Welcome to the 22nd edition of The Chatter — a weekly newsletter where we dig through what India’s biggest companies are saying and bring you the most interesting bits of insight, whether about the business, its sector, or the wider economy. We read every major Indian earnings call and listen to the interviews so you don’t have to.
We're always eager to improve—please share your ideas on how else we can innovate "The Chatter" format to better serve your needs.
In this edition, we have covered 24 companies across 13 industries, and also from international companies.
Retail
Senco Gold
Engineering & Capital Goods
Cochin Shipyard
Titagarh Railsystems
HPL Electric & Power
Consumer Durables
Eureka Forbes
Hindware Home Innovation
FMCG
Cello World
Tourism & Hospitality
Royal Orchid Hotels
Healthcare
Zydus Lifesciences
Cipla
Financial Services
Muthoot Finance
Arman Financial Services
Building Materials
Greenlam Industries
Real Estate
Indiqube Spaces
Brigade Enterprises
Software Services
Matrimony.com
Metals
Usha Martin
Logistics
Allcargo Logistics
Energy
Indian Oil Corporation
Global
Xiaomi
Target
Advanced Micro Devices
McDonald's
Warner Bros. Discovery
Retail
Senco Gold | Small Cap | Retail
Senco Gold Limited is a leading pan-India jewellery retail player with over 50 years of experience in the industry. It is renowned as the largest organized jewellery retailer in eastern India and has a wide presence in other regions as well. The company specializes in gold and diamond jewellery, while also offering silver, platinum, precious and semi-precious stones, as well as other metal-based jewellery and accessories.
Reveals a counter-intuitive consumer behavior shift where rising gold prices are driving diamond jewelry demand:
“We have all been hearing for the past financial year that the diamond prices have been on a downward trend and consumers are losing their faith and trust on diamonds. So that was the situation that we had seen in the previous financial year.”
“But if we look at it and see how what we are seeing in quarter 4 of the previous financial year and quarter 1 of this year, that with the gold prices going up so high, there has been a tendency of the consumers to buy diamond Jewellery for their everyday wear basis, or for their special occasions."
— Suvankar Sen (MD & CEO)
Acknowledges the absence of favorable government policy tailwinds that boosted previous year's performance
"This particular quarter and quarter 2. If we look back to the previous year, particularly this quarter, we had experienced the duty cut by the government on gold, and that had led to a kind of a robust sales in the month of end of July and August. This year, we do not have such an incident of any kind of duty cut unless we see the gold prices coming down. So, I think that the growth compared to last Q2, this particular Q2 will again remain in the range of 18% to 20%, maybe 16% to 18% as on-date."
— Suvankar Sen (MD & CEO)
Reveals strategic pivot toward lower purity gold to maintain accessibility for younger consumers and lower-income segments:
"We are very much conscious that, with this high gold price, 18-carat, 14-carat, 9-carat, these are the future, and we need to focus, whether be it in diamond Jewellery or plain gold Jewellery, so that we can continue to have the younger generation coming and buying from Senco or people who have a lower ticket size can come and buy from our brand."
— Suvankar Sen (MD & CEO)
Provides realistic assessment of lab-grown diamond limitations in Indian market:
"LGD is still in the phase of -- we have 6 to 7 stores. We are not selling LGD to all our stores... When it comes to weddings, people are not buying LGD. It is more from a fashion perspective. But when it comes to weddings or such occasions or emotions are strongly attached and it's once in a lifetime, people are preferring the natural diamonds."
— Suvankar Sen (MD & CEO)
Engineering & Capital Goods
Cochin Shipyard Ltd | Mid Cap | Engineering & Capital Goods
Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) is a prominent shipyard in India, established in 1972 and owned by the Government of India. Specializing in shipbuilding and repair services, the company serves both domestic and international markets. As a public limited company, CSL is involved in marine engineering training as well.
Cochin Shipyard outlined its long-term revenue growth ambitions and clarified its capex cycle.
“By about 2030-31, somewhere around that period, we should double our turnover. For which, we may not need too much capex, because we have already completed almost a Rs.3,250 crore capex cycle across the two facilities and some of our subsidiaries. That has been done over the last, say, about seven years. That is completed. Going beyond that double-up figure, which is something like Rs.10,000-12,000 crores in about 2030-31, crossing that threshold and moving forward is where we will invest the capex now.”
— Management
On technology adoption, the company clarified that it will modernize incrementally rather than go for a full “smart shipyard” overhaul.
