Indian corporations reported their strongest first quarter in over two years, with broad-based earnings growth across large, mid, and small-cap stocks amid sectoral divergences, according to Motilal Oswal.
Corporate India posted a stronger-than-expected first quarter in FY27, with earnings momentum broadening across large-, mid- and small-cap stocks, according to a Motilal Oswal report. The brokerage said 19 sectors came in ahead of estimates, with financials, metals, oil and gas excluding oil marketing companies, and automakers doing much of the heavy lifting.
The surprise was visible in the broker’s wider universe as well. Excluding oil marketing companies, sales rose 18% year on year, ahead of Motilal Oswal’s 15% forecast, while EBITDA increased 15% versus an expected 10% and profit after tax jumped 22% against a 15% estimate. BFSI, metals, technology, telecom, chemicals, textiles and real estate all contributed to the improvement, even as higher crude prices squeezed oil marketing companies, which reported a loss of Rs 181 billion compared with a profit a year earlier.
The Nifty picture was equally firm. Motilal Oswal said index companies delivered 18% year-on-year PAT growth, the strongest in 10 quarters and well above its 10% projection. Large-cap earnings rose 21%, mid-caps 23%, their best in 11 quarters, and small-caps 31%, while about 48% of companies in the broker’s universe beat PAT expectations and 25% missed. Earnings revisions also stayed constructive, with 130 companies receiving upgrades of more than 3% and 89 facing downgrades of the same magnitude.
Business Standard separately reported that the first batch of 156 early-reporting companies posted combined net profit growth of 19.4%, also the fastest pace in 11 quarters, led by banks, Reliance Industries, IT services and metals. That broader trend fits with the strong contribution from financials and oil and gas in the Motilal Oswal review, while sector-specific weakness in cement, aviation and oil marketing showed that the recovery was uneven rather than universal.
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