More Stories

Informist, Tuesday, Jul. 28, 2026

By Gopika Balasubramanium

MUMBAI - Exide Industries Ltd.'s net profit is likely to be under pressure in the June quarter due to higher input costs even as demand for key products remained robust. However, stronger demand for replacement batteries and growth in its automotive segment will help the battery-maker post strong sales growth for the reporting quarter, according to brokerages.

The inverter-maker's net profit is seen rising slightly over 6% on year to INR 3.4 billion for the quarter under review, the average of estimates from eight broking firms showed. The highest estimate for the company's net profit at INR 3.9 billion is from broking firm 360 ONE Capital Market Pvt. Ltd. and the lowest estimate at INR 2.5 billion is from Elara Securities (India) Pvt. Ltd. During the financial year 2025-26 (Apr-Mar), the company had met the Street's estimates for net profit twice. 

The Kolkata-based company's revenue from operations is expected to rise by around 11% on year to INR 50.02 billion for the June quarter, estimates showed. If the forecast by the brokerages holds, the growth in sales would be the highest in nine quarters. The estimates for the company's revenue range from a high of INR 51.88 billion by Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers Ltd. to a low of INR 48.71 billion by Kotak Securities Ltd. and Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

In FY26, the company met consensus estimates for just the March quarter. Sequentially, the company's net profit is seen rising around 9% and sales are seen increasing 10%. Both Kotak and Motilal Oswal estimate the company's revenue to grow 8% on year for the June quarter. Kotak expects sales to rise due to mid-single-digit rise in its industrial and auto replacement segment and a double-digit increase in automotive segment volumes. Meanwhile, Nomura expects the company's revenue to grow 13% on year as drag from "weaker business" came down on a low base. 

The company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation is expected to rise 5.5% on year to INR 5.78 billion, as per the average of estimates from six brokerages. The EBITDA estimates range from a high of INR 6.13 billion by Nomura Equity Research and a low of INR 5.55 billion by Motilal Oswal.

Three brokerages expect the company's EBITDA to shrink both sequentially and on a year-on-year basis. Among them, brokerage Anand Rathi expects the sharpest contraction, with the margin to narrow by 120 basis points on year and 70 basis points on quarter, to 11%. On the other hand, two other brokerages expect the company's EBITDA margin to expand. Within these, 360 ONE Capital Market expects a rise of 90 bps on quarter and 40 bps on year at 12.6%.

Kotak expects EBITDA margin to increase by 60 bps on quarter on gains from operating leverage. In the March quarter, the company's EBITDA margin was 11.7% and in the year-ago quarter, the metric was 12.2%.

Earlier, the company had said it would keep passing on the rising input costs every quarter to the end user to protect its margins. The company will declare its results on Thursday. In the trailing quarter, the company had reported a net profit of INR 3.12 billion on revenue of INR 45.51 billion. The stock has risen 19% since the March quarter results. 

Earlier this month, the company had announced it will invest INR 14 billion in the current financial year to establish the plant near Bengaluru, which is run by its wholly-owned arm Exide Energy Solutions Ltd, completing its initial set of investments. This also marks the company's foray into the lithium-ion battery segment.

Although the company did not provide a timeline for when the plant will begin commercial production, it said some cells might be rolled out during the December quarter and will be used mainly to replace lithium-ion battery cells in modules and packs, which are currently imported. Further updates on this will be keenly watched by the Street. 

Of the five brokerage reports available with Informist, three recommend buying the stock, with target prices ranging between INR 387 and INR 429. Of the two remaining, one has a "hold" recommendation on the stock while the other recommends selling it. At 1028 IST, shares of Exide Industries were trading 2.5% higher at INR 434.20 on the National Stock Exchange.

Following are the June quarter earnings estimates for Exide Industries from eight brokerages in descending order of net profit estimates in INR billion:

End

Edited by Himanshi Gupta

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.