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Shares of food delivery firm Eternal slid 4.2% to their day’s low of Rs 333.75 on the BSE on Friday, October 17, after the company reported a sharp 63% year-on-year (YoY) decline in its consolidated net profit for the September quarter.The net profit stood at Rs 65 crore in Q2 FY26, down from Rs 176 crore in the same period last year. The profit after tax (PAT) attributable to the owners of the parent also missed analyst expectations, which were pegged at Rs 108 crore.Despite the YoY decline in profitability, the company delivered a robust performance in terms of revenue. Revenue from operations jumped 183% YoY to Rs 13,590 crore, compared to Rs 4,799 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.This led to various brokerage firms raising the stock’s target price to as high as Rs 415.On a sequential basis, Eternal posted a 160% increase in net profit compared to Rs 25 crore reported in Q1 FY26. The topline also showed strong sequential momentum, rising 90% from Rs 7,167 crore in the April–June quarter to Rs 13,590 crore in Q2.Here’s what brokerage firms are saying:Elara Capital: Buy| Target price: Rs 415Elara has maintained a "Buy" rating on Eternal with a target price of Rs 415.In the food delivery segment, Zomato’s November order volume grew 13.8% year-on-year (YoY), while gross order value rose 18.6%, supported by a record 24.1 million users. Margins improved to 5.3%, though they were tempered by higher discounts. In Blinkit’s quick commerce business, order volume surged 137% YoY, with 272 new stores added and a 134% increase in users.Notably, 80% of the business shifted to the Instant Purchase (IP) model, boosting margins by approximately 100 basis points. Eternal plans to expand to 2,100 stores by December 2025 and 3,000 by FY27, with over 60% of new additions concentrated in top cities to support same-store sales growth.Blinkit’s EBITDA losses remained flat quarter-on-quarter, and the segment is on track to break even by the end of FY26. Elara has also raised its forecasts, projecting 130–190% growth in sales and a 25–45% rise in EBITDA for FY27–28, driven by improved profitability from the IP model.Morgan Stanley; Overweight| Target price: Rs 330Morgan Stanley maintained an "Overweight" rating on Eternal with a target price of Rs 330.The company’s adjusted revenue grew 172% YoY, exceeding estimates by 15%, led by a strong Quick Commerce (QC) contribution. However, adjusted EBITDA came in below estimates due to higher segment losses.Food delivery saw 13.8% YoY growth, with EBITDA beating expectations, though GST on 25% of orders impacted growth. QC revenue surged 137% YoY, but losses widened due to aggressive store expansion and marketing. Eternal added 272 new QC stores and revised its expansion target to 2,100 stores by Dec 2025 and 3,000 by Mar 2027.GST-related demand is expected to normalize in Q3FY26, with margin gains from the Instant Purchase mix likely over the next 4–6 quarters.Goldman Sachs: Buy| Target price: Rs 390Goldman Sachs has maintained a “Buy” rating on Eternal, raising the target price to Rs 390 from Rs 360.The brokerage noted that growth and margins for both the Food Delivery and Blinkit (Quick Commerce) segments fell short of its expectations. However, margins in food delivery remained broadly in line.The increase in store additions and higher user acquisition spending led Goldman Sachs to cut its FY26–27 EBITDA estimates by 10–30%, although the long-term outlook remains intact. Blinkit’s November estimates were raised by up to 15%, driven by a strong store rollout and solid product–market fit.Goldman Sachs also observed that the competitive landscape remains favorable, enabling market share gains in Quick Commerce. Following the Q2 results, its overall estimates for November rose by approximately 8%, while the steady-state margin outlook remained unchanged.Also read: Reliance Industries Q2 results preview: O2C, Jio to power 11% profit growth; retail seen lagging(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

The dollar remained on the back foot on Friday as global trade frictions and signs of weakness in the U.S. economy supported the case for more rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.The dollar index is set for its biggest weekly drop in almost three months as an extended shutdown of the U.S. government blocked the publication of key economic data. The yen held on to gains after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda spoke about factors that could lead to a rate increase this month.Compounding concerns about trade, Fed independence and the U.S. shutdown are making the greenback vulnerable to the debasement trade, where investors seek assets that can't easily be devalued, said Pepperstone research strategist Dilin Wu."It's really hard to find a bullish scenario for the dollar index," said Wu. "Instead of betting on any currency by a single sovereign credit, people are rushing into gold, cryptocurrency, and other assets as a risk hedge."The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was little changed at 98.23 and remained on course for a 0.6% slide this week - the biggest five-day retreat since late July.Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 0.2% to 150.12. BOJ Governor Ueda said in Washington on Thursday that the central bank remains ready to increase its key policy rate if the likelihood of its growth and price forecasts materializing increases. BOJ Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida is due to speak later on Friday.The euro added 0.1% at $1.1701, while sterling also tacked on 0.1% to $1.3446.Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he is on board with another interest rate cut at the U.S. central bank's meeting later this month because of the mixed readings on the state of the job market.Stephen Miran, the Fed's newest governor and an economic advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump, reiterated support for more aggressive rate cuts at upcoming meetings than the one favored by some of his colleagues. Miran's seat expires at the end of January, while Fed Governor Lisa Cook remains in place as the case over Trump's attempt to fire her winds through the courts.The Fed's Beige Book offered little support to U.S. rates, pointing to emerging signs of economic weakness, including rising layoffs and reduced spending among middle and lower-income households.Trade frictions between Beijing and Washington heated up overnight, with China accusing the U.S. of stoking panic over its rare earth controls, rejecting a White House call to roll back the curbs.In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin gained 0.6% to $108,534.66, and ether rose 1.8% to $3,919.71.

