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Shares of e-commerce firm Meesho have slid about 12% over the past week after its Q3 earnings disappointed the Street. Consolidated net losses for the December quarter ballooned nearly 13-fold to Rs 491 crore, compared with a loss of Rs 37 crore in the year-ago period. The stock has also slipped below its listing price after an initially strong debut, amid concerns over growth sustainability. However, a couple of leading foreign brokerages continue to see silver linings, pointing to factors that could still work in the company’s favour. Meesho was listed in December at Rs 162 on the NSE, marking a 46% premium over the issue price of Rs 111. After rallying sharply to a peak of Rs 254 on December 18, the stock has since reversed nearly 40% and is now hovering around Rs 151, its Thursday closing price. Notably, Meesho had turned into a 129% multibagger within just seven sessions of listing before entering the current downtrend. The December-listed e-commerce company reported a 32% year-on-year jump in revenue in Q3FY26 to Rs 3,518 crore versus Rs 2,674 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last financial year. The company’s losses rose on a sequential basis as well, climbing from Rs 411 crore in Q2FY26, while the topline recorded a 14% quarter-on-quarter growth versus Rs 3,074 crore in the July-September quarter.Also Read | Buy gold on corrections; rebalance silver via partial profit booking: Motilal Oswal PW What brokerages recommend Swiss brokerage UBS has maintained a Buy rating on Meesho with a target price of Rs 220. The stock was recommended at a price of Rs 173, implying a 26% upside. “The topline growth was strong but profitability was impacted by one-off factors and is expected to revert back in the next two quarters,” the note said. UBS attributed the decline in contribution margin by 110 bps in Q2 and a further 100 bps in Q3, with an additional 16 bps impact due to network restructuring. “This impact was largely one-off and driven by the merger of two of the largest 3PL players, Delhivery and Ecom, into a single entity, which temporarily constrained the availability of 3PL providers for Meesho. As a result, Meesho accelerated the expansion of its in-house logistics arm, Valmo, leading to short-term network inefficiencies and higher costs,” the brokerage noted, adding that management expects these costs to normalise over the next two quarters. UBS also highlighted management’s expectation of steady-state ad revenues of 5.5-6%. Margin improvement is expected to be driven by ads and other value-added services, while the logistics premium is likely to remain range-bound at 2-2.5% of net merchandise value. BofA Securities has retained a Neutral view on the stock, though it sees a 9% upside, implying a target price of Rs 190. The stock was recommended at Rs 174. The company’s Q3 revenues were ahead of BofA’s estimates. The US brokerage is of the view that Meesho will continue to decide the right mix between Valmo and 3PL partners based on the lowest cost structure. “Some capacity at Valmo was built at a very fast pace and was not optimised for costs. The company will fix this and then start to scale up Valmo again. Incremental costs from Q2 and Q3 are expected to normalise over the next two quarters, with operating leverage benefits from investments made across technology, marketing and logistics scale-up,” the note said. According to BofA, Meesho’s growth over the next three to four years is expected to be led by faster expansion in annual transacting users rather than an increase in transaction frequency. The brokerage noted that first-year users typically transact less compared with more mature cohorts, with the top quartile of Meesho’s users clocking an average annual frequency of over 20 transactions. BofA added that the company is likely to maintain its logistics margin within a 2-2.5% contribution margin range on net merchandise value, with any gains from operational efficiencies expected to be passed on to users. (Disclaimer: The recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)

The Reserve Bank of India on Friday kept interest rates unchanged and maintained a neutral policy stance, signalling continuity even as the economic backdrop turns more supportive. The decision follows a week of positive developments, including higher government spending outlined in the Union Budget and fresh momentum on trade ties with the United States and the European Union.While the central bank expressed confidence in domestic growth prospects, it also flagged evolving inflation dynamics amid global trade uncertainty and financial market volatility. Together, these signals will shape how borrowers, investors and businesses read the RBI’s next moves.Here is a quick look at the likely key takeaways from the MPC today: Repo rate: Held at 5.25%, neutral stance retainedThe RBI kept the benchmark repo rate unchanged at 5.25% and maintained a “neutral” policy stance, signalling that interest rates are likely to remain supportive for some time. The decision comes amid an improved growth backdrop following higher government spending outlined in the Union Budget, the announcement of an India–US trade deal, and progress on the India–EU free trade agreement, allowing the central bank to stay on hold while assessing evolving conditions.Also Read: India's trade deals give Sanjay Malhotra & Co cover to hold repo rates steady at 5.25%GDP outlook: Growth forecast nudged higherThe RBI set its real GDP growth expectation for 2025–26 at 7.4%, marginally higher than its previous estimate, signalling confidence in domestic demand despite persistent global trade risks and financial market uncertainty.While the central bank continues to flag a moderation in momentum towards the latter part of the year, the updated projection places growth above both its earlier quarterly trajectory and the government’s economic adviser’s forecast of 6.8%–7.2% for the coming year.Also Read: Central bank nudges forecast higher, upgrades early FY27 outlookInflation outlook: Disinflation assumptions resetThe MPC raised its inflation projections, signalling a shift away from its earlier disinflationary outlook. CPI inflation for FY27 has been revised upward, with Q1 and Q2 now seen at 4% and 4.2%, respectively. For FY26, overall inflation is projected at 2.1%, with Q4 inflation estimated at 3.2%, reflecting a reassessment of price trends compared with the December policy round.

