Stocks to Watch Today: Reliance Industries, Jio Platforms, Axis Bank, Paytm, Wipro, UPL, JK Cement in Focus

Reliance Industries: Margins Under Pressure Despite Revenue Growth

Q4 financials for Reliance Industries saw a mixed bag performance. Although there was a 12.9% rise in revenue from ₹2.87 lakh crore last year to ₹3.25 lakh crore, there was an 8.9% fall in net profits to ₹20,589 crore. There was also a marginal decline in EBITDA by 0.3%, although there was a steep drop in margins of 200 bps to 14.9%.

The board of directors of the company proposed a dividend of ₹6 per share for FY26.

Jio Platforms proved to be one of the outperformers within the Reliance universe. Net profit increased by 13%, registering ₹7,935 crore, whereas sales revenue rose by 12.7%, reaching ₹44,928 crore.

Operational efficiency was impressive, with the growth rate of EBITDA at 17.9%, and margin at 52.4%. Subscribers increased by 7.4% to 52.44 crore, and ARPU reached ₹214.

Axis Bank: Stable Earnings, But Higher Provisions

The performance of Axis Bank was fairly steady with profits decreasing marginally by 0.6% to ₹7,071 crore. There was a 4.7% rise in net interest income, but there was a sharp increase in provisions by more than 159%.

The bank saw improvement in its asset quality as the Gross NPA fell to 1.23% and the Net NPA fell to 0.37%. It even sanctioned funding proposals amounting to ₹55,000 crore (₹20,000 crore through equity and ₹35,000 crore through debt).

Paytm: Payments Bank Winding-Up Approved

The company 97 Communications is still under pressure following the decision by Reserve Bank of India to withdraw the license from Paytm Payments Bank. As per the directive, the board resolved to wind up the banking operations.

This is clearly a big negative factor, especially in terms of the future prospects of the company.

Wipro: Strategic AI Partnership

Wipro enters into an agreement with Kongsberg Digital to introduce AI-enabled digital twin technology for the energy and utilities industry. This strategy improves its position in rapidly growing digital transformation areas.

Indian Hume Pipe: Large Order Boost

Indian Hume Pipe Company bagged a Letter of Intent for ₹417.97 crore for an irrigation project in the state of Maharashtra.

JK Cement: Mining Expansion

JK Cement has been chosen as the preferred bidder for a limestone mining lease in Rajasthan, providing long-term security of raw materials.

Pine Labs: Acquisition Move

Pine Labs approved the purchase of Shopflo Technologies for ₹88 crore, suggesting an expansion into digital commerce services.

Manappuram Finance: Regulatory Warning

Warning issued to Manappuram Finance regarding the delay in disclosing information from its CMD in 2018. Though historical, it may affect investor sentiment in the short term.

Balrampur Chini Mills: New Capex Plan

Balrampur Chini Mills approved an expenditure of ₹160 crores towards setting up a plant for processing lactogypsum, enabling greater value creation through its PLA project.

Supreme Power Equipment: Order Book Strengthens

Supreme Power Equipment bagged contracts worth ₹128 crores and thereby increased its total order book position to ₹577.72 crores.

Tega Industries: CFO Exit

Tega Industries has received the resignation notice from its CFO.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals: USFDA Approval

Alembic Pharmaceuticals has received an approval from USFDA regarding its Fingolimod capsules used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. It is expected to open avenues for revenues in other countries.

Pace Digitek: Global Expansion

Pace Digitek has entered into an OEM agreement with NEC XON to export battery energy storage systems in African markets.

UPL: Increased Stake in Sinova

UPL Limited has planned to make an investment of $86.7 million in Sinova Inovações Agrícolas to increase its shareholding from the current level to 55.81%.

Market Takeaway

In summary, the market structure is stock-specific. The margin squeeze at Reliance is offset by the good performance of Jio and the solid fundamentals of Axis Bank. There has been mid-cap and sector play on order flows, capex, and international growth plans.