₹225 Crore Paytm Profit: Q2 Results Winners and Losers

A year ago, Paytm made a profit of just ₹21 crore in the September quarter. This time it made ₹225 crore. That over 10-fold jump was the loudest number in a busy day of Q2 results, and it landed on the same day India's biggest carmaker reported a 27% fall in profit.

That split is the real story of this earnings season. Some companies are growing fast. Others are getting squeezed by rising costs. And the Sensex, after all that news, ended almost exactly where it started.

Quick answer

• Paytm, Bajaj Auto, ITC Hotels and Sona BLW posted strong Q2 results, with profits up between 29% and over 10-fold.
• Maruti Suzuki (profit down 27%), Cipla (down 34.9%), Mazagon Dock and ACC were the big disappointments.
• The Sensex closed just 8.08 points lower at 73,598.67, so the share market today barely moved overall, even as individual stocks swung hard.

The share market today: flat on the surface

The 30-share BSE Sensex dipped 8.08 points, or 0.01%, to settle at 73,598.67. The NSE Nifty slipped 3.45 points, or 0.02%, to end at 22,749.75.

Under that calm surface, money moved a lot. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth ₹1,462.49 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. Brent crude stayed near $115.8 per barrel, and the rupee closed at 95.12 against the dollar.

The bigger picture is not pretty. The Nifty50 has declined 13.1 per cent year-to-date as of October 26th, placing it among the weakest benchmark indices in the world this year. That is why every Q2 result is being judged so harshly right now.

Q2 results winners: who grew the most

Here is a quick look at the profit growth of the standout names, year on year:

Year-on-year Q2 profit growth: ITC Hotels 52%, Bajaj Auto 35.2%, Sona BLW 29%, KFin Technologies 7.5%

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

Paytm. Revenue rose 28% to ₹2,648 crore. EBITDA (operating profit before interest, tax and depreciation) climbed 90% to ₹270 crore, its highest ever for a quarter. The EBITDA margin hit 10%, double digits for the first time. Brokerages were split, though. Citi raised its target to Rs 1940, while Morgan Stanley stayed at equal-weight with a target of Rs 1450.

Bajaj Auto. Standalone profit rose 35.2% to Rs 3,353.76 crore, from Rs 2,479.74 crore a year earlier.

ITC Hotels. Consolidated net profit rose 52 per cent to ₹202.65 crore. RevPAR, the revenue a hotel earns per available room, grew 21%.

Sona BLW. Net profit grew 29 per cent to Rs 223.4 crore, and the stock jumped 9% to hit a fresh 52-week high.

Smaller names. Bharat Bijlee's profit went from ₹28.23 crore to ₹46.04 crore, and its shares jumped 16%. Morepen Laboratories posted ₹88.89 crore against ₹41.04 crore and hit the upper circuit.

Q2 results losers: where costs bit hard

Maruti Suzuki. Standalone profit declined 27% to Rs 2414.9 crore from Rs 3302.8 crore. Rising costs hit it despite strong festival demand. That matters because a UBS festive check showed car sales down 9% even as two-wheelers grew 11%.

Cipla. Standalone profit fell 34.9% to Rs 787.03 crore from Rs 1,210.53 crore. The drugmaker missed estimates as muted sales of generic Revlimid and tough competition hurt its US business.

Mazagon Dock. Net profit tumbled to ₹340.20 crore from ₹715.37 crore. The company declared an interim dividend of ₹5 per share, but the stock still fell over 6% to ₹1,752.

ACC. The cement maker's standalone net profit was ₹101 crore, against ₹1,112 crore a year ago. Its peer Dalmia Bharat also had a weak quarter, with EBITDA down 29%.

What these Q2 results mean for you

If you hold stocks or equity mutual funds, here is the plain takeaway. The index did nothing, but the stocks inside it did a lot. A good result can lift a share by 9% or 16% in a day. A bad one can knock off 6% or more.

That is a strong case for not betting your savings on one or two names right before their results. A diversified fund smooths out these swings.

There is some hope in the numbers too. A Kotak Institutional Equities report projects Nifty-50 net profits to grow 18 per cent in FY2027 and 13 per cent in FY2028, even with elevated crude oil prices and other pressures. Kotak Neo's Chouhan also said the Nifty's 4% correction offers an attractive entry point for long-term investors.

A few simple steps:

1. Check which of your stocks or fund holdings reported this week, and read the actual result, not just the headline.
2. Look at why profit moved. Higher costs (like Maruti) are different from a one-time hit.
3. Don't chase a stock just because it jumped after results. Ask whether the growth can repeat.
4. Keep your SIPs going. Short-term market swings are exactly what a monthly SIP is built for.

Red flags to watch this earnings season

• Profit up, but margins down. Supreme Industries' profit rose, but its EBITDA margin dropped to 12.8% from 14.6% the quarter before.
• Guidance cuts. Supreme also lowered its volume growth guidance to 10% from 12-13% earlier.
• Crude oil. With Brent near $115.8, companies that use a lot of fuel or petrochemicals may keep facing cost pressure.
• FII selling. Foreign investors pulled out ₹1,462.49 crore in a single day. Sustained selling can keep the market weak even when results are good.

FAQs

What are Q2 results? They are a company's financial results for the July to September quarter, the second quarter of India's April to March financial year.

Which company had the best Q2 results so far? Among the names reporting this day, Paytm stood out with an over 10-fold profit jump to ₹225 crore, while ITC Hotels grew profit 52 per cent.

Why did Maruti Suzuki's profit fall? Its standalone profit declined 27% because rising costs hit it, despite strong festival demand.

Is the share market today a good time to invest? Nobody can time the market. Some analysts see the Nifty's 4% correction as a long-term entry point, but it is safer to invest steadily through SIPs than to bet on single results.

This article is for education only and is not investment, tax or legal advice.

Sources

• The Hindu BusinessLine: Stock Market Today Highlights, October 27