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Informist, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026

By Afra Abubacker

NEW DELHI – Voltas Ltd. is expected to report a sharp year-on-year decline in its consolidated net profit for the December quarter due to weak seasonal demand for room air conditioners, a higher base, increased dealer inventories, and pressure on margin. However, earnings are expected to improve sequentially, partly due to a pick-up in sales following the cut in Goods and Services Tax, according to analysts.

The Tata group company's consolidated bottom line for the December quarter is expected to decline nearly 35% on year, but jump over 152% sequentially to INR 865.4 million, according to the average of estimates from 11 brokerages. The highest estimate for the company's net profit is INR 1.14 billion by Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. and the lowest is INR 373 million by Kotak Securities Ltd.

Voltas is expected to remain under the pressure of higher channel inventories in the December quarter as well, which could prompt higher discounts by the company to clear the inventory stocks ahead of the upcoming summer season.

The company's consolidated revenue for the reporting quarter is likely to rise nearly 1% on year and 34% on quarter to INR 31.34 billion, according to the average of estimates. The highest estimate for the company's net sales is INR 33.82 billion by Nomura Equity Research and the lowest is INR 29.76 billion by Elara Securities (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Brokerages cautioned that demand for room air conditioners is likely to remain subdued in the December quarter due to the winter and high channel inventories, which weighed on secondary sales. However, primary sales likely received some support from channel stocking ahead of changes in the Bureau of Energy Efficiency's star-labelling norms, which took effect from January.

Though most room AC players are expected to benefit sequentially from reduced consumer schemes and better absorption of factory overheads in the December quarter, Voltas' unitary cooling products could still witness earnings before interest and tax losses, Kotak said.

In addition, Voltas' margins are likely to remain under pressure due to continued discounts, the depreciation of the rupee, and higher copper prices. While secondary air conditioner demand remained subdued in the third quarter, Voltas pushed primary sales through higher channel incentives ahead of planned price hikes from January, Nomura said. "Given new energy-rated products, a sharp jump in copper prices and currency depreciation, we believe price hikes are needed in Q4 and this remains a key factor to monitor, else margins could be at risk," it added.

At 1336 IST, shares of Voltas were 1% higher on the National Stock Exchange at INR 1,345.80. The company's shares have fallen nearly 0.4% since its September quarter results. The company will detail its Oct-Dec earnings Thursday.

Of the 12 brokerage reports on the company available with Informist, five have a 'buy' recommendation on the stock with an average target price of INR 1,456. This is 8.2% higher than the current market price. Five brokerages have a 'hold' recommendation, and two have a 'sell' recommendation on the stock at an average target price of INR 1,421 and INR 1,280, respectively.

Following are the Oct-Dec earnings estimates for Voltas from 11 brokerages in descending order by the estimate of net profit in INR million:

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Edited by Nishant Maher

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