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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The stock of APL Apollo Tubes Ltd rose around 4% on Friday, hitting a new 52-week high of ₹2,070.60. The Street cheered its December quarter (Q3FY26) earnings and upbeat management commentary which signaled better earnings growth visibility.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: India’s microfinance institutions (MFIs) are returning to growth mode after almost two years of sector-wide stress, but management commentary indicates the recovery will be measured and cautious as these lenders grapple with geopolitical uncertainty, inflation risks and a structurally altered lending environment.CreditAccess Grameen Ltd, Spandana Sphoorty Financial Ltd and Satin Creditcare Network Ltd suggested that collection efficiency and asset quality have improved materially, aided by stricter underwriting norms and guardrails introduced after the recent microfinance crisis.“The sector is healing,” H.P. Singh, chairman and managing director of Satin Creditcare, said during the company’s Q4 earnings call on 12 May.Portfolios at risk (PAR), a percentage measure of overdue loans by number of days, have declined in the sector.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Mid-cap information technology (IT) services companies believe they are less vulnerable to AI-led disruption than their larger peers. This optimism is underscored by their growth as companies earning between $1-2 billion grew faster than the big six last year.Executives from these companies attribute their resilience to nimble organizational structures, domain expertise and the ability to adapt faster to AI technologies due to fewer organizational layers.Over the last two months, bosses of mid-cap IT services firms have taken a more optimistic view of new software rollouts by AI companies.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Two of India’s largest tractor makers and at least one motorcycle company expect sales of tractors and entry-level motorcycles to slow this year, signalling imminent stress for the auto industry in the rural areas that may spread to other sectors if the monsoon is poor, company executives and analysts said.Mumbai-based Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd estimates 5% growth in its tractor sales volumes in FY27 compared with a 20% increase to 446,948 units in the previous fiscal year. Faridabad-based Escorts Kubota Ltd expects a 2-3% decline in tractor sales this fiscal after a 30% growth to 114,468 units in FY26.Tractor sales in India grew 19% to 1.05 million in FY26, according to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (Fada).The commentary from the companies suggests that consumption demand can slow in rural India this year due to the impending impact of a below-average monsoon, which can spread to other sectors, including fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG).The overall guidance for FY27 is 2-3% up or down, Neeraj Mehra, chief officer of the tractor business division at Escorts Kubota, said on an earnings call on 7 May.“We will see growth this year in this quarter.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.It has been a sad few years for the venerable central processing unit. The one-time standard-bearer of the computing revolution has been pushed aside in recent years with the rise of generative artificial intelligence powered by graphics processing units, or GPUs, which are used for a lot more than graphics these days.But now attention is swinging back to the main brain of data-center computing, the CPU.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Axis Bank is expected to report a steady performance in its March quarter earnings, marked by resilient loan growth, modest margin pressure and improving asset quality trends, six brokerages said. While headline growth remains healthy, the focus of analysts and investors will be on liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) and management commentary on the outlook for growth and profitability.Net profit at India’s third-largest private sector lender is expected to fall more than 2% to ₹6,942 crore from a year earlier, according to a poll by Bloomberg.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank will kick off the banking sector’s March-quarter earnings season on Saturday, with brokerages expecting a stable performance but watching closely for management commentary on margins, growth and macroeconomic risks from the West Asia war.For HDFC Bank, the spotlight will be on leadership developments following the exit of former part-time chairman Atanu Chakraborty on 18 March. Chakraborty had resigned with immediate effect from the board, citing “certain happenings and practices within the bank” that were “not in congruence” with his personal values and ethics, prompting questions on oversight and internal controls at trhe country's largest private bank.Following his resignation, HDFC Bank, in a late-night announcement, said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had approved the appointment of board member and HDFC Group veteran Keki Mistry as an interim part-time chairman for three months from 19 March.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Tata Motors Ltd is prioritizing flexible production over a dedicated electric vehicle (EV) bus line, as it looks to stay agile in a tender-driven market where demand can quickly shift between diesel, compressed natural gas (CNG)and electric buses.The stance underscores a cost-conscious approach to an uncertain order pipeline, with the company betting that multi-powertrain lines will help it respond faster to government tenders, rather than lock capital into specialized EV capacity amid stiff competition.On the sidelines of an event at the company's Lucknow plant, Tata Motors managing director and chief executive Girish Wagh told reporters that a dedicated EV production line is not needed even as the company increases its participation in tenders for electric buses, where it lost leadership in FY26.“All our manufacturing facilities are flexible. You can either produce a diesel or a CNG or an electric.