ET Intelligence Group: India's top tier software exporters continued to report a sustained momentum in deal wins including new as well as those up for renewals for the September quarter amid a challenging business environment - rising client requirements to incorporate AI (artificial intelligence) capabilities in IT deliverables and uncertainties pertaining to the impact of US tariffs especially on sectors including consumer, retail and manufacturing which resulted in delayed decision making and slow project ramp ups. A major takeaway from the latest quarterly numbers reported by companies including Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCL Tech, and Wipro is that these companies are fast adapting to the technological changes. Each one of them not only have strategies to implement AI capabilities in their services deliverables but are also winning new deals because of that. This at a time when AI has started driving majority of the discretionary IT spending by clients - projects that focus on long-term benefits to the business and customers rather than short-term solutions to keep the business running. While it is too early to declare a successful transition by Indian IT companies into the advanced AI field from the conventional cost arbitrage model, the fact that the deal pipelines of these companies continue to stay strong is noteworthy. What now calls for is certainty on the tariff related issues, which currently hinder long-term decision making.124617924 In addition, the impact of the new H1B visa rules seems to be more of short term in nature as Indian IT companies have been gradually increasing either local or near-shore hiring to reduce their dependence on work visas. Wipro, for instance, hosts nearly 80% of the workforce working for US clients locally. The flip side of this strategy, however, is more pressure on profitability since onsite projects tend to have lower margin. Levers such as improving employee utilisation, tilting services mix to customised solutions, and long-term client engagements to improve wallet share can be used judiciously to protect margins. Among the top tier companies, some seem to have weathered the business challenges better going by the trend in the year-on-year growth of trailing 12 month (TTM) revenue in dollar terms. On this scale, HCLTech has shown a greater resilience though its TTM revenue growth has remained below 5% for the past three quarters. Infosys has staged a smart recovery by improving the TTM growth to 4.5% over the past two quarters from a low of 1.5% a year ago. On the other hand, TCS and Wipro show a higher pressure on the top line growth. Given the deal momentum and the fact that barring TCS, other companies have reported improved hiring in the September quarter, the second half of the current fiscal year is likely to show better performance by the top tier companies. This coupled with weaker rupee may support their stock performance in the medium term.

Mumbai: India's stock indices climbed 1% each on Thursday as the pace of selling by overseas investors slowed, while buyers cheered second-quarter earnings on expectations of a trade truce between Washington and New Delhi. Analysts said the Nifty can inch toward 26,000 levels in the next couple of weeks, but post Diwali, the continuation of gains hinges on the US-India trade deal. The NSE Nifty climbed 1% to 25,585, up 261 points. The BSE Sensex advanced 1%, or 862 points, to 83,467. Nestle India surged 4.8% and emerged as the top gainer in the Nifty pack while Tata Consumer Products and Titan jumped 3.1% and 2.5%, respectively. Axis Bank and Kotak Bank rose over 2% each. "Earnings for Axis Bank were better in terms of the operating metrics and loan book growth and the same is expected for Kotak Bank as well," said Sunny Agrawal, Head of Fundamental Equity Research, SBI Securities. "The provisional numbers for Titan were also strong." The US Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points which could drive global funds to chase riskier assets among emerging markets, he said.124617787 "Since India has underperformed in the last 15 months, it could be a value play for them and lead to inflows," said Agrawal. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net ₹997.3 crore on Thursday. Their domestic counterparts bought shares worth ₹4,076.2 crore. Out of the 11 sessions in October so far, global investors have been buyers on five occasions. Foreign flows have changed direction marginally in the last few days and the market seems to be hoping that this is a sign of strong potential inflows, which is supporting the rally, said analysts. "Auto companies reported strong numbers on account of the festive season and the news around US and India inching closer to a negotiation as per President Trump's new statement buoyed the markets higher," said U R Bhat, co-founder & director, Alphaniti. Most sectoral indices ended higher on Thursday. The Nifty FMCG and realty indices jumped around 2% each. Nifty consumer durables index and auto indices gained 1.5% and 1.3%, respectively. Bank Nifty rose 1.1% and the Nifty Private Bank Index advanced 1.5%. The Nifty Mid-cap 150 and the Small-cap 250 indices advanced 0.5% and 0.4% each on Thursday.