Excited to share—we’re now SEBI Registered! After 2+ years of consistently sharing insights on X, we received several inquiries about launching our own research services. So, we decided to go ahead, get SEBI Registered, and launch our dedicated Research Desk, focused on uncovering high-growth opportunities in the Smallcap & Midcap space. We're now also live on Smallcase! There’s been a lot going on in the background over the last few months. Thanks for the continued support—we’ll keep striving to add value!❤️

Nifty is flat, but portfolios are rocking today! 🔥 Days like these make you feel like saying... Market band mat karo, chalne do! 😁

Crazy Results Season 🔥 Q2FY27 earnings season has started on a blockbuster note! Based on 294 results reported so far: - Median REV Growth: 21% - Median Op Profit Growth: 31% - Median PAT Growth: 30.5% 🔥 src : stockscans

Interesting insights from SBFC Finance & Five Star Business Finance Q2FY27 concalls Both secured MSME lenders are now signalling that the worst of the recent asset quality pressure is largely behind them 1. MSME disbursements are picking up Five Star: - Disbursements grew 74% YoY / 39% QoQ - Management expects to comfortably exceed its FY27 AUM growth guidance SBFC: - MSME disbursements reached 855 Cr, highest quarterly level since listing - Expects consistent improvement from here, H2 disbursement growth expected to move into double digits YoY - Management reiterated its guidance of 5-7% sequential AUM growth So after several quarters where lenders prioritised collections & risk control, growth appetite is coming back 2. Both are moving away from the small ticket loans SBFC has stopped originating loans below 7 lakh and is increasingly focusing on 10-25 lakh+ secured MSME customers Five Star is also gradually increasing ticket sizes, targeting roughly: 25% below 3 lakh 50% between 3-5 lakh 25% above 5 lakh Both lenders are therefore trying to improve the risk adjusted quality of incremental growth rather than simply chase volumes 3. Asset quality is stabilising SBFC: - 0+ DPD has stabilised around ~9% - Credit cost: 1.37% vs 1.44% QoQ - Management believes Q1 credit cost was likely the peak Five Star: - Collection efficiency: 97.7% → 98.2% - 30+ DPD: 12.38% → 11.5% - Credit cost: 1.85% → 1.80% Early buckets are improving first, Stage 3 improvement will follow with a lag Both companies have materially strengthened collections SBFC now has ~850 people in collections & is also using AI voice for pre-due collections Five Star has built dedicated collection + legal teams instead of relying on the same employee for sourcing & collections SBFC said only ~7-8% of its sub 30 lakh MSME borrowers have Gold Loan exposure Five Star said ~35-40% of its customers have meaningful Gold Loan exposure Both management teams sounded reasonably confident about containing credit costs despite concerns around weak rainfall, rising interest rates & borrower leverage

APL Apollo Tubes - Very Strong Q2FY27 Concall Q2 was the company’s best ever quarter in terms of volumes, EBITDA & PAT, with volumes reaching ~9.6 lakh tonnes despite UAE disruption, domestic steel shortage & export container issues EBITDA/ton improved to ~6,000 Management was extremely confident that this level is now sustainable “6,000 looks sustainable. Q3 will be much better than this.” FY23 margins had benefited from temporary abnormal spreads in pre-galvanised products This time, ~6,000 EBITDA/ton is being driven by: - Better pricing in APL Apollo branded products - Higher value added product mix Management expects a repeat of 6,000+/ton in Q3 as well Company continues to target ~20% absolute EBITDA growth for FY27 Dubai capacity is expected to increase to ~5 lakh tonnes by March 2027 APL has also started seeding products for Defence & Aerospace using its recently commissioned specialised mill Samples are already being supplied to various agencies & management expects initial outcomes over the next 2-3 months If UAE operations also recover, there could be further upside to the current FY27 EBITDA growth guidance