About the authors: Tim Mahedy is the CEO and chief economist and Guy Berger is senior advisor, labor markets at Access/Macro.Guest commentaries like this one are written by authors outside the Barron’s newsroom. They reflect the perspective and opinions of the authors. Submit feedback and commentary pitches to [email protected] all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint.

Brent crude oil, which is trading around $98, and FII outflows are playing a decisive role in the sharp market correction. Elevated crude prices are keeping inflation concerns alive, while the rupee is trading near a record low at 93 per dollar, adding to macroeconomic pressures.

₹50,000-55,000 per ft, implying a gross development value (GDV) or revenue potential of ₹9,000-10,000 crore, estimates JM Financial Institutional Securities.Last month, Oberoi emerged as the highest bidder for Railway Land Development Authority’s over 11.21-acre prime land parcel in Mumbai’s Bandra with a ₹5,400 crore bid. In Q3FY26, it inked an agreement to redevelop land at Nepean Sea Road with a potential free sale component of 1.18 lakh square feet carpet area.

auto parts imports from India to about 25%, from roughly 2%.Mint reported in December that stress among European auto part makers has created opportunities for Indian component manufacturers such as Sona BLW Precision Forgings (Sona Comstar) and Samvardhana Motherson.“Per companies’ management commentary, step-up in closure of EU foundries on labour shortage, rising energy cost, worsening financial stress is creating opportunity for Indian suppliers offering huge benefits on the inherent low manufacturing cost,” Emkay said in its 9 March note based on takeaways from management interactions.“The trend is intensifying, as EU OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are aggressively seeking alternative sourcing options. In North America, Indian players offer 20-30% benefit despite tariff headwinds; this helps gain share with existing clients, catering to new clients,” they added.Chennai-based MM Forgings makes steel forgings for commercial and passenger vehicles, while Noida-based Uniparts India manufactures driveshafts and precision machine parts.

About the author: Robert Hormats is a visiting lecturer at Yale University. He is the former Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment and former Vice Chairman, Goldman Sachs International.Guest commentaries like this one are written by authors outside the Barron’s newsroom. They reflect the perspective and opinions of the authors. Submit feedback and commentary pitches to [email protected] all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The AI capability we unlocked today is based on Claude in Excel.

Guest commentaries like this one are written by authors outside the Barron’s newsroom. They reflect the perspective and opinions of the authors. Submit feedback and commentary pitches to [email protected] all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: Ola Electric Mobility Ltd’s ever-changing commentary on every aspect of the business has left industry observers and analysts questioning the company’s future.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MUMBAI: State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, is expected to post a 5% year-on-year rise in profit for the December quarter (Q3FY26) to ₹17,810 crore, according to consensus estimates from a Bloomberg poll of analysts. The state-owned bank had reported a net profit of ₹16,891 crore in the year-ago period and will announce its Q3FY26 results on 7 February.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The stock of Fevicol-maker Pidilite Industries Ltd is 7% away from its 52-week high of ₹1,574.95 seen in September. Pidilite's decent December quarter (Q3FY26) result and upbeat management commentary bridged the gap to some extent, with the stock up around 3% in the last two trading sessions.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. About the author: Clifford Winston is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of Market Corrections Not Government Interventions: A Path to Improve the U.S. Economy. In 1977, a swashbuckling British entrepreneur named Freddy Laker launched the Skytrain, a no-frills, low-fare flight between London and New York.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Eternal Ltd’s December quarter (Q3FY26) results were encouraging on many counts. Adjusted Ebitda (before employee stock options and after lease rentals) soared by 63% sequentially to ₹364 crore, mainly led by quick commerce business Blinkit, which clocked a small profit of ₹4 crore versus a loss of ₹156 crore in Q2.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi/Mumbai: As IndiGo, the country’s largest airline by market share, announces its December-quarter earnings on Thursday, the focus will be on the operational disruptions last month that unsettled passengers, regulators, and investors alike. The airline, with 63% market share, cancelled about 4,500 flights in the first week of December as it scrambled to adjust schedules to comply with revised flight duty time limitation (FDTL) norms for pilots.