Earnings Central: Titan, M&M, Airtel, Britannia and ONGC headline a heavyweight Thursday

Titan and M&M delivered strong numbers, while Britannia posted healthy revenue and profit growth despite margin pressure. Airtel's ARPU climbed, while ONGC saw a sequential earnings decline. Bharat Forge and BEML faced profit pressure, even as Uno Minda rallied. Here's a quick wrap of Thursday's key Q2 results.

Thursday's earnings slate featured some of the market's heaviest hitters: M&M, Bharti Airtel, Titan, Britannia and ONGC. The results brought a mix of strong beats, earnings pressure and margin concerns, with some interesting trends beneath the headline numbers. Here's what stood out.

Thursday's heavyweights: M&M, Airtel, Titan, Britannia and ONGC

Titan stood out with a strong set of numbers. Net profit rose 56% to ₹1,572 crore, comfortably ahead of estimates, even as the festive calendar shifted into the third quarter. Jewellery revenue grew 24% to around ₹17,495 crore, excluding bullion and digital gold, helped by the Festival of Diamonds campaign. Watches grew 27%, while smartwatches returned to growth.

Britannia Industries also reported healthy revenue growth, with net profit rising 10.1% to ₹721 crore and revenue increasing 15.6% to ₹5,598 crore. However, operating performance was more subdued. EBITDA grew 6.9% to ₹1,021 crore, while the EBITDA margin narrowed to 18.2% from 19.7% a year earlier, pointing to some pressure on profitability.

M&M's standalone profit of ₹5,101 crore beat the poll estimate of ₹4,757 crore, while revenue grew 27% to ₹42,477 crore. The underlying mix was telling: auto revenue rose 36%, while farm equipment was nearly flat, growing 0.6% and doing better than the decline analysts had feared. EBITDA margin narrowed 260 basis points to 11.6%, in line with the poll.

Bharti Airtel's profit of ₹8,887.5 crore fell short of the ₹9,209-crore poll estimate, but revenue and EBITDA came in ahead. Mobile ARPU rose to ₹271 from ₹256 a year ago, while the company added 2.9 million smartphone data customers sequentially. Its subsidiary Bharti Hexacom reported a 34% rise in profit to ₹566 crore and announced that Amit Wadhwa will succeed Marut Dilawari as CEO from November 6.

ONGC missed CNBC-TV18 poll estimates across all four key parameters, with net profit at ₹15,489 crore against the estimate of ₹15,591 crore. Revenue came in at ₹43,875 crore versus ₹44,257 crore, while EBITDA stood at ₹24,860 crore against ₹26,574 crore. The EBITDA margin was 57%, below the 60% estimate. The sequential comparison was weaker still: profit fell 9%, revenue declined 5% and EBITDA dropped 12.3% from the June quarter, with margins narrowing to 57% from 61%.

Auto and auto components: A mixed report card

The auto-component space had its share of strong performances, but the picture was not uniform. Uno Minda rose as much as 10% after profit and revenue both grew 38%, to ₹420 crore and ₹6,655 crore, respectively. Tube Investments reported revenue and profit growth of around 33%, supported by its subsidiary CG Power. Samvardhana Motherson posted its highest-ever quarterly revenue of ₹38,280 crore, with profit rising 14%.

Bharat Forge, however, delivered a mixed set of numbers. Revenue grew 21% to ₹4,870 crore, ahead of estimates, but net profit fell 7% to ₹278.6 crore, missing the poll estimate of ₹342 crore. The shares slipped over 3%. The company retained its 20-25% growth outlook for Indian manufacturing.

BEML also saw a divergence between revenue and profit. Revenue jumped 42% to ₹1,192 crore, but net profit fell 31.1% to ₹33.3 crore. Its EBITDA margin contracted to 6.7%, well below the 9.3% estimate.

Margin pressure: paints and pharma

Berger Paints shares rose 4% after revenue grew 13% to ₹3,200 crore and profit increased 5.3% to ₹217 crore, although margins slipped year-on-year.

Glenmark's numbers were sharply lower. Net profit fell 57% to ₹264 crore, while revenue declined 30%. EBITDA margin contracted to 20% from 39% a year ago. Chairman Glenn Saldanha, however, said the company's base business remained resilient and that it was on track to meet its FY27 guidance, citing growth across key markets and new launches.

Across sectors: stronger outlooks, growth and a few misses

Gujarat Pipavav Port raised its FY27 outlook, increasing its container growth guidance to 8-10% from 4-5% and EBIT growth guidance to 22-26% from 20-24%. This came even as its Q2 profit slipped 5% to ₹153 crore.

LG Electronics reported a 19.5% rise in revenue to ₹7,380 crore and a 26% increase in net profit to ₹489 crore. It reaffirmed its FY27 targets and approved a new vehicle solutions business. CESC's revenue grew 6.5% to ₹5,607 crore, while profit dipped 1.2% to ₹423 crore.

Newer names and turnaround stories

Tonbo Imaging India swung to a net profit of ₹23.5 crore from a loss of ₹10 crore, with revenue rising to ₹183 crore. Shiprocket also moved into the black, reporting a net profit of ₹0.6 crore against a loss of ₹20.2 crore a year ago. Revenue grew 35% to ₹674 crore. The company told CNBC-TV18 that its merchant count had reached 2.33 lakh, while Q3 is typically a seasonally weaker quarter.