Stocks to Watch: HCL Tech, Nestle, Escorts, IndiGo, MRPL, Tata Steel, Nykaa

Stocks to Watch Today: Tata Steel will stop doing business with Russia, the Indian steel major said on Wednesday

The Indian equity markets are expecting a higher start for a second straight day on Thursday. While volatility could be high due to the scheduled weekly F&O expiry, stock-specific action amid March quarter (Q4FY22) earnings season, and global cues will be the key triggers for the day.

At 8:05 AM, SGX Nifty Futures were ruling about 100 points higher at 17,241 as against Nifty50's spot close of 17,136.5 on Wednesday. 

Here're the top stocks to watch today:

Earnings: Crisil, Cyient, HCL Technologies, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, and Nestle India are among the 18 companies slated to report their March quarter earnings on Thursday.

Analysts expect HCL Tech to post weak-to-modest sequential revenue growth of 0.5-2.9 per cent in constant currency (cc), due to dull performance of the products and platform business (P&P). READ HERE

Meanwhile, Nestle India could report muted profits for March quarter due to subdued domestic demand and commodity cost inflation. READ MORE

Tata Elxsi: Technology services firm Tata Elxsi on Wednesday posted a 38.9 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 160 crore for Q4FY22. The income from operations grew by 31.5 per cent to Rs 681.73 crore. The company's board recommended a final dividend of Rs 42.50 per equity share of par value of Rs 10 each for the financial year ending March 31, 2022.

ICICI Securities: The brokerage firm on Wednesday reported a 3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in net profit at Rs 340 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2022. While its revenue rose 21 per cent to Rs 892 crore in the quarter under review, it added over 6.2 lakh clients during the quarter, taking the total client base to 7.6 million.

Angel One: It reported consolidated total revenue growth of 64.28 per cent YoY at Rs 671.28 crore for Q4FY22. The  consolidated net profit, meanwhile, surged 100.85 per cent to Rs 204.69 crore. Angel One also declared a fourth interim dividend of Rs 7 per share and a final dividend of Rs 2.25 per share. 

Glenmark Life Sciences: The pharma company, on Wednesday, reported a 10.04 per cent YoY rise in total revenues for Q4FY22 on consolidated basis at Rs 514.06 crore. The consolidated profit, however, slipped 5.52 per cent to Rs 98.90 crore.

Ajanta Soya: The Board of Ajanta Soya Ltd on Wednesday approved a stock split in the ratio of 5:1, i.e. the sub-division of equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each into equity shares of face value of Rs 2 each. The Board approved the consequential alteration of the capital clause memorandum.

Escorts: ICRA Limited has upgraded the company's long-term rating by one notch from "AA" to "AA+" with revision in outlook from "watch with developing implications" to "Stable". ICRA has also reaffirmed our short term rating to" Al+.

MRPL, CPCL: The BSE has notified revision in price band of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, Chennai Petroleum Corporation, Dhanlaxmi Fabrics, Nivaka Fashions, and six other companies. READ HERE

FSN E-commerce (Nykaa): Nykaa has partnered with Aveda, the global leader in prestige hair care partners to launch Aveda X Nykaa. 

Infosys: Infosys on Wednesday announced that it has completed the acquisition of oddity, a Germany-based digital marketing, experience, and commerce agency. This follows the announcement the company made on March 22, 2022.

RBL Bank: The Board on April 20, 2022 accepted the recommendations of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee and finalized the names of candidates for the position of regular Managing Director & CEO (MD & CEO) of the Bank and approved making of an application to Reserve Bank of India.

Tata Consultancy Services: After a stellar March quarter (Q4) performance and reporting over 15 per cent year-on-year growth, Rajesh Gopinathan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in an internal mail to employees reiterated that the company is well placed to achieve its $50 billion revenue target by 2030. READ MORE

Tata Steel: Tata Steel will stop doing business with Russia, the Indian steel major said on Wednesday, making it the latest global company to cut ties with the country for invading Ukraine, a Business Standard report said. READ HERE

IndiGo: The country's largest airline is inducting trainee pilots after a gap of two years and is hiring across functions as it ramps up operations.

Separately, domestic airlines carried 24 million passengers during January-March 2022 against 23 million during the same period last year, growing at 6.06 per cent YoY, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) report released on Wednesday said. In March, domestic airlines carried 10.6 million passengers, versus 7.82 million in February, up 36.7 per cent on a month-on-month basis.