“We will invest into modern systems, especially on the engineering side. On the production side also, there would be digital tools and gadgets being adopted. But we are not currently talking about moving entirely into a smart shipyard kind of a configuration. We will take facets out of what is smart, but we will not be a fully fly-by-wire kind of smart shipyard. That is not on the anvil. But yes, we will adopt technology wherever it is required.”
— Management
Titagarh Railsystems | Small Cap | Engineering & Capital Goods
Titagarh Wagons Limited is a public limited company incorporated and domiciled in India. The Company is mainly engaged in the manufacturing and selling of Freight Wagons, Passenger Coaches, Steel Castings, Specialised Equipments & Bridges, Ships, Heavy Earthmoving and Mining Equipments, etc. The Company caters to both domestic and export market.
Reveals that while propulsion is inherently a higher-margin business, it's currently in a "nascent stage" and lacks operational leverage:
“No, propulsion is a higher margin business, sir. We have always maintained that propulsion is a higher margin business. But of course, right now, it is in a nascent stage. As I have always explained that it is only the operational leverage that is not available. Once we start delivering a certain volume, then the margins that we should be able to get in both operations as well as services should be significantly more than what we should be able to get in the rolling stock.”
— Umesh Chowdhary (Vice Chairman & MD)
Reveals a critical supply chain dependency that severely impacted production:
“On the challenges faced by the company, the severe challenge that has been shared also with the investors in the last quarter was the poor wheel sets supply from the railways, which actually was quite a big setback for the company and for the industry as a whole. I am happy to share over the last two, three weeks, the position has normalized and we are getting adequate wheel sets now from the railways. But, during the quarter, the production fell to almost 1,600-odd wagons, which was a significant drop over the earlier period or the corresponding period.”
— Umesh Chowdhary (Vice Chairman & MD)
Provides the exact production threshold where the passenger coach business becomes optimally profitable:
“Once we are able to reach between 15 to 20 cars production, we should be able to get the optimum margin. And thereafter, the operating leverage or advantage once we add on the volume, will only improve the margin from there."
— Umesh Chowdhary (Vice Chairman & MD)
HPL Electric & Power Limited | Small Cap | Engineering & Capital Goods
HPL Electric & Power Limited is an Indian company that manufactures a wide range of electrical and power distribution products, including switchgears, meters, cables, lighting solutions, and modular switches. It serves both industrial and domestic applications.
Smart switchgears as the next big growth driver:
“A lot of work has been going on. We have enhanced our R&D team and opened a new R&D center at our Kundli factory. Some of our industrial products already allow two-way communication through laptops. Like smart metering, we believe smart switchgears will be the next big thing, and we are investing in R&D for that.”
— Gautam Seth (Joint Managing Director & CFO)
Long-term international expansion strategy:
“We’ve already started focusing on metering for international markets. It will take about two years to see results due to certification and compliance requirements. With our Indian experience of handling crores of meters, we are confident of entering global markets and performing well.”
— Gautam Seth (Joint Managing Director & CFO)
Consumer Durables
Eureka Forbes | Small Cap | Consumer Durables
Forbes Enviro Solutions Ltd is engaged in developing water projects and waste treatment plants. The company is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Forbes Enviro Solutions Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of Forbes and Company Ltd.
Reveals massive service market captured by unorganized players:
“So out of this installed base that we have, the large installed base of Aquaguard, only a very small proportion of these customers, avail of our AMCs and avail of our organized services. A larger part of the installed base avails of either the service or the filters from the unorganized parallel market.”
“And our research shows that most of this purchase happens unknowingly. Let me rephrase that. Most nonusers of Aquaguard AMCs believe erroneously, believe mistakenly that they are availing of genuine Aquaguard services and very often paying the same amount. So it's a question of information asymmetry and knowledge asymmetry.”
— Pratik Pota - CEO
Highlights service business as undisclosed competitive advantage
“So the service bookings growth that we've reported is a double-digit growth in value, underpinned both by volume and ASP [Average Selling Price] . As far as the service revenue growth is concerned, we are constrained on sharing that for the reason that the AMC [Annual Maintenance Contract] business is something which is unique to us.”
“In our view, it is a source of competitive advantage and a competitive moat, because we have a very wide service network. So we don't share that split. However, I can share that at a big picture level, service is 1/3rd of our business and adds an important source of profitability for us, but beyond that, we don't really share data points on service business."
— Gaurav Khandelwal - CFO
Hindware Home Innovation | Small Cap | Consumer Durables
Hindware Home Innovation Limited are involved in manufacturing, branding, marketing, sales & distribution, and service of various product categories. Their product range includes kitchen appliances, household appliances, sanitary ware, faucets, plastic pipes & fittings, and premium tiles, catering to a wide range of consumers.
