Bernstein and Jefferies initiated coverage on Vishal Mega Mart Ltd. this Wednesday, but with sharply contrasting views. While Jefferies sees it as a high-growth value retail story with deep reach in India’s smaller towns, Bernstein is more cautious, flagging peak margin concerns and rising competition from online and offline peers.

Brokerages also turned their attention to the information technology sector, with Jefferies and UBS flagging macro concerns that could weigh on near-term performance. Both cited weakening demand, higher uncertainty, and slowing global growth—especially in the United States and Europe—as key overhangs for the industry.

NDTV Profit tracks what analysts are saying about stocks and sectors. Here are the key calls to watch out for this Wednesday.

Jefferies On IT Sector

  • Downgraded Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ and lowered target price to Rs 3,300 apiece from Rs 4,530.

  • Retained a ‘buy’ rating on Infosys Ltd. and cut target price to Rs 1,700 apiece from earlier Rs 1,835.

  • Retained a ‘buy’ rating on Coforge and cut target price to Rs 7,860 apiece from Rs 10,350.

  • Retained a ‘buy’ rating on Sagility India Ltd. and cut target price to Rs 48 apiece from earlier Rs 64.

  • Maintained a ‘hold’ rating on HCL Technologies Ltd. and lowered target price to Rs 3,300 apiece from Rs 4,530.

  • Sees rising demand concerns likely to cap stock upside.

  • Highlights higher uncertainty and the possibility of a worsening business outlook.

  • Reduced earnings per share estimates by 2-14% to reflect this change.

  • Unless outlook for US gross domestic product growth improves, IT stocks are unlikely to rerate, the brokerage said.

  • Prefers names with better growth visibility and limited de-rating risk.

  • Infosys, Coforge and Sagility remain top picks.

UBS On IT Sector

  • IT stocks are now trading near pre-Covid levels or at their 10-year average valuations.

  • Dividend yields hover around 4-5%.

  • Notes the sector has not recorded negative revenue growth for a full year in the past two decades.

  • Indian IT sector revenue has strong correlation with corporate revenue growth in the US and European Union.

  • Expects sector revenue growth to slow to -1% to 2%, compared to consensus expectations of 4-6%.

  • Even under this scenario, the sector would trade at a 6-7% premium to its 10-year average.

  • Projects low single-digit earnings per share growth and a 4-5% dividend yield.

  • Retained a ‘buy’ rating on TCS with a target price of Rs 4,250 apiece.

  • Retained a ‘buy’ rating on Infosys with a target price of Rs 2,100 apiece.

  • Retained a ‘buy’ rating on Wipro with a target price of Rs 315 apiece.

  • Retained a ‘buy’ rating on HCL Technologies with a target price of Rs 2,030 apiece.

  • Retained a ‘sell’ rating on Tech Mahindra Ltd. with a target price of Rs 1,470 apiece.

BofA On Consumer Sector

  • Retained a ‘buy’ rating on ITC Ltd. and lowered target price to Rs 465 apiece from earlier Rs 490.

  • Retained a ‘buy’ rating on Titan Co. and lowered target price to Rs 3,940 apiece from earlier Rs 3,980.

  • Maintained an ‘underperform’ rating on Avenue Supermarts Ltd. and raised target price to Rs 3,805 apiece from Rs 3,580.

  • Retained a ‘neutral’ rating on Asian Paints Ltd. and lowered target price to Rs 2,355 apiece from Rs 2,395.

  • Retained a ‘buy’ rating on Varun Beverages Ltd. and lowered target price to Rs 630 apiece from Rs 690.

  • Retained a ‘buy’ rating on United Spirits Ltd. and lowered target price to Rs 1,585 apiece from Rs 1,620.

  • Retained a ‘buy’ rating on Dabur India Ltd. and lowered target price to Rs 510 apiece from Rs 575.

  • Maintained a ‘buy’ rating on Colgate Palmolive (India) Ltd. and lowered target price to Rs 2,615 apiece from Rs 2,930.

  • Retained an ‘underperform’ rating on Sapphire Foods India Ltd. and lowered target price to Rs 290 apiece from Rs 320.

  • Expects March 2025 quarter to mirror trends seen in December 2024 quarter.

  • Forecasts 9% average organic revenue growth and 7% reported Ebitda growth year-on-year.

  • Sees no major shift in trends for individual companies.

  • Notes pricing growth in staples is improving but still lags forecasts.

  • Says cost pressures are weighing on margins.

  • Projects Ebitda margin contraction for all staples companies, except alcoholic beverage firms.

  • Companies expected to show double-digit topline growth include Varun Beverages, Marico Ltd., United Spirits and Tata Consumer Products Ltd.

  • Discretionary growth remains better than staples.

Jefferies On Vishal Mega Mart

  • Initiated coverage with a ‘buy’ rating and a target price of Rs 125 apiece.