Sona BLW Precision Q2FY27 - Strong Growth Led by EV Business & Massive Order Book! - REV 🔼35% - 1,546 Cr - EBITDA 🔼23% - 356 Cr - PAT 🔼29% - 223 Cr EBITDA Margin declined from 25.3% to 23% Strong Cash Flow Generation - H1FY27 Operating Cash Flow - 594 Cr - Free Cash Flow after Capex - 446 Cr - Net Cash stood at 1,966 Cr Margins contracted by around 230 bps YoY due to an unfavourable product mix & higher input costs, partially offset by operating leverage EV Business Growing Rapidly - BEV REV more than doubled, contributing 51% of automotive product REV - H1FY27 BEV REV increased 119% YoY Net Order Book reached 25,100 Cr, equivalent to 5.6x FY26 REV - Automotive EV Order Book - 15,200 Cr - Automotive Non-EV - 7,700 Cr - Robotics & Physical AI - 1,300 Cr - Railways - 900 Cr Sona BLW continues to benefit from increasing EV adoption, new product wins & diversification into advanced mobility technologies Only issue valuations are extremely rich

Crazy MTF Unwinding During Friday's Market Selloff! On Friday, when Smallcap indices crashed nearly 3%, there was massive liquidation of leveraged positions Over 5,400 Cr worth of MTF positions were liquidated! One of the biggest lessons from such corrections is to avoid excessive leverage, because markets can remain irrational longer than investors can sustain their positions!

At this point, expectations are close to zero! Forget the LTCG cut, just hoping we don't end up with another STT hike in the name of market reforms 💀

Blockbuster quarter from Ather Energy - Total Income 🔼62% YoY - 1,527 Cr - Volumes 🔼42% YoY - 93,211 units - EBITDA margin improved to 4.9% vs -9.6% YoY - Turned PAT turned positive at 1.26 Cr vs (154 Cr) YoY Demand remains extremely strong, with pre-orders more than doubling to 1.80 lakh & Hosur operating at 98% utilisation during peak production Total installed capacity to reach ~11.4 lakh units by Q2FY28 Street reacting very positively.

Most Solar Stocks Have Witnessed Significant Valuation De-rating! Waaree Energies EV/EBITDA multiple has compressed from nearly 50x at its peak to 9x currently! key monitorable going forward is sustainability of margins despite rising capacity

Shakti Pumps - A Good Case Study of How a Balance Sheet Can Deteriorate! ⚠️ Some Concerning Developments: Trade Receivables jumped 54% from 1,276 Cr to 1,964 Cr in just 6 months! Operating Cash Flow remained deeply negative at -448 Cr in H1FY27 Cash & Cash Equivalents declined sharply from 439 Cr to just 24 Cr Total Borrowings almost doubled from 486 Cr to 939 Cr Operating profit before working capital changes also declined sharply from 284 Cr to 159 Cr Receivables are increasing significantly, cash balances are getting depleted & the company is becoming increasingly dependent on borrowings to fund its operations

Nifty's Historic 20% Upper Circuit in 2009 May 18, 2009 was one of the craziest days in Indian stock market history Interestingly, the exact opposite reaction is now unfolding in Brazil! 🇧🇷 Brazil's presidential election on October 25, 2026, delivered a major surprise President Lula secured re-election with 51.8% of the vote, defeating Flávio Bolsonaro Brazilian equities had rallied ahead of the election But the unexpected result have triggered aggressive selling! Brazil's EWZ ETF trading overseas crashed almost 20% in after hours trading A lot of mayhem has unfolded in international markets lately

Last 5 years would have humbled a lot of investors There was a time when the playbook looked simple: - Buy a blue chip - Hold it forever - Forget about quarterly numbers - Expect 20% CAGR The era of lazy investing is being seriously challenged Businesses, competitive advantages & industry structures are changing faster than ever Some of the strongest businesses, established market leaders & supposedly recession proof sectors have delivered negligible or even negative returns Look at how many supposedly strong narratives have been shaken: 1. FMCG : Cash rich businesses, recession resistant demand, predictable earnings & whatnot! When REV growth remains in single digits for years, even exceptional ROCE & strong cash generation cannot justify premium valuations indefinitely A company cannot keep trading at 50-60x P/E forever without meaningful earnings growth Eventually, valuations have to catch up with the underlying growth reality! For years, the biggest moat for the sector was distribution Thousands of distributors + lakhs of retail outlets made it extremely difficult for a new brand to compete with established FMCG giants Quick Commerce gives a new brand access to consumers almost instantly D2C brands can build awareness online, launch nationally & reach customers without spending decades building physical distribution The incumbents are still extremely strong businesses, but distribution alone is no longer the moat it once was 2. IT Services : The Traditional Growth Model Is Under Pressure For decades, Indian IT companies benefited from global outsourcing & labour cost arbitrage More global outsourcing → More employees → More REV → More profits But AI is potentially changing the economics of the entire industry The traditional headcount led growth model is being challenged, while discretionary spending remains weak The old narrative cannot simply be extrapolated 3. Paints : Even Strong Entry Barriers Can Be Challenged The paints industry was once considered one of the strongest consumer franchises Distribution + dealer relationships + brand + tinting machines created enormous entry barriers Then a large new player entered with massive capacity, aggressive dealer expansion & pricing Suddenly an industry believed to have almost impenetrable barriers had to deal with a completely new competitive environment Again, the businesses didn't suddenly become bad The competitive structure changed And these are just a few examples! A company that was a market leader 5 years ago may still be a market leader today, but its growth prospects, competitive advantages & valuations could be completely different You have to do the hard work! Track quarterly results, management commentary, competitive intensity, market share & changing industry dynamics Most importantly, keep questioning your original investment thesis.