Reveals a structural competitive disadvantage in pipes business, and explains the 21% volume decline in pipes despite small base:
“Let me put it this way: if you compare Q4 of the same year with all our competitors, we have performed much better than the rest. The reason is that February and March were peak months for us, and we were able to supply a significant amount of material in March. What happened afterward was a steep decline in raw material prices starting in April. There were two main reasons for the impact: first, the drop in raw material prices, and second, the early onset of the monsoons.”
“Additionally, Q1 is more aligned with the agricultural segment, where we are not present. This led to heavy destocking at the distributors’ end. As a result, in April and up until mid-May, we could not push much material into the market. However, from June onwards, we saw a positive correction”
— Rajesh Pajnoo (CEO, Pipes Business)
Represents a major strategic pivot away from diversification toward focused profitability:
"In a strategic move to sharpen our focus on the kitchen appliances segment, including chimneys, hobs and cooktops, the Board has approved the discontinuation of high loss-making product categories such as air coolers (other than through the e-commerce channel), ceiling and other fans, air purifiers, water purifiers and furniture fittings."
— Naveen Malik (CEO & CFO)
Addresses investor concerns about margin impact as Hindware aggressively scales its government business within the institutional segment:
"So government right now is roughly about 8% to 9% of the overall institutional sales. We expect that over the next 3 quarters to go up to about 15% to 16%.”
“Government is a subset of overall institutional. So I was talking about the share of government within institutional sales. So the overall margins in institutional have remained fairly steady over the last 5 quarters. So with the mix change, even with government coming in, it's not that the margins have gone down dramatically. So we continue to maintain the same margin level in institutional sales despite growth in government.”
— Nirupam Sahay (CEO, Bath and Consumer Appliances)
FMCG
Cello World | Small Cap | FMCG
Cello World, incorporated in 2018, operates from Somnath Road, Dabhel, Nani Daman, Daman & Diu. The company specializes in trading consumer products like plastic and rubber items including water bottles, storage containers, glassware, and steel flasks.
Reveals the intense competitive environment where companies are caught between rising costs and inability to pass through price increases
“ So I think there has been a lot of margin pressure as well due to the demand pressures and the sales revenue pressures. So overall, demand has been slow, and that is why sales promotion activities have increased in terms of schemes and some discounts. So I think from that perspective, and we have not been able to raise prices.”
“So our energy costs, if you see have gone up for the year because there was a rate change in Daman specifically, where the energy rate went up. The wages have gone up as well. But we are not able to increase prices from last year because of the environment.”
— Gaurav Rathod (Joint Managing Director)
Provides a complete timeline and expectation for the glassware business turnaround, with explicit acknowledgment that it will drag profitability:
“In the glassware segment, it's still in the negative. So there is a loss in the quarter for that particular segment, which has dragged the profitability a little bit, but which was expected. As I had mentioned that this year is we are building capacity, and we are at about 65% efficiencies at this point of time, which ideally, we would want it to be upward at 85%, which will happen over the course of the year, which will definitely reduce our cost of production.“
“Having said that, basically, the drop has been primarily in this segment and the revenue growth has been there. So I think this will continue for a couple of quarters before which we breakeven for the year”
— Gaurav Rathod (Joint Managing Director)
Articulates the company's strategic philosophy of continuous category evolution to stay ahead of commoditization:
“So I think going forward, you should always look at Cello as a company that will keep getting into different things as well because there are a lot of things in India, a lot of things become very commoditized very soon. So you have to get out of things and you have to get into newer things. So I think that perspective we have always carried.
“And of course, some of our core businesses will always remain where the brand is extremely strong. But we'll keep venturing into newer horizontal categories as the years pass by and as the opportunities come. Currently, there is not much. I think there is a lot on our plate at this point of time with the glassware plant, with newer channels of sales, which are becoming very disruptive. So I think there is a lot of stuff that we can still do with what we have. And eventually, yes, we will keep entering different, different segments because in India, after a certain point, every vertical becomes very saturated very quickly because either there are too many players or there is saturation in terms of consumer demand.”
— Gaurav Rathod (Joint Managing Director)
Tourism & Hospitality
Royal Orchid Hotels | Micro Cap | Tourism & Hospitality
Royal Orchid Hotels Limited operates hotels, resorts, long-stay suites, and inns across metro cities, holiday destinations, pilgrimage sites, and wildlife parks in India, serving both business and leisure travelers.
