Newsletter
Inflation cools slightly, Q1 momentum continues, and Army choppers scale up.
šļø Morning, folks and Happy Mondaayyyyy! āļø
As if Gen Zās financial choices couldnāt get any more startlingā¦ some are now treating sports betting like their next big investment play.
And with legal sports gambling now a nearly $17-billion industry in the US, itās increasingly competing with stocks for a slice of their money.
A Betterment survey found that 26% of Gen Z investors consider sports betting part of their long-term financial strategy, compared with 14% of millennials and 6% of Gen X. More than half have even redirected money meant for investing into bets.
At this rate, whatās next, a Sensex ticker next to the sports score?
Speaking of Sensexā¦ š
Itās shaping up to be a relatively light week for Dalal Street, but thereās one global event traders will be watching closely: the US Fedās July meeting minutes on August 19.
Any hints on where US interest rates go next can influence how much foreign money flows into Indian stocks and even the RBIās room to move on interest rates.
Beyond that, crude oil, the Strait of Hormuz and the US-Iran standoff will remain on the radar.
š” Spotlight: Wholesale Inflation cools but price pressures linger š
A small sign of relief on the inflation front. Indiaās wholesale inflation eased to 9.78% in July, from 9.87% in June.
Wholesale inflation tracks how prices are changing for goods before they reach consumers.
What brought it down: energy prices did most of the heavy lifting.
- Inflation in fuel and power cooled sharply to 20.05% from 27.41% in June. That was enough to pull the overall number lower.
But look under the hood: price pressures actually increased across several other parts of the economy.
- Primary articles inflation jumped to 8.52% from 7%
- Manufactured products rose to 8.29% from 7.48%.
- Non-food articles saw an even sharper jump to 17.66% from 11.07%.
Factories are also seeing higher prices across several categories.
- Textile inflation accelerated to 12.8%, electrical equipment to 12.34%, while rubber and plastic products hit 10.38%.
Food articles provided some relief, easing slightly to 5.44% from 5.49%.
Letās hit it! šŖš»
1 Big Thing: Reliance š¤ Rolls Royce
Reliance Industries announced a partnership with Britainās Rolls-Royce to jointly pursue an indigenous combat aircraft engine for India. The stock will be in focus today as the company announced the update on Friday after market hours.
Why is this important: this takes Reliance into one of defence manufacturingās most difficult areas: designing, developing and manufacturing engines for fighter aircraft. The companies have also left the door open to using these capabilities for civil aviation and other propulsion systems later.
Rolls-Royce engines power combat aircraft, military transports, helicopters, naval vessels and other defence platforms. Its EJ200 engine, for instance, powers the Eurofighter Typhoon.
Whatās the plan: this is for Indiaās Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme which is the countryās upcoming stealth fighter. There is also a plan to explore setting up an Aerospace Gas Turbine Complex in India.
Think of it as building an entire fighter-engine ecosystem rather than simply assembling imported engines.
That difference matters as India has successfully built fighter aircrafts such as the LCA Tejas, but the engines powering them have largely come from overseas. The AMCA programme could give India a chance to reduce that dependence.
2. HAL brings Adani and BEML into Prachand production š
HAL has brought in Adani Defence and BEML to help build the main bodies of 90 Prachand helicopters. BEML will make 48, while Adani Defence will make 42.
Prachand helicopters are India-made Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) for the Indian military.
The why: because this is a pretty big order waiting to be delivered.
The Ministry of Defence signed contracts worth ā¹62,700 crore with HAL in March 2025 for 156 Prachand helicopters. Of these, 90 will go to the Indian Army and 66 to the Indian Air Force.
And this is the first time private industry is being brought into manufacturing helicopter fuselage structures.
Who does what: HAL will be responsible for delivering the finished Prachand helicopters.
BEML and Adani Defence will manufacture fuselage structures, effectively taking over part of the manufacturing workload before those structures eventually become part of the finished helicopters.
The fuselage is basically the helicopterās main body, the large central structure that holds the cockpit, crew and other critical systems together.
What makes Prachand special: the helicopter is designed for missions at altitudes above 5,000 metres. It makes the equipment particularly useful in Indiaās mountainous and high-altitude regions, where operating conditions are tougher.
3. Honasa Consumerās Q1 glow-up is more than skin deep āØ
Honasa Consumer gained more than 4% after the Mamaearth parent reported its highest-ever quarterly revenue and profit in Q1.
And this wasnāt simply higher prices making the numbers look better. The company sold significantly more products, its younger brands grew quickly and more sales came from higher-margin categories.
Breaking it down:
- Revenue jumped 31.8% YoY to ā¹785 crore, supported by 30.5% volume growth.
- Profit more than doubled, rising 118% to ā¹90.3 crore.
- Focus categories grew 35% (these are the beauty segments Honasa is prioritising for growth, such as face cleansers, sunscreens, serums, shampoos and conditioners.)
- Adjusted EBITDA more than doubled and margin expanded to 13.1%.
The how: the company began as a digital-first firm built around Mamaearth. Now it has a growing offline presence, multiple younger brands, acquisitions and bets across everything from clinical skincare and menās grooming to fragrances.
While we are on earnings š,
Bharat Dynamics delivered a strong Q1, with profit jumping more than six-fold as missile and defence equipment sales picked up sharply.
The numbers:
- Net profit: ā¹118.8 crore vs ā¹18.4 crore last year (thatās 546% jump)
- Revenue: ā¹572.2 crore, up from ā¹247.9 crore
- EBITDA: ā¹83.1 crore vs a loss of ā¹45.4 crore
Decoding earnings: the company earned ā¹103.4 crore in other income, taking its total income to ā¹675.7 crore. So while the core business improved substantially, other income also helped the bottom line.
In June, BDL secured contracts worth ā¹1,347.71 crore from Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL).
These orders will be executed over 24 to 60 months, giving BDL revenue visibility beyond the current quarter.
4. Companies brewing your daily chai ā
Your evening chai is practically a mini stock-market portfolio.
From Tata Consumer and Hindustan Unilever supplying the tea to Dodla Dairy and Hatsun Agro bringing the milk, several everyday names behind that cup are listed companies.
5. Stocks that kept us interested š
What went up ā¬ļø
š§“ Galaxy Surfactants hit 20% upper circuit as Q1 net profit more than doubled.
šŗ Zee Entertainment surged 6% after the Securities Appellate Tribunal stayed a SEBI order.
š Welspun Living, Praj Industries and Apollo Hospitals gained up to 4% after reporting strong Q1 earnings while Manorama Industries jumped 8%.
ā” Transformers & Rectifiers rose over 2% after winning order worth up to ā¹500 crore
What went down ā¬ļø
š Sammaan Capital, Tata Motors PV fell up to 6% after weak Q1 results
šŖØ Nalco slipped 6% while Hindalco declined nearly 2% after the worldās largest alumina refinery outside China Alunorte ramped up production.
What else are we snackinā šæ
š° IPO bound: Ananya Birla-promoted Svatantra Microfin has filed its draft papers with SEBI to raise up to ā¹3,000 crore through an IPO.
š¤ AI money: Anthropicās annualised revenue surged 14-fold and crossed $11.5 billion in Q2, as per media reports.
ā½ Fuel duty cut: India cut export duties on petrol, diesel and aviation fuel from August 15, bringing the levy on petrol down to zero and reducing duties on diesel and ATF.
Thatās a wrap! Donāt let the Monday 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.
