IBM fumbles earnings 👎

🗓️ Morning, folks! ☀️

Markets looked set for a strong day on Wednesday, with the Sensex surging nearly 600 points and the Nifty reclaiming the 24,200 mark.

But late profit booking erased most of the gains, leaving both indices to close only marginally higher.

Despite the late sell-off, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Shriram Finance and select auto and cement stocks kept the benchmarks in positive territory.

On the flip side, energy, metal and FMCG stocks lagged as rising crude oil prices and renewed tensions between the US and Iran kept investors cautious.

💡 Spotlight: Government goes all in on manufacturing 🇮🇳

The government approved a fresh wave of big-ticket projects spanning mobile phones, semiconductors and highways.

The biggest announcement was Semicon India Mission 2.0 with a much bigger outlay of ₹1.27 lakh crore, up from ₹76,000 crore under the first phase.

This phase focuses on building the entire semiconductor ecosystem, from specialised chemicals and raw materials to advanced packaging equipment, while reducing import dependence.

The Cabinet also approved a new ₹62,500 crore mobile phone manufacturing scheme, replacing the earlier PLI programme.

Companies will receive incentives to manufacture phones in India, source more components locally and invest in product design and R&D.

Meanwhile, two highway projects worth nearly ₹25,500 crore also got the green light to improve connectivity around Varanasi and ease congestion.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big thing: Why IBM shares crashed 25%? ❌

Shares of the US tech giant International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) plunged 25% on July 15 after the company released disappointing preliminary Q2 results.

This marked its steepest single-day fall in decades, wiping out nearly $67-70 billion in market value.

So, what went wrong: IBM reported $17.2 billion in second-quarter revenue, missing Wall Street estimates of $17.9 billion, growing only 1% YoY.

The weak numbers raised concerns that IBM is losing ground in the AI race as customers shifted spending towards servers, chips and memory, delaying several deals, according to CEO Arvind Krishna.

He admitted the company didn’t move ‘quickly enough’, causing several deals to miss expected closing timelines. Krishna also pointed to another growing concern: cybersecurity.

He said rapidly evolving cyber threats have become a top priority for customers, forcing many businesses to redirect budgets toward strengthening their digital defences instead of spending on other IT projects.

The impact wasn’t limited to the US. The sell-off spilled over to India as well.

Shares of Infosys, Wipro, Persistent Systems and Coforge fell as much as 2.5% amid concerns that weaker global IT spending could weigh on the sector.

One sector, however, came out smiling. Global cybersecurity stocks including CrowdStrike, Okta and Netskope rallied after IBM highlighted growing demand for digital security.

We broke this down on video too.

2. Groww finds growth beyond broking 📈

Groww gained more than 6% after the company delivered a decent quarter. Net profit nearly doubled as its newer businesses picked up the slack from slowing trading activity.

By the numbers:

Revenue: ₹1,501 crore, up 35% YoY
Net profit: ₹735 crore, up 94% YoY
EBITDA margin: 64.6%

Groww has been steadily reducing its dependence on equity derivatives, which still account for about half of its revenue.

At the same time, newer businesses like Margin Trading Facility (MTF), commodity trading, loans against securities (LAS) and asset management are growing rapidly and contributing a bigger share of its business.

Meanwhile, commodity trading, a business it entered less than a year ago, has already captured 29% market share.

Zoom out: India’s retail investing boom is still in its early innings. The country has over 220 million demat accounts, up from just 41 million five years ago.

Mutual fund assets have crossed ₹75 lakh crore, while monthly SIP inflows continue to hover around record highs.

3. India’s first gas exchange headed for an IPO 💪

Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) has taken the first step towards its IPO by filing draft papers with SEBI.

If listed, IGX would become India's first publicly traded gas exchange.

The company plans to list exclusively on the BSE.

What does IGX do: the company is India’s only authorised gas exchange, where businesses buy, sell, and take physical delivery of natural gas through contracts ranging from same-day trades to six-month deals.

What’s changing: the IPO will be entirely an Offer for Sale (OFS), with parent company Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) selling 1.67 crore shares.

The sale will also reduce IEX’s stake from 47.3% to 25%, in line with regulatory ownership rules for gas exchanges.

What’s next: IGX is looking beyond natural gas trading. It plans to introduce gas contracts of up to two years and launch an R-LNG booking platform, a hydrogen price index, and a hydrogen trading platform.

As demand for cleaner fuels grows, IGX is expanding to become a broader marketplace for India’s energy transition.

4. EV bet gets hotter 💰

Hero MotoCorp approved an additional investment of up to ₹1,000 crore in Ather Energy, sending shares up 7% intraday in Tuesday’s trading session.

The why: Hero already owns nearly 30% of Ather. This fresh investment will help Ather expand its manufacturing capacity, build new electric scooters and strengthen its fast-growing charging network.

More money is coming in: the Government of India will invest ₹200 crore in Ather’s proposed ₹1,200 crore fundraise through the India-Japan Fund (IJF).

The $600 million bilateral fund was set up by the Government of India and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to support strategic investments.

The big picture: India’s electric two-wheeler market continues to gather pace. Registrations rose 12.2% month-on-month to 1.93 lakh units in June.

TVS Motor retained the top spot, while Hero MotoCorp recorded the fastest growth among the five largest manufacturers. Ather, meanwhile, held on to the third position, selling 31,188 electric scooters during the month and capturing a 16.1% market share.

Recessions happen when a country's GDP growth turns negative. India's economy is currently growing at 7.4%, with the risk of slipping into recession estimated at 8.8%.

But some states face nearly three times that risk, as factors like employment, industrial activity, consumption, investment and economic resilience vary significantly across the country.

Full Story Here

6. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

⚡ KEC International shares jumped nearly 4% on bagging new orders worth ₹1,180 crore across businesses.

🏗️ L&T Tech gained more than 6% after reporting strong Q1 earnings.

🧱 Nuvoco Vistas soared more than 10% after a strong Q1 and brokerages also raised earnings estimates.

🚗 Shares of Steel Strips zoomed nearly 5% after the company announced better-than-expected results.

⚙️ EMS gets LoA for a project worth ₹103 crore from UP Jal Nigam (Urban), Varanasi, stock went up 3%.

What went down ⬇️

🌾 Patanjali Foods slipped 15% as 1.5% equity worth ₹195 crore changed hands in a block deal.

🤖 Tata Elxsi fell more than 4% after weak Q1 results.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

💳 Acquisition deal: TVS Holdings’ subsidiary Home Credit India will acquire Varthana Finance for ₹967 crore, expanding its presence in the education-focused lending market.

🛵 LPG delivery: Instamart has partnered with HPCL to become India’s first quick commerce platform to offer on-demand LPG cylinder delivery, starting with Bengaluru.

🛡️ Defence orders: Apollo Micro Systems secured ₹134 crore worth of defence orders from DRDO, the Indian Navy and defence PSUs.

🧪 Supply pact: Anupam Rasayan signed a deal with Spain’s BASQUEVOLT to explore a 10-year specialty chemicals supply deal with potential revenue of $300 million.

⚛️ Nuclear push: Naveen Jindal Group is evaluating sites across nine states to develop 18 GW of nuclear power projects, marking a major push into clean energy infrastructure.

💳 RBI approval: Delhivery’s financial services arm has received an RBI Type II NBFC licence, enabling it to expand its lending and financial services offerings.

🤯 Deep pockets: Hinge founder Justin McLeod raised $18 million for his AI-powered dating startup Overtone, backed by Match Group, FirstMark Capital and Pace Capital.

That’s a wrap! Don’t let the weekday blues get to you.

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