Direct acknowledgment of geopolitical risks affecting the hospitality sector, with specific mention of Trump's policies creating uncertainty:
“And of course, at that time, if unfortunately there is some circumstances beyond our control, some war, for example, there was a war this year and April and May, two months, had an impact on North hotels, North and Western hotels, Gujarat and all that. And now we don't know what's going to happen with the Trump, tsunami what is coming. So things are -- so I can't tell you exactly what is the payback, but our attempt is that whatever as far as revenue share is concerned, we get our returns and definitely in two or three years or so, we'll get our money back. And then after that is all profit."
— Chander K. Baljee (Chairman & Managing Director)
Provides specific quantification of hospitality industry seasonality that affects all players:
"In our industry, what happens is 40% of the revenue comes from the first six months and 60% comes from the last six months. So -- the industry. And Q3 and Q4 are always much better than Q1 and Q2."
—- Amit Jaiswal (CFO)
Gives a picture of challenges facing Goa's tourism industry:
"The second impact, obviously, is with the situation that happened in Goa that's an ongoing situation. And if you look at across the board, all hotel companies would have liked to have done better in the Goa market. And it wasn't the boom that we expected purely because of the taxi mafia or so on and so forth that, severely impacted it and it was all over the news. So there were these..."
— Arjun Baljee (President)
Healthcare
Zydus Lifesciences | Large Cap | Healthcare
Zydus Lifesciences Limited (formerly known as Cadila Healthcare Limited), a Company limited by shares, incorporated and domiciled in India, operates as an integrated pharmaceutical company with business encompassing the entire value chain in the research, development, production, marketing and distribution of pharmaceutical products. The product portfolio of the company includes Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and human formulations.
Rather than entering the GLP-1 market with a standard generic version, Zydus has developed a proprietary formulation:
“In Semaglutide, a different formulation, a formulation that gives convenience and ease of administration and also reduces the overall burden in terms of economics. So, we hope to, we will be launching this new formulation in India, and we are on track to do so, and we should be present when market formation happens. So, we're quite excited with that. This formulation does offer significant benefit versus the existing formulations in the market. Similarly, we hope, we are also taking this novel formulation to the other markets like Brazil, Canada and future other markets which will open up.”
— Dr. Sharvil Patel (Managing Director)
The shift toward chronic therapies indicates better prescription sustainability and patient adherence:
“Chronic segment continued to grow at a faster pace, driving the overall growth of the business. In terms of therapeutic performance, the business grew faster than the market in key therapies of Cardiology, Respiratory Anti-infectives, Pain Management, and in the super specialty area of Oncology. On the super specialty front, we continued to retain leadership position in the Oncology therapy.”
“Contribution of chronic portfolio has increased consistently over the last several years and stood at 43.7% as per IQVIA MAT June 2025, an improvement of 420 basis points over the last three years.”
— Ganesh Nayak (Director)
Cipla Ltd | Large Cap | Healthcare
Cipla is a global pharmaceutical company primarily focused on developing and manufacturing a wide range of medications. They are known for their work in respiratory, cardiovascular, arthritis, diabetes, and other therapeutic areas, with a strong presence in India, Africa, and North America. Cipla also has a significant focus on making high-quality, affordable medicines accessible to patients worldwide.
[Concall]
Cipla is positioning for first-wave GLP-1 launches through a hybrid internal and partner strategy.
"Our endeavor is to be among the very first wave of launchers for GLP-1 drugs. We believe this category will be very attractive and large. Instead of one company investing across the full value chain, we see merit in sharing elements of it. Some parts of the chain we have internalized, while others come from partners. We are following a hybrid approach of our own products, partnered products, and filings to maximize the overall opportunity."
— Omang Goyal, Global MD & CEO
Cipla is investing $100m+ in biosimilars through a JV, with longer-term own assets expected.
"We have committed upwards of $100 million to the joint venture for our share of biosimilar development. We are continuing with that commitment and may even increase our outlay in the next couple of years. We are actively building a biosimilar pipeline in the long term, while near-term launches are in partnership with others."
— Omang Goyal, Global MD & CEO
Financial Services
Muthoot Finance | Large Cap | Financial Services
Muthoot Finance Limited is an NBFC specializing in providing loans against gold jewelry. The company offers services such as gold loans, foreign exchange, insurance broking, and more. It is part of 'The Muthoot Group', a conglomerate with interests in various sectors including healthcare, education, real estate, and hospitality.