A demand supply mismatch, a large-scale event later this month and an ongoing wedding season are causing a wild fluctuation in hotel room rates in Delhi.Following a muted December and January, hoteliers in Delhi are pinning their hopes on the AI IMPACT Summit to be held in Delhi from February 16-20 that is expected to see several high-profile attendees. Luxury and upper upscale hotels in Delhi are either sold out or close to getting sold out, while others are charging whopping rates.As per rates published on a popular travel platform, a night’s stay at The Imperial hotel in Delhi on February 16 will cost Rs 197,049 plus Rs 35,469 in taxes. The Hyatt Regency Delhi will charge about Rs 50,000 while The Leela Palace Delhi charges Rs 78,000 including taxes. The Shangri-La Eros hotel in Delhi is sold out for February 18 but a night’s stay on February 16 will cost Rs 89,000 including taxes.“We are expecting full occupancy on select dates, driven by the high demand from city events and the AI summit. We are nearly at a sold-out situation for February 19 and 20,” said Vineet Kapoor, hotel manager, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, New Delhi. “There is strong demand across all room types including suites. We will be hosting several international leaders and delegates during the summit,” he added.KB Kachru, president of Hotel Association of India said a demand supply gap in the luxury and upper upscale segments ahead of large-scale events leads to dynamic pricing in markets such as Delhi.“There is a dramatic variance and fluctuation in rates ranging from Rs 18,000 for an upscale hotel to over Rs 1 lakh in the luxury segment,” a hotelier familiar with the matter said.Hoteliers said December and January were muted for hotels in the national capital compared to other markets. “As per industry estimates, Delhi hotels in the branded segment saw a revenue per available growth of 10% compared to 20% in quarter four for markets such as Hyderabad and Bengaluru,” said a hotelier working for a luxury chain.“Business was also impacted in December and January due to high pollution levels. Companies also seem to be cutting back on their GCC expansion here due to such concerns. We also saw a dip in international visitors, particularly US nationals,” he added.Prices are up by about 30-50% due to the AI Summit compared to other dates in February, said Davinder Juj, general manager, Eros Hotel, New Delhi. “Business in December and January has been a bit softer than expected. Revenue per available room growth has not met the levels seen in some other markets,” he added. “We are adjusting our strategies to drive revenue in the coming months.”ET reported in April 2024 that given a lacklustre addition of supply over the past 10 years compared to markets such as Mumbai, Bengaluru and even Agra and Udaipur, and a similar situation being foreseen ahead, hotels in Delhi run the risk of running out of rooms or becoming unaffordable in case of big-ticket events.

Shares of state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) jumped 4% to Rs 874.95 in Friday’s session, supported by a 17% rise in Q3FY26 profit and a favourable brokerage note from Bernstein, which maintained a Market-Perform rating and set a target price of Rs 940.The insurer reported a 17% year-on-year (YoY) rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 12,930 crore for the December quarter, compared with Rs 11,008 crore in the year-ago period.Net premium income stood at Rs 1.26 lakh crore in Q3FY26, up 17% from Rs 1.07 lakh crore in the corresponding period last year. On a sequential basis, profit after tax rose 28% from Rs 10,098 crore reported in Q2FY26, even as net premium income declined marginally by 0.7% quarter-on-quarter.During the nine months ended December 31, 2025, LIC sold 1,16,63,856 policies in the individual segment, slightly lower than 1,17,10,505 policies sold in the same period last fiscal year, reflecting a decline of 0.40%.On an Annualised Premium Equivalent (APE) basis, total premium for 9MFY26 stood at Rs 44,007 crore. Of this, Individual Business contributed 62.61% or Rs 27,552 crore, while Group Business accounted for 37.39% or Rs 16,455 crore.Within Individual Business, Par products made up 63.54% of APE at Rs 17,507 crore, while Non-Par products accounted for 36.46% or Rs 10,045 crore. Individual Non-Par APE increased to Rs 10,045 crore for the nine months ended December 31, 2025, compared with Rs 6,813 crore in the year-ago period, registering a growth of 47.44%.The Value of New Business (VNB) for the nine-month period rose to Rs 8,288 crore from Rs 6,477 crore a year earlier, marking a growth of 27.96%. Net VNB margin expanded by 170 basis points to 18.8%, compared with 17.1% in the year-ago period.LIC’s solvency ratio improved to 2.19 as on December 31, 2025, from 2.02 a year earlier. Assets under management (AUM) increased to Rs 59,16,680 crore as of December 31, 2025, compared with Rs 54,77,651 crore on December 31, 2024, reflecting a rise of 8.01% YoY.The overall expense ratio for the nine months ended December 31, 2025 declined by 132 basis points to 11.65%, compared with 12.97% in the corresponding period