Three stocks turning around just as the market mood improves
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Markets are remarkably forgiving when the mood turns. Over the past few days, equity sentiment has staged a sharp turnaround.
A relatively benign Union Budget 2026-27, improving global risk appetite, and two back-to-back trade deals with major economies have the potential to put animal spirits back on the table. Meanwhile, this earnings season has thrown up an interesting development—a set of businesses whose financial turnarounds have arrived just as the market’s mood has improved. That synchronization matters.
When profits turn after a stock has already rerated, the payoff is limited. But when operational improvement coincides with a sentiment shift, markets tend to respond disproportionately. That is the narrow lens of this piece.
Focusing on three businesses where profitability has returned in Q3FY26 through genuine operating leverage and cost discipline, not accounting creativity, let us examine how fundamentals and risks stack up against stock prices at this inflexion point. The JSW Cement stock rallied over 9% on Thursday after the company reported a smart turnaround into profits in the December quarter. Despite exceptional expenses of ₹34 crore on account of the new labour codes, the company went from reporting an ₹80 crore loss in Q3FY25 to ₹131 crore profits in Q3FY26.
Recovering from a weak demand environment, particularly in JSW’s mainstay southern and eastern markets, the company’s intrinsic cost advantage is finally playing to its favour. The lowest clinker factor in the industry at about 50% enables low fuel and energy consumption at JSW, even as its high 40% share of GGBS (ground granulated blast furnace slag) in its output has helped expand margins. Growing
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