The new RBI guidelines allowing 85% LTV for loans up to INR2.5 lakhs provides significant competitive advantage and growth potential:
“I think if you want to know my view on the new regulation, I feel it is quite gold loan business friendly. The new revised guidelines are quite gold loan business friendly…It gives more flexibility and actually more product offering to the customer in the new regulation. And up to INR2.5 lakhs, the LTV has been revised from 75% to 85%. So any company who wants to give even up to 85%, there is flexibility. That is what I said, it gives more flexibility and we can give more products to the customer also. And for your information, 85% of customers are below INR2.5 lakhs. “
— George Muthoot (Managing Director)
Explains why tonnage growth is slower than AUM growth:
"See, our loans are actually only very short term, 3 months, 4 months, etcetera. A person who had given 100 grams of gold and taken maybe exact INR5 lakhs of money 3 months back. Next time when he or his friend comes for INR5 lakhs, he need not give [100 grams] because LTV has gone up. He needs to give only 90 grams."
“So the same -- I can't ask the customer to give me 100 grams because every day the LTV is going up. So he takes that -- because the new customers are coming, they come at a lower tonnage. That's the difference.”
— George Muthoot (Managing Director)
Clear commitment to maintaining 9.5% spreads while passing on rate cuts to customers:
"Yes. It is always -- we try to always maintain our spread and our yield -- spread and our yields. So our spread is about 9.5%. We try to maintain that always. And if going forward, our cost of fund is coming -- cost of borrowing is coming down, we certainly will pass it on to customers because we have been doing that all the way. So if there is a rate cut or cost of borrowing is coming down, we will pass it on to our customers."
— George Muthoot (Managing Director)
Discusses the turnaround at Muthoot's microfinance subsidiary, which had been impacted by the broader industry crisis
“Collections are improving. Actually, we have better collection. And I'm sure that by Q3, they would be able to come back to the -- maybe starting some profit. Collections are improving. Actually, especially the advances given from November '24 onwards, we have a very good collection percentage.”
— Oommen Mammen (CFO)
Arman Financial Services Ltd | Small Cap | Financial Services
Arman Financial Services Limited (ASFL) provides affordable financing for personal mobility through two-wheeler and three-wheeler financing, aimed at improving the lives of the middle-class and emerging middle-class. Additionally, they offer small income generating loans to bottom-of-pyramid customers, helping uplift poor households by enhancing their incomes and livelihoods.
Credit stress in rural markets and its impact on lending:
“Frankly, the rural area is soaked for credit right now. Over 9–12 months, the MFI portfolio dropped from about ₹4.5 lakh crores to ₹3.5–3.6 lakh crores, which is a drastic decline. In places like Gujarat, when fund flow stopped, delinquencies spiked sharply. Once credit is choked in an area, delinquency skyrockets.”
— Aalok Patel (Joint MD)
Shift to alternative borrowing amid liquidity crunch:
“As MFIs pulled back, rural borrowers have increasingly turned to alternatives like gold loans, money lenders, or family and friends. Gold loan portfolios have risen substantially as a result. Until we see clear signs of recovery, it’s hard to scale up aggressively despite being ready to bounce when the situation improves.”
— Aalok Patel (Joint MD)
High rejection rates reflecting unsustainable model:
“In July, out of 100 inquiries, only 19 turned into disbursements—an 81% rejection rate. While it shows how selective we are, this level of rejection is not sustainable. Once green shoots appear, MFIs will need to come together and push toward normalization.”
— Aalok Patel (Joint MD)
Building Materials
Greenlam Industries | Small Cap | Building Materials
Greenlam Industries is engaged in manufacturing laminates. Its products include greenlam laminates, digi junior, compact laminates, xtraordinaire super premium laminates, 0.6 millimeters (mm) green gloss laminates, 0.8 mm green touch laminates, post forming laminates, switch board panels, chalk and marker grade laminates, green decoliner 0.7 mm and fire retardant laminates.
Quality Control Orders (QCO) represent a regulatory shift that will create entry barriers for unorganized players and imports, directly benefiting organized companies like Greenlam:
“Why are we optimistic about investments for domestic market? I won't read out each of them, but I think a few points are important, like the QCO implementation, you know, is going to drive a lot of panel production in India, reduce imports coming to the country, certify products to be of a certain standard, which helps organized brands and, and companies grow.”
“We also see a shift from unorganized to organized, you know, within domestic market. We see a trend of carpentry moving from on-site to off-site, so OEMs and manufacturing, you know, customers, people making furniture panels, fit-outs in factory setups, and I think that, again, organized brands with better performance quality, you know, get an edge. So broadly about how we think of the, you know, international markets.”
— Saurabh Mittal (MD & CEO)
Strategic advantage of having a comprehensive product portfolio:
“And we think we'll win more market share in both domestic and international market across product categories. This will also help us do cross sell of each product. Dealers, dealers, architects, IDs, OEMs, projects. There's a big overlap between all the products of the wood panel space. If they take ply, they need veneer, they need chipboard, they need laminates. So all the products we have, by and large, there's an overlap with influencers, channel, and end customers. This will also strengthen our brand as we end up giving a single point solution to the market. So I think the portfolio we've built, again, is probably quite exhaustive.”
