Analysts slightly upgrade Nifty EPS estimates after 3 firms beat targets

Midway through the March quarter earnings season, market mavens have slightly revised the earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Nifty50.

Some analysts have revised Nifty EPS to Rs 141.60 as of May 3 from earlier estimates of Rs 141.20 on April 11, when the March quarter results season kicked off. The figure stood at Rs 137.40 at the beginning of the fourth quarter (January 1) and at Rs 137.20 at the end of third quarter result season (February 15).

As many as 16 Nifty companies including HDFC Bank, TCS, Axis Bank, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Maruti Suzuki have announced their March quarter earnings so far.

Considering these results, the actual EPS stood at Rs 58.40 against the estimated EPS of Rs 55.20.

Out of the 16 companies, only three – Tata Steel, UltraTech and Tata Consultancy Services – have decisively beat estimates. The other 13 delivered their numbers in line or below expectations.

Tata Steel reported Rs 2,431 crore profit for March quarter, beating a Reuters estimates of Rs 2,130 crore. Aditya Birla Group firm UltraTech Cement posted over two-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,013 crore.

The IT firm’s net profit jumped to Rs 8152 crore in Q4FY19 from Rs 6,925 crore in the year ago period.

Other major companies like Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank and SBI are yet to announce their earnings for March quarter.

Earlier, Nifty earnings for December quarter hit an 11-quarter low at Rs 96.5 per share. This was the first instance since June 2016 when the earnings per share slipped below Rs 100.