Day: May 9, 2025

Defence-related stocks gained up to 4.8 per cent in trade on Friday, May 9, 2025, amid escalating border tension between India and Pakistan. On Thursday, Pakistan fired eight missiles directed at Satwari, Samba, RS Pura, and Arnia, all in Jammu & Kashmir, which were all intercepted or neutralised by air defence units, according to reports.  

At 10:20 AM, individually, shares of Bharat Dynamics were up 3.31 per cent, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) were up 2.34 per cent, Paras Defence and Space Technologies were up 2.08 per cent, Bharat Electronics were up 3.41 per cent, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders were up 1.56 per cent, Astra Microwave Products were up 3.21 per cent, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers were up 2.2 per cent, and Cochin Shipyard were up 0.12 per cent. 

Analysts believe ‘Operation Sindoor’ is likely to put the focus on the pace of execution in the defence companies. 

“Defence companies already have large order books which will get even larger,” said Dr. Vikas Gupta, CEO & chief investment strategist, OmniScience Capital. 

He added: These companies are likely to be given aggressive execution targets which are likely to start becoming visible in a few quarters and a 1-3 years timeline, thus possibly boosting revenues and earnings forecast. However one should be careful to invest only at attractive valuations and in those which pass the scientific investing criteria”.

Operation Sindoor updates 

• Pakistan fired eight missiles directed at Satwari, Samba, RS Pura and Arnia, all in Jammu & Kashmir, which were all neutralised by air defence units. Indian security forces also detected Pakistani drones and munitions over Jammu city, Pathankot, and Jaisalmer. 

• Armed forces targeted air defence radars and systems at multiple locations within Pakistan, neutralising at least one such system in Lahore. This was after thwarting Pakistan’s bid to strike several military targets in northern and western India, including Srinagar, Amritsar, and Chandigarh, using drones and missiles.

• According to ANI report, Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is heading to Jammu to take stock of the situation after last night’s failed Pakistani drone attack directed at Jammu city and other parts of the division.
  
  What is Operation Sindoor? 

Operation Sindoor was launched by India against Pakistan to limit its capacity to sponsor cross-border terrorism. In this operation, the Indian armed forces successfully destroyed nine terror centres operating in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). This was India’s precise response to the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 individuals. Reports suggest that the title of the operation was chosen by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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India’s volatility gauge rose another 8 per cent on Friday as tensions mounted after Pakistan fired missiles in Jammu and Kashmir last evening, in a significant escalation along the border. 

India VIX, the measure of market volatility in the domestic market, jumped as much as 8.19 per cent to 22.7, the highest level jump since April 8 this year, according to Bloomberg data. This volatility came after the index spiked as much as 12 per cent on the previous day.  

India VIX measures the market’s expectation of future volatility based on the Nifty50 index options contracts. It typically indicates an increase in market volatility and suggests that investors are expecting higher uncertainty or risk in the near future.

Pakistan fired eight missiles directed at Satwari, Samba, RS Pura and Arnia, all in Jammu & Kashmir on Thursday evening, which were all intercepted or blocked by air defence units. This comes in after India neutralised air defence radars and systems at many locations in Pakistan, a retaliation to the latter’s attempt to engage several military targets.

The benchmark equity indices, Nifty50, fell as must as 1.39 per cent or 338 points to 23,935 points, while the Sensex tumbled 1.7 per cent or 1,366 points to 78,968 on Friday. Even on the current front, volatility was seen, as the USD/INR option volumes were more than double their five-day average, according to Bloomberg.

Under normal circumstances, on a day like this, the market would have suffered deep cuts, according to VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited. But this is unlikely given India’s clear superiority in conventional warfare and the market resilience supported by global and domestic macros, he added. “Investors should not panic and exit from the market now. Remain invested, monitor the developments and wait for the dust to settle.” 

In the latest development, an air warning has been received from the Air Force station of a possible attack in Chandigarh on Friday.  

India neutralises Pakistan’s missile

The defence ministry said military stations of Jammu, Pathankot, and Udhampur were targeted, with the Indian armed forces neutralising the threat according to the standard operating procedures with kinetic and non-kinetic means. 

Electricity in cities of Jammu, Pathankot and other areas under Pakistani attack was snapped, leading to a complete blackout.  