— Saurabh Mittal (MD & CEO)
Explains the current quarter's losses and highlights the temporary nature of forex-related impacts:
“So actually, the loss on the net loss of INR15.7 crores for the quarter can be attributable primarily to notional loss of INR18.8 crores on account of euro-dominated loan for chipboard, which we have taken and euro has moved from INR92 to INR100 and higher interest cost and depreciation. So this INR18.8 crores loss is some has been accounted for in as the fluctuation in foreign currency, which is INR10.6 crores.”
— Ashok Sharma (CFO)
Real Estate
Indiqube Spaces | Small Cap | Real Estate
Indiqube Spaces is a managed workplace solutions company that provides corporate offices ranging from large headquarters to small branch locations for enterprises. The company offers comprehensive workplace services including interior design, amenities, and technology-driven solutions to enhance the office experience.
Traditional Indian enterprises are now embracing flexible office solutions:
"The second segment, which is growing very fast post COVID is the Indian companies. You look at companies like Narayana Hrudayalaya or companies like Mahindra Logistics, those kinds of companies. So, that segment is also very, very substantial. We are working with multiple Tata companies now."
— Rishi Das (CEO)
Strategic geographic diversification while maintaining dominance in the largest market:
“That said, the share of Bengaluru in overall portfolio for us has reduced from 90% to 65% currently. So, we would be continuing in Bengaluru in absolute terms. Bengaluru will definitely continue to have a higher share. This is due to the market size of the Bengaluru and not due to the lack of diversification. But we would be adding upon the other micro markets also in the future.”
— Meghna Agarwal (COO)
Explaining IndiQube's diversified approach to acquiring and operating workspace properties, including their consideration of asset-light models for specific markets:
“30% of our properties are renovated buildings. Then we pick up old buildings, renovate them. We also operate in tech parks, where we take up floors in Grade A buildings. We have full buildings also. So, we follow a mix of that. And we have also looked at Managed Accreditation Model, Revenue Sharing Model actively.”
— Rishi Das (CEO)
Brigade Enterprises | Small Cap | Real Estate
Brigade Enterprises Limited, a prominent property developer in India since 1986, has crafted iconic structures in South Indian cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai. Their versatile portfolio includes residential, commercial, and educational projects, alongside senior living communities and luxury properties. With Grade A commercial properties and ownership of World Trade Center licenses, Brigade caters to top international clients, establishing a reputation for excellence and innovation in the real estate sector.
Reveals a significant shift in consumer behavior in the premium real estate segment:
“The pace at which people are making their decisions based on the ticket size, that has changed. So, in terms of a year ago, the ticket sizes were lower. People found it much easier to make those kind of decisions. Now, if I look across my portfolio, more than 80% of it is Rs. 1.5 crore plus. So, that is quite a big change. So, therefore, we are seeing people take a little more time to convert, but the on-ground demand is still very good."
— Pavitra Shankar (Managing Director)
Contradicts market concerns about IT layoffs affecting Bangalore real estate:
"While the IT sector has been seeing layoffs over the last few years, that really has not impacted on the residential side. In fact, we have been seeing more traction towards premium and higher-end sales, which means it is the kind of talent that you see working in GCCs or this embedded technology or digital jobs that are happening in traditional businesses as well."
— Pavitra Shankar (Managing Director)
Reveals that half of sales depend on new project launches, making the business vulnerable to approval delays and regulatory issues:
"This year, as well as last year and a couple of years before that, a lot of our numbers were dependent on getting launches. In fact, at least 50% of the sales is coming from new launches.”
— Pavitra Shankar (Managing Director)
Reveals significant operational and market dynamics differences across Brigade's key markets:
“Chennai as a market requires the marketing office to be in place to have a proper sales experience, etc. So, once that comes on board in the beginning of September, we are expecting to see a lot more traction. This is quite different from the behavior in Bangalore and Hyderabad, where pretty much it is very launch-driven and the excitement of the launch, whether or not there is a very specific sales experience, that is a little different the way Chennai works.”
— Pavitra Shankar (Managing Director)
Software Services
Matrimony.com | Micro Cap | Software Services
Matrimony.com is India's leading Consumer Internet Company known for its flagship brand BharatMatrimony. It offers a range of services including matchmaking and marriage services through websites, mobile sites, and apps. With a strong presence in the market, Matrimony.com provides trusted services like EliteMatrimony and MatrimonyPhotography.