  • Calls it a compelling value retail play with strong presence in tier-2 cities and beyond.

  • Says the retail format offers complete shopping experience with a bias toward apparel and strong own-label share.

  • New stores offer attractive payback periods of less than two years.

  • Forecasts 27% earnings compound annual growth rate for the fiscal years through March 2027.

  • Balance sheet remains net cash with industry-leading return ratios.

Bernstein On Vishal Mega Mart

  • Initiated coverage with an ‘underperform’ rating and a target price of Rs 90 apiece.

  • Says it has built the lowest-cost offline retail distribution network in India.

  • Notes 47% of its stores face no direct competition from other value retailers.

  • Warns the company is at peak margin levels and faces growing competition.

  • Offline and online players are gaining stronger advantage over Vishal Mega Mart.

Morgan Stanley India Strategy

  • Expects single-digit profit decline due to weak revenue and margin compression.

  • Projects earnings to fall to the lowest level in 19 quarters.

  • Says earnings upcycle remains intact but uncertainties could weigh on estimates.

  • Nine out of 10 sectors expected to post positive revenue growth.

  • Communication services, industrials and healthcare to lead the growth.

  • Energy sector likely to see decline in both revenue and earnings.

  • Margins projected to contract in eight out of 10 sectors.

  • Revenue compound annual growth rate for Sensex and Nifty expected at 8% over three years, while net profit growth seen at 10%.

Morgan Stanley On NBFCs 

  • Rate cut trade in non-banking financial companies has largely played out.

  • Markets have already priced in a 25 bps rate cut and a possibility of a 50 bps cut.

  • Expects profit booking after the monetary policy announcement.

  • Does not expect meaningful net interest margin expansion even among fixed-rate lenders.

  • Regulator is likely to push for transmission of rate cuts to end borrowers.

  • If risk weights on unsecured consumer loans are reduced by the Reserve Bank of India, it will be a positive.

  • Bajaj Finance Ltd., SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd., Aditya Birla Capital Ltd. and L&T Finance Ltd. could benefit from capital release, according to the brokerage.

  • Highlights Aditya Birla Capital’s low tier 1 capital ratio as a lever for return on equity expansion.

  • Other firms are already well capitalised, the brokerage said.

Citi On Banks

  • Analyses banks’ exposure to export-linked sectors and says there is no clear impact conclusion.

  • IndusInd Bank has highest exposure to gems and jewellery at 2%, followed by ICICI Bank Ltd. at 0.9% and HDFC Bank Ltd. at 0.7%.

  • Kotak Mahindra Bank has highest exposure to electronics and electricals at 2.5%.

  • For textiles, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Federal Bank Ltd. show exposure of 2.9% and 2.7%, respectively.

  • In chemicals and pharmaceuticals, Bank of Baroda and Federal Bank lead with 3% each, followed by SBI at 2.3%.

  • For the auto sector, Kotak Mahindra Bank has 2.3% exposure and HDFC Bank has 1.7%.

Goldman Sachs On Oil Prices

  • Forecasts Brent and WTI crude oil prices to fall to $62 and $58, respectively by December 2025.

  • Expects further decline to $55 and $51 by December 2026.

  • Assumes the US avoids a recession and OPEC+ gradually increases supply with two increments of 130-140 thousand barrels per day in June and July.

Macquarie On Info Edge

  • Retained an ‘underperform’ rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 5,200 apiece.

  • Notes strong billings update for March 2025 after flat growth in the previous fiscal.

  • Says this is sentiment positive, but does not expect similar acceleration ahead.

  • Cites weak hiring intent in Naukri’s JobSpeak index.

  • Medium-term concerns remain around the impact of artificial intelligence on hiring demand.

JPMorgan On Info Edge

  • Retained an ‘overweight’ rating with a target price of Rs 8,900 apiece.

  • Naukri’s billings beat estimates and are accelerating.

  • Highlighted concerns about IT slowdown ahead.

  • Sees short-term pressure from IT, and medium-term pressure from artificial intelligence.

  • Info Edge offers a better way to play IT than pure-play companies, given its diversified business mix, the brokerage said.

  • Half of Info Edge’s business is non-IT, which offers a cushion against slowdown, it added.

UBS On Auto Sector

  • Most auto companies are insulated from macro shocks, except Tata Motors Ltd. and Bharat Forge Ltd, the brokerage said.

  • Sees good buying opportunity in two-wheelers, particularly TVS Motor Co.

  • Favourable on four-wheelers, especially Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Ashok Leyland Ltd. and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

  • Hero MotoCorp Ltd., Ashok Leyland Ltd. and TVS Motor are best positioned, while Bharat Forge Ltd. appears vulnerable, the brokerage said.

  • Notes Indian auto firms do not have significant import dependence on the US.

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