Newsletter
Defence’s private makeover, autos in 5th gear, and factories breathe easy.
🗓️ Morning, folks! ☀️
Let’s start today’s newsletter with how, yet again, AI has managed to send researchers into a collective spiral.
OpenAI and Anthropic claim their AI models have disproved a 27-year-old hypothesis in theoretical computer science, which argues that certain problems become exponentially harder for computers to solve as they grow.
If the claims hold up, decades of research built on this assumption could need a rethink.
And that’s on top of OpenAI’s recent release of hundreds of AI-generated proofs tackling problems mathematicians have wrestled with for years.
While the proofs are still being independently verified, the bigger shift is hard to miss. AI is beginning to challenge entire bodies of research, potentially making years of work by scientists and mathematicians outdated.
But it’s not all gloomy.
This is also opening doors to problems researchers once thought were impossible to crack, giving them an entirely new set of questions to explore.
Indian markets ended sharply higher on Monday, with the Sensex and Nifty both gaining around 1.6% each. Midcap and smallcap stocks also gained.
Energy, auto, oil and gas, infrastructure and consumer durables led the rally, while IT, media, pharma and private bank stocks slipped.
Falling crude oil prices also lifted paint stocks and oil marketing companies.
💡 Spotlight: Car sales hit a monthly record 🚗
Indian carmakers dispatched an estimated 5.25-5.30 lakh passenger vehicles to dealerships in October, the first time monthly wholesales crossed five lakh.
That was around 13% higher than last year, helped by Navratri and Dussehra demand, tax benefits and lower borrowing costs.
Note: these are wholesales, meaning vehicles sent by manufacturers to dealers not necessarily cars delivered to customers.
Who led the race: Maruti Suzuki remained comfortably on top with around 2.12 lakh vehicles, up 20%. It also became the first Indian carmaker to cross two lakh monthly passenger-vehicle sales, while its SUV sales reached a record 73,058 units.
Tata Motors narrowly overtook Mahindra, selling 73,894 vehicles against Mahindra’s 73,338. Tata also remained India’s EV leader, while Mahindra retained its position as the country’s largest SUV manufacturer.
Hyundai posted its best-ever domestic month with 62,799 vehicles, up nearly 17%, while Kia sold a record 33,462 units.
Let’s hit it! 💪🏻
1 Big Thing: Make-in-India move 🔥
The Defence Ministry signed contracts worth ₹53,866.5 crore with Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE) and Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) to build eight Next Generation Corvettes (NGCs) for the Indian Navy.
What are they: Next Generation Corvettes are modern warships designed to protect maritime routes and counter threats from enemy ships, submarines and aircraft.
Why it matters: this is the first project in which the ships will be designed in India by the Indian Navy and constructed by defence public sector undertakings (PSUs) selected through a competitive process.
The Next Generation Corvettes will also be equipped with advanced weapons and sensors, the ships will protect maritime trade routes and counter threats from enemy ships, submarines and aircraft.
What’s ahead: the Indian Navy is set for a historic expansion, with a record 18 warships scheduled for commissioning in 2026.
In September, the Defence Minister said recently commissioned warships contained over 75% indigenous content.
2. Affle wants every ad to reach the cart 🛒
Affle 3i will acquire Israel-based Perion Network in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $420 million, or roughly ₹3,700 crore.
Affle helps companies find potential customers online and encourages them to take a measurable action, such as downloading an app, registering for a service or purchasing a product.
The deets: the company is particularly established in mobile advertising and emerging markets such as India.
Meanwhile, Perion’s technology uses AI to decide where advertisements should appear, identify suitable audiences and measure how effectively campaigns perform.
The why: combining the two could connect the entire advertising journey. Perion can help show the first advertisement. Affle can help identify and complete the final conversion.
Affle calls this CTV-to-Cart. It wants to build a similar system for digital billboards, called DOOH-to-Cart. The goal is to connect advertisements seen on televisions or outdoor screens with purchases made later online.
3. Why did 7-Eleven fail to survive in India? 🫣
7-Eleven has shut all its stores in India after five years with Reliance Retail. And the numbers explain why.
In FY26, the convenience-store chain earned ₹91.5 crore in revenue but lost nearly ₹90 crore.
The Japanese retail giant struggled to compete with India’s neighbourhood kiranas, affordable street food and quick-commerce apps like Blinkit and Zepto. Its expensive store operations only made matters worse.
But here’s the twist. The same 7-Eleven model thrives in Thailand, which has nearly 16,000 stores despite its thriving street-food culture. So why couldn’t Reliance make it work in India?
4. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀
What went up ⬆️
🥳 Reliance Industries surged 11%, marking its sharpest intraday rally in nearly three years after strong quarterly results.
💸 Dixon Technologies rallied nearly 12% after healthy Q2 growth and management commentary on the company’s plans for AI initiatives.
🎁 Delhivery jumped close to 6% after reporting a ₹41 crore Q2 FY27 net profit, reversing a loss a year earlier.
⚡️Muthoot Finance rose over 4% after strong Q2 results and an increase in its FY27 assets-under-management growth guidance.
✅ Coal India gained 5% after it reported a strong operational performance in October 2026, with coal production and offtake registering growth of nearly 19% YoY.
What went down ⬇️
🤒 Devyani International fell 3% after Q2 results despite revenue rising 10.3% YoY to ₹1,519 crore.
😐 Policybazaar parent PB Fintech slipped nearly 7% as Q2 operating profit and margins missed expectations, even as the broader market rallied.
What else are we snackin’ 🍿
🏭 Factories chill: India’s manufacturing PMI eased to 54.7 in October as output and new orders slowed, but export demand hit a six-month high and selling price inflation cooled to a nearly four-year low.
🫤 Boardroom rift: Senior Supreme Court lawyer Darius Khambata declined reappointment to two Tata Trusts, sharply criticising Tata Sons directors and fellow trustees.
🚨 Fraud alert: Spandana Sphoorty Financial reported a cyber fraud involving about ₹7.8 crore transferred to 82 beneficiary accounts and sought recovery of funds.
That’s a wrap! Don’t let the weekday blues get to you.
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Disclaimer: this newsletter is for informational and research purposes only. Nothing here should be considered financial, investment, legal, or professional advice.