New customer acquisition is growing, but renewal revenue from last year's poor performance period is still declining:
“The renewal volume is yet to catch up. It may take a couple of quarters for renewal volume to catch up. So today, we are talking about the volume, it's mainly coming from the increase in the volume coming from the first-time payment. So it takes a couple of quarters for the renewal volume to catch up. So whatever the volume you would achieve is in spite of the degrowth in the renewal on account of the last year degrowth. So while the first-time volume moving up, so net-net, overall volume remains intact. So there's a drop in the renewal volume, which was compensated by the increase in the first-time volume."
— Murugavel Janakiraman (MD & CEO)
Shows management's approach to AI adoption and diversification into adjacent high-potential markets:
"We are working on AI Astrology. And we're also going to invest money in one of the startups that's working on AI Astrology... While internally, we are trying to do our AI Astrology, we're also going to put money into a company start-up working on AI Astrology."
— Murugavel Janakiraman (MD & CEO)
Metals
Usha Martin | Small Cap | Metals
Usha Martin Limited, established in 1960, is a global leader in wire rope manufacturing with facilities in India, Dubai, Bangkok, and the UK. The company's advanced infrastructure and R&D centers in Italy and India focus on producing high-quality wire ropes through innovative design and cutting-edge technology.
Reveals that tariff environment creates relative competitive advantages versus Chinese players while maintaining level playing field with other international competitors:
"Among the international players including Korean, Turkish, and ourselves, the tariff levels are fairly similar. Chinese competitors, in fact, face slightly higher tariffs. So overall, we remain cautiously optimistic about our position in the U.S. market as of now."
— Rajeev Jhawar (Managing Director)
Reveals a strategic pivot away from commoditized LRPC (Low Relaxation Pre-stressed Concrete) products toward higher-margin plasticated variants:
“We have started focusing on increasing our presence in the auto sector as well as on some niche products like door springs, etc. So, this market is one we have been consistently focusing on, and we expect this trend to continue going forward.”
“Coming to the LRPC market, yes, the monsoon period as well as the demand and price pressures have been significant. As mentioned in our opening remarks, both the volume as well as the margins are under pressure. Our focus would be to keep on increasing our focus on the plasticated LRPC business, which would help us to get a better margin for our product.”
— Rajeev Jhawar (Managing Director)
Logistics
Allcargo Logistics | Small Cap | Logistics
Allcargo Logistics Limited is a global leader in LCL consolidation and India’s largest integrated logistics solutions provider. They create innovative services to meet supply chain needs and specialize in designing special logistics solutions for challenging projects in difficult terrains using high-end expertise.
Explains a massive one-time impact that distorted reported earnings:
"So now if you look at Q1 FY '26, the impact of foreign exchange loss, which is notional, is almost Rs. 83 crores for this quarter... However, the past quarter was exceptional on the negative side, whereby the change in single quarter was about 9%. Subsequent to the quarter, in the month of July, it almost reversed by 4%.
— Ravi Jakhar (Group CFO)
Not confusing seasonal uptick with structural recovery, showing realistic outlook rather than false optimism:
"We are seeing a strong rebound with almost 8% to 10% increase in volumes. However, this is not structural, I would call it more seasonal... The near to next three months look good. Beyond that, we will have to see in the coming couple of months."
— Ravi Jakhar (Group CFO)
Trade tensions paradoxically create short-term opportunities for logistics companies through rush shipments before tariff deadlines:
"If there is a deadline coming soon for new tariffs to come into the picture, there's always a high spike to push volumes into the U.S., which then always helps us to gain a bit more business as well to have higher yields because the people have a short-term, very strong demand."
— Jan Kleine Lasthues (COO, ECU Worldwide)
Energy
Indian Oil Corporation Limited | Large cap | Energy
Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) is primarily involved in refining, pipeline transportation, and marketing of petroleum and petrochemicals. It also engages in exploration and production of crude oil and gas, and is expanding into alternative energy sources.
[Concall]
Refining capacity to expand by 17 mtpa by 2026:
"Our three major refinery expansion projects are progressing well and are on track for mechanical completion by 2026. Capacity will rise from 80.8 to 98 million tonnes per annum, boosting our ability to meet growing national demand."
— Management
Secured 15-yr LNG deal with ADNOC and mid-term pact with Cheniere:
"We have entered a long-term sales and purchase agreement with ADNOC for 1 million tonnes per annum of LNG over 15 years starting FY29. We also signed a mid-term contract with Cheniere for ~4 mtpa of LNG through December 2029."
— Management
Global
Xiaomi Corporation
Xiaomi is primarily known as a consumer electronics and smart manufacturing company, with a focus on smartphones and smart hardware connected by an IoT platform. They also produce laptops, home appliances, and various other consumer electronics. Additionally, Xiaomi is actively involved in developing electric vehicles.