There were blackouts in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Mohali and Chandigarh in Punjab. An Indian Premier League match in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, 80 km from the Pathankot airbase, was called off. Power supply was restored in some of these cities later in the night. 

These developments come days after the Indian armed forces carried out coordinated missile strikes on terrorist infrastructure at nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under the code name ‘Operation Sindoor.’ The operation was carried out in the early hours of Wednesday (May 7) and came in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed the lives of 26 people. 

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Shares of Titan Company rallied 5 per cent to ₹ 3,515.75 on the BSE in Friday’s intra-day trade after the company surprised positively by delivering better profitability in jewellery business in March 2025 quarter (Q4FY25) despite inflated gold prices. 

The stock now trades at its highest level since February 2, 2025. In comparison, the BSE Sensex was down 0.5 per cent at 79,947 at 09:21 am.

Titan Q4 results 2025

Titan Company, a jewellery-to-watch conglomerate, reported a better than expected 12.9 per cent year-on-year (YoY) jump in its net profit at ₹ 871 crore for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024-25, against net profit of ₹ 771 crore in Q4FY24. Analysts expected net profit of ₹ 830 crore for Q4FY25.

Titan’s consolidated revenue (excluding bullion sales) grew by 24 per cent YoY to ₹ 13,897 crore. This was driven by 25 per cent growth in standalone jewellery business, 23 per cent growth in the Caratlane business and 20 per cent growth in the watches and wearable business. Gross margins improved by 50 bps YoY to 22.8 per cent. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBIDTA) margins improved by 77 bps YoY to 10.3 per cent. Analysts expected EBIDTA margins of 9.5-9.9 per cent. 

Management commentary

Despite a steep increase in gold prices, the studded and gold coin segments saw buyer growths. Solitaires likewise witnessed a good rebound on the back of good buyer growth, albeit on the lower carat weights. The high gold prices, however, are continuing to weigh on consumer sentiment in the near term.

The EyeCare business has returned to the double-digit growth trajectory in Q3 and Q4 of FY25 and is poised for even better growth in FY26.

“As we look forward to FY26, all businesses of Titan Company are focusing on market share expansion in their respective categories and catering to the changing needs of our consumers,” the management said. 

Brokerage view – ICICI Securities

Titan’s resilient performance was in the backdrop of inflated gold price environment with margin improvement in domestic jewellery and Caratlane business in Q4FY25. The strong growth in the jewellery business was driven by higher ticket sizes while studded growth was lower at 12 per cent. 

Though gold prices have remained high management has maintained its guidance of 15-20 per cent growth in the jewellery business in the near term. This will be driven by higher demand to value offerings (light weight gold jewellery or lower carat jewellery) in its product portfolio in the inflated gold price scenario, while any correction or stability in the gold prices will lead increase in the footfalls and higher volume growth. Jewellery business EBIT margins to remain at 11-11.5 per cent. Caratlane is also expected to witness consistent growth with improved studded mix. 

Brokerage view – Motilal Oswal Financial Services

With the jewellery industry seeing faster formalization, analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services said they continue to believe Titan will keep leveraging the same, driven by store additions, multi-format presence, better designs, customer understanding, and a strong recall of trust. Jewellery EBIT margin has been under pressure, but the beat in Q4 margin renders better margin visibility for FY26.

Titan, with its superior competitive positioning (in sourcing, studded ratio, youth-centric focus, and reinvestment strategy), continues to outperform other branded players. The brand recall and business moat are not easily replicable; therefore, Tanishq’s competitive edge will remain strong in the category. The store count reached 3,312 as of Mar’25, and the expansion story remains intact. The non-jewelry business is also scaling up well and will contribute to growth in the medium term. The brokerage firm reiterated its BUY rating on Titan with a target price of ₹ 4,000.

About Titan

Titan Company, a joint venture between the Tata Group and the Tamilnadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), commenced its operations in 1987 under the name Titan Watches Limited. 

In 1994, Titan diversified into Jewellery (Tanishq) and subsequently into EyeCare. Over the last three decades, Titan has expanded into underpenetrated markets and created lifestyle brands across different product categories including fragrances (SKINN), accessories and Indian dress wear (Taneira) and thoughtfully designed Women Bags (IRTH). Titan is widely known for transforming the watch and jewellery industry in India and for shaping India’s retail market by pioneering experiential retail.

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