Early birds' earnings report of a steady yet muted Q4

Global uncertainty in the last three months depressed exports and hurt businesses

- Abhinaba Saha

MUMBAI: A cautiously hopeful tone prevails in the stock market as March quarter earnings trickle in. Initial earnings suggest that companies emerged from a demand contraction in the quarter, though the recovery remains muted.

This indicates that consumer spending is yet to pick up meaningfully, after a tepid third quarter. Extreme global uncertainty in the last three months depressed exports and hurt businesses, experts noted.

A Mint analysis of the first 184 companies that have declared their results shows only a 1.4% year-on-year increase in revenue. That fares marginally better than the 0.3% drop they reported in the December quarter. Sequentially, revenue rose around 8%, but on a low base.

"After a disappointing Q2 and Q3, our expectation for this quarter (Q4FY25) is so low that the actual numbers are looking either in line, or marginally better than what we expected," highlighted Nikhil Rungta, co-chief investment officer of equities at LIC MF.