last year.Brokerage viewBernstein maintained a neutral stance on LIC, assigning a Market-Perform rating with a target price of Rs 940.The brokerage said LIC delivered a strong topline performance in Q3FY26 despite ongoing GST-related pressures, while margins improved on the back of a healthier business mix and favourable yield curve movements.It noted that new business margins rose to around 21%, aided by a better product mix and yield gains, with the GST impact largely offset through tight cost discipline.On the strategic front, management indicated that the process for the government’s stake sale is likely to commence soon. Bernstein also expects greater clarity on LIC’s dividend policy following the transition to IFRS accounting standards, a key monitorable for investors.(Disclaimer: The recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Thursday proposed tightening margin rules for a trading strategy in single-stock derivatives.Under the proposal, the benefit of offsetting positions across different expiries will not be available on the day of expiry for singlestock derivative contracts expiring that day.The review follows feedback from market participants flagging potential risks arising from calendar-spread benefits on expiry days for single-stock contracts. A calendar spread is when a trader holds the same stock’s derivatives with two different expiry dates, which lowers margin because the positions offset each other. The risk appears on expiry day when the near-month contract expires and the hedge no longer exists. This leaves the trader exposed to one-way moves on the remaining position.“It is clarified that the existing margin calculations for calendar-spread positions shall remain unchanged for calendar-spread positions involving all expiries other than the contracts expiring on a given day,” Sebi said in a circular. The new rule will take effect three months from the date of the circular.Currently, for index derivatives, calendar-spread benefits are already unavailable on the day of expiry for contracts maturing that day.Sebi said the proposal would align the treatment of calendar spreads in single-stock derivatives with that of index derivatives and give trading members sufficient time either to bring in additional margin on expiry day or roll over positions.“In the absence of such formulation, there remains a risk of sudden increase in margin on the day following expiry of one leg of the calendar-spread position, with limited recourse available to trading members in case of margin shortfall or an open leg showing significant adverse price movement,” it added.

Mumbai : Atechnical glitch at National Securities Depository (NSDL) resulted in a delay in settlement of trades executed over the past three days. Shares bought by several investors associated with the depository since Tuesday are yet to reflect in their demat accounts, preventing them from selling those holdings, said officials at multiple brokerages on Thursday.The likely cause is a technical disruption inside NSDL that affected its ability to process inter-depository transfers with its bigger rival, CDSL. Since several trading settlements often require securities to move across the two depositories––a routine process, any snag in NSDL’s inter-depository routing hinders the credit of shares to individual client demat accounts.As a result, securities have been credited to broker pool accounts but have not been allocated to end-investor demat accounts, leaving clients temporarily unable to trade those holdings, sources said.“This was not some isolated case; clients of all broking firms face issues because of the issue in inter-depository transfer emanating from NSDL,” said the chief of a brokerage on condition of anonymity.While brokers did not report similar settlement delays at rival depository CDSL, NSDL is understood to have moved to its Disaster Recovery (DR) site to address the issue. The exact reason behind the snag at NSDL could not be ascertained. Email queries to NSDL remained unanswered until press time.India’s equity settlement process follows a T+1 cycle. After trades are completed on the exchange, the clearing corporation settles them the next day before 10:30 am by collecting securities and funds from brokers and releasing payouts by the afternoon, around 3:30 pm. After this, depositories credit shares to investors’ demat accounts.This week, the technical disruption at NSDL delayed this final step.“Due to a glitch on NSDL’s end, inter-depository transfer of shares has been impacted, due to which brokers were unable to complete pay-ins to clearing corporations,” said the chief operating officer of a retail brokerage who did not want to be named. “Clearing corporations have transferred some shares from CDSL to the brokers’ CDSL Pool account, which ideally should have gone directly to customers’ Demat accounts. NSDL was unable to do BOD (Beginning Of Day) of its systems to the next working day until this afternoon, due to which operations have been delayed.”BOD is the depository’s opening snapshot of the investors’ demat account. If shares aren’t there at the start of the day, investors can’t use or sell them that day.