Reality Check in Stock Markets 👀 Looked at companies with: - Market Cap >10,000 Cr - 5 Year Stock CAGR <5% 78 out of these 130 companies have actually delivered a negative 5 year CAGR And many are some of the biggest, most well known names in the market 5 Yr CAGR - Reliance Industries: -0.5% - HDFC Bank: -3.5% - Infosys: -7.5% - TCS: -6.2% - Wipro: -10.7% - Hindustan Unilever: -4.9% - Asian Paints: -4.9% - Bajaj Finserv: -2.1% - Kotak Mahindra Bank: -0.5% - Avenue Supermarts: -7.1% - SBI Cards: -13.5% - IRCTC: -12.0% - Dabur: -9.0% - Tata Elxsi: -8.8% - Godrej Properties: -8.6% - PI Industries: -7.5% - HDFC Life: -5.4% - Berger Paints: -5.3% - Shree Cement: -3.9% - Ambuja Cements: -1.2% - Godrej Consumer: -2.3% - Page Industries: -2.0% - Biocon: -0.6% - Colgate: +0.7% - ICICI Lombard: +1.1% - SRF: +1.8% - Tech Mahindra: +2.8% - ITC: +3.1% - Bajaj Finance: +3.4% - Tata Consumer: +3.8% - JSW Energy: +3.9% - HCL Technologies: +4.0% - Nestle India: +4.1% - Britannia: +4.2% - Tata Steel: +4.5% And the full list includes: Whirlpool India, Adani Total Gas, Gujarat Energy, Crompton Greaves Consumer, Aarti Industries, P&G Hygiene, Kansai Nerolac, SBI Cards, Bandhan Bank, Trident, ACC, IRCTC, Vinati Organics, Jubilant FoodWorks, Sammaan Capital, Wipro, Tata Chemicals, Atul, Deepak Nitrite, Indraprastha Gas, Dabur India, Tata Elxsi, Nuvoco Vistas, LTM, Godrej Properties, Adani Energy Solutions, Syngene International, PI Industries, Blue Dart Express, Bayer CropScience, Infosys, ICICI Prudential Life, United Breweries, Avenue Supermarts, Metropolis Healthcare, Emami, IndusInd Bank, Pfizer, Honeywell Automation, TCS, Ramco Cements, UPL, Container Corporation, HDFC Life, Berger Paints, UTI AMC, Mphasis, Hatsun Agro, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, PVR INOX, Gland Pharma, Voltas, Havells India, Shree Cement, Dalmia Bharat, HDFC Bank, Balkrishna Industries, Astral, L&T Technology Services, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Cohance Lifesciences, Godrej Consumer Products, Kajaria Ceramics, Bajaj Finserv, Page Industries, BASF India, Sumitomo Chemical, Ambuja Cements, Natco Pharma, Devyani International, Biocon, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries, Info Edge, DCM Shriram, Amara Raja Energy, Punjab & Sind Bank, Alembic Pharma, Adani Green, New India Assurance, Mahanagar Gas, Sun TV Network, Godrej Agrovet, Dr Lal PathLabs, Colgate-Palmolive, Zydus Wellness, ICICI Lombard, Brookfield India REIT, Patanjali Foods, CAMS, Chambal Fertilisers, V-Guard Industries, Vodafone Idea, SRF, Zensar Technologies, 3M India, IRB Infrastructure, Cyient, Tech Mahindra, Century Plyboards, Grindwell Norton, ITC, JM Financial, Yes Bank, Sona BLW Precision, Bajaj Finance, Carborundum Universal, IndiGrid, KIOCL, Nazara Technologies, Tata Consumer, LIC Housing Finance, Embassy Office Parks REIT, JSW Energy, Tata Communications, HCL Technologies, Central Bank of India, Nestle India, Sundram Fasteners, Britannia Industries, Petronet LNG, CIE Automotive, Graphite India, Affle, Abbott India, Max Financial, Tata Steel, Endurance Technologies & Gillette India.