[Concall]
Xiaomi plans to launch EVs in Europe by 2027, adapting its China playbook overseas.
"We expect to officially enter the European market by 2027. The business model we have developed in China can be applied in Europe. Preparations are underway, though specific product plans are not finalized. We believe solving brand awareness for Xiaomi EVs abroad will be critical."
— Lu Weibing, President
Xiaomi is investing steadily in robotics, though commercialization is still distant.
"We are positive about robotics and have invested for four to five years. The immediate focus is on embodied robots in our own factories to complete closed-loop use cases. Commercialization will take more time given the high difficulty."
— Lu Weibing, President
Target Corporation
Target Corporation is primarily a general merchandise retailer that operates discount stores. They offer a wide range of products, including clothing, electronics, household goods, groceries, and more. Target also provides various services, such as photo printing, optical services, and clinics.
[Concall]
Tariffs remain a headwind, but mitigation efforts keep guidance intact for 2025.
"As one of the largest importers in the country, the prospect of higher tariffs meant we were facing major financial and operational hurdles. While the tariff environment remains challenging, the team has made significant progress in mitigating their impact on the P&L while limiting pricing pressure. We expect to end the year in a healthy position and move beyond this period of uncertainty in 2026."
— Brian Cornell, CEO
Target deployed 10,000+ AI licenses to drive efficiency:
"By leveraging AI, our team can build forecasts more accurately while spending less time creating them. Since our last earnings call, we've deployed more than 10,000 new AI licenses across our team, and there's more to come."
— Michael Fideki, COO & CEO-elect
Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is a U.S.-based fabless semiconductor company that designs CPUs, GPUs, FPGAs, and SoCs, serving markets such as data centers, AI, gaming, PCs, and embedded systems.
AMD outlines roadmap for its next-generation MI400 GPUs and Helios rack-scale AI platform.
"Looking ahead, the development of our next generation MI400 series is progressing rapidly. These are the most advanced GPUs we have ever built with up to 40 petaflops of FP4 AI performance and 50% more memory, memory bandwidth, and scale out throughput than the competition. With the MI400 series, we're bringing together everything we've learned across silicon, software and systems to deliver Helios, a full stack rack scale AI platform. Helios is purpose-built for the most demanding AI workloads. With each rack connecting up to 72 GPUs that can operate as a single massive AI accelerator, Helios is expected to deliver up to a 10x generational performance increase for the most advanced frontier models and we believe it will be the highest performance AI system in the world when it launches."
— Dr. Lisa Su, Chair & CEO
McDonald's
Owns, operates, and franchises restaurants under the McDonald’s brand in the United States and internationally.
U.S. sales growth contrasted by low-income consumer headwinds.
“Overall QSR traffic in the US remains challenging as visits across the industry by low-income consumers once again declined by double digits versus the prior year period. Re-engaging the low-income consumer is critical as they typically visit our restaurants more frequently than middle- and high-income consumers.”
— Chris Kempczinski, President and CEO
Loyalty users are significantly more engaged:
“In the U.S. alone, on average, the same customer visits 10.5 times in the year before joining the loyalty program and then 26 times in the year after joining. They're earning points in the app and using them to unlock exclusive deals.”
— Management
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. is a global media and entertainment company with a vast portfolio spanning television, film, streaming, and gaming.
[Concall]
WBD confirms split into two listed companies in 2026.
"As we continue to navigate generational disruption and move forward with splitting into two independent publicly traded companies in 2026, our current momentum will help position both future organizations for long-term success."
—David Zaslav, CEO
Zaslav signaled pricing upside for Max as premium content scales.
"Our strategy hasn't been to raise a lot of price. We want the market to accept the product as high quality. But when you have the highest quality product with big branded stories, that gives us a very big upside over time to raise price."
—David Zaslav, CEO
NBA rights expiry gives ~$100M Q4 benefit and hundreds of millions annual savings.
"There is going to be a benefit from the NBA coming out of our financials. You can expect roughly a $100 million sports cost benefit in the fourth quarter. In 2026, there will be a net benefit of hundreds of millions of dollars from rights costs coming out, partly offset by revenue losses."
—Gunnar Wiedenfels, CFO
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Quotes in this newsletter were curated by Meher, Prerana & Vignesh.
Disclaimer: We’ve used AI tools in filtering and cleaning up these quotes so there maybe some mistakes. Now, if you are thinking why we are using AI, please remember that we are just a small team of 5 people running everything you see on Zerodha Markets 😬 So, all the good stuff is human and mistakes are AI.
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