, down 592.67 points or 0.7%.

 

Overnight, indices in the US ended lower as Meta and Microsoft shares plunged due to worries over surging artificial intelligence spending. Meta plumetted 11%, Reuters reported. Microsoft fell 3?ter the company reported a record capital expenditure of nearly $35 billion for the quarter and and warned that spending would rise this year. Asian indices were mixed in early trade Friday, with the Japanese market hitting a record high.  (Akash Mandal)

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Equity Alert: US mkt ends down Thu; tech stocks fall on AI spend worries

 

MUMBAI--0800 IST--The US stock market closed slightly lower Thursday, dragged down by losses in heavyweight information technology stocks amid concerns about spending on artificial intelligence projects. Investors are also keeping a close watch on the ongoing earnings season and lack of data from the US government due to its shudown. However, worries related to trade and tariffs eased after US President Donald Trump signed a one-year trade truce with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea Thursday. 

 

Effective immediately, Trump agreed to cut tariffs on China tied to fentanyl by 10%, reducing levies on Chinese imports to the US to around 47%. China agreed for a one-year pause on the rare earth magnets export controls it had announced earlier this month, CNBC-TV18 reported. 

 

"We're in this period where the government is shut down... so we really have to look at these earnings and see how are companies faring, how are their consumers faring," Courtney Garcia, senior wealth advisor at Payne Capital Management, told CNBC-TV18 Thursday. "The fact that we're continuing to see this all come out positive, I think this is a generally good sign for the economy moving forward."

 

The three benchmark US indices – Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite – closed lower by 0.2-1.6%. These indices had hit record highs Wednesday. Major IT stocks such as Meta, Microsoft, and Nvidia fell 2-11% amid concerns about spending on AI. On the other hand, shares of Apple rose more than 3?ter the company reported strong earnings for the latest quarter. Netflix rose over 3?ter it announed a stock split of 10 shares for each share. 

 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Thursday:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
S&P 500	6822.34	(-)0.99
NASDAQ Composite	23581.144	(-)1.57
Dow Jones Industrial Average	47522.12	(-)0.23

 

(Anjana Therese Antony)

 

End

 

US$1 = INR 88.69

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Nishant Maher

 

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