One Important Concept to Understand in Lending! Closing AUM = Opening AUM + Disbursements - Principal Repayments How can an NBFC report 75% AUM growth despite disbursements growing just 5%? 🤔 (Explained with a detailed illustration below ⏬) Similarly, an NBFC can report strong disbursement growth, but AUM growth can remain significantly lower! How? The answer lies in higher repayments, prepayments & shorter loan tenures.

Rajeev Jain shared some interesting insights on Gold Loans during Bajaj Finance's Q2FY27 concall! Bajaj Finance has already built a 24,000 Cr Gold Loan book (+105% YoY) It is now among the top 5 Gold Loan lenders in the NBFC sector - Gold Loans should be a “profit builder”, not an “AUM builder” - Bajaj experimented with short tenure Gold Loans, but these created unnecessary technical delinquencies when customers missed maturity dates - 1,047 Cr of Gold Loans moved into Stage 2 during the quarter largely because of this structure - Management stopped these short tenure schemes from August itself - 550 Cr had already moved back to Stage 1 by the time of the concall - Company now prefers longer 9-12 month tenures while still allowing customers to repay earlier - 99% of Gold Loan customers currently use bullet repayment - Management does not want to build an auction driven Gold Loan franchise - It is willing to accept slower AUM growth rather than push higher LTVs or products that could unnecessarily stress customers - Average ticket size remains ~2.4-2.5 lakh with LTV around 75%, including interest Some excellent insights into the nuances of the Gold Loan business!

Strong set of numbers from Lumax Auto in #Q2FY27 - REV growth: 35% YoY - PAT growth before minority interest: 50% YoY But H2FY27 is where growth rates are likely to cool off Management has already highlighted that Q1 & Q2 benefited from a low base, while Q3 & Q4 will face a much tougher comparison as H2FY26 had already seen hyper growth post GST rationalisation

Optical fibre companies is going through a very strong upcycle Sterlite Technologies - Q2FY27 REV 🔼145% - 2,529 Cr Operational EBITDA: 685 Cr PAT: 517 Cr vs 4 Cr YoY Reported EBITDA includes a one time ~161 Cr gain from a US tariff refund Order book reached a record 35,274 Cr Data Centres contributed ~33% of H1FY27 REV Management is targeting ~50% contribution in FY27 STL continues to target: - FY29 REV: ~20,000 Cr - EBITDA margin: >30% Margin ambition was increased from >27% earlier Management is also planning ~1,000 Cr annual capex through FY27-29 & ~50% expansion in fibre, preform & cable capacities HFCL - Q2FY27 REV 🔼144% - 2,542 Cr EBITDA 🔼224% - 658 Cr PAT 🔼448% - 394 Cr Robust Order Book: 28,900 Cr Capacity Expansion plans - Optical Fibre capacity: 28 Mn fibre km → 34 Mn → 43 Mn - Cable capacity: 34 Mn fibre km → 63 Mn The company is also investing in its own preform capacity, which should increase backward integration & potentially improve margins further FY27 guidance upgraded massively : 20% → 40% → 80% 🔥 Initial FY27 REV growth guidance: ~20% After Q1: ~40% After Q2: at least 80% HFCL had earlier targeted 10,000 Cr REV by FY29 Management now believes this milestone can be achieved significantly earlier Defence becoming the next growth engine HFCL is targeting 500 Cr of Defence & Aerospace REV in FY27 Both companies are clearly in one of the strongest earnings cycles they have seen in years

Defence Stocks have witnessed massive correction Shipbuilders have seen one of the biggest cracks: - Cochin Shipyard is down 62% from ATH - Mazagon Dock is down 51% from ATH - Garden Reach is down 47% from ATH Several other names are also down 20-50%