Mahindra & Mahindra’s latest quarterly performance came broadly in line with market expectations, but a closer look at the internals suggests some areas of concern, particularly on margins and market share, according to Ashwin Patil from LKP Securities.

Speaking to ET Now, Patil said investors are accustomed to M&M delivering results that beat expectations. This time, however, the performance was more muted. He pointed out that average selling prices (ASPs) declined slightly, largely due to the company’s recent product launches, including the 3XO, which is positioned in a lower price bracket.

“Typically, M&M reports numbers that are ahead of expectations, but this time they have come up quite in line. I would not be very happy with the numbers because there is a slight reduction in ASPs. The launches that the company has done, especially the 3XO, are in the lower range, and that is why ASPs have fallen a bit. At the top line, the numbers are slightly below our expectations,” Patil said.

He also flagged some pressure on market share, particularly in the tractor segment. According to Patil, M&M appears to have ceded a bit of ground in farm equipment, even as margins in that segment showed some improvement.

On profitability, Patil noted that operating margins could have been better. Rising raw material costs have weighed on margins, resulting in weaker-than-expected operating leverage.

“If you see the margins as well, we could have seen slightly better margins, but because of the raw material cost market, which has slightly firmed up, that has resulted in slightly lower kind of margins. The growth in margins is not that strong,” he said.
At the bottom line, Patil highlighted that one-off expenses related to labour code implementation impacted reported profit. Excluding this exceptional item, profit after tax showed healthier growth. Still, he said overall operating performance did not fully meet expectations.“On the bottom line, definitely the one-off expense of the labour code — if we remove that, then the PAT has grown much better. But overall, at the operating level, I had better expectations from the company. Nevertheless, the stock remains a buy for us, so we need to revisit our numbers and look at how much upside we get from these,” Patil added.

Breaking down segment-wise performance, ET Now highlighted that auto EBIT margins stood at 9.5%, while farm equipment margins came in at 20.3%. Patil said autos were a mild disappointment, while tractors offered some positive offset.

“On the auto numbers, we were expecting slightly better margins; however, on the tractor side, the margins have come slightly better. So, it is like offsetting each other. But autos definitely — as I said — the launches which the company had done this quarter with the low-ticket 3XO are the reason why we have seen sub-10% kind of margins on the auto side. We were expecting maybe close to 10%, maybe around 10.1% kind of margins, so it is slightly disappointing on auto margins, but on the tractor side, the company has surpassed our expectations,” he said.

Overall, while M&M’s numbers did not throw up major negative surprises, the results lacked the usual outperformance investors have come to expect. With pressures on ASPs, autos margins, and some market share loss in tractors, analysts are likely to reassess earnings assumptions even as long-term investment calls remain intact.

A company boss has told MPs the industry is ‘teetering on the brink’

The Government has “two months to save the UK steel industry”, a director of the country’s biggest steel firm has warned. Russell Codling, director of markets business development at Tata Steel UK, warned MPs on Tuesday that the sector is “teetering on the brink” and needs urgent state support.

He told Parliament’s Business and Trade Committee that the sector is at threat due to fears of further cheap Chinese imports flooding the market.

“At the moment to date, whilst the UK Government is working very hard on this, we are not in a position to be protecting the UK industry, which is putting the UK steel industry at severe threat,” the boss said.

He called on the Government to follow the footsteps of the EU and US, with import tariffs designed to benefit regional steel sectors.

Currently, there are safeguards in place imposing a 25% tariff on specific imported steel products, but this expires in June.

Tata called for immediate action from the Government to announce a replacement system or extent the current safeguards.

Mr Codling added: “Frankly speaking, the UK Government has two months to save the UK steel industry because this is a death knell for the industry at large and its supply chains.

“If the UK doesn’t act we won’t have a steel industry not many months from now.

“We need action, we need action now, that needs to be in position by July 1.”

India is poised to benefit from a broad-based revival in the global industrial cycle, with improving exports, rising capacity utilisation and a strong pipeline of capital expenditure likely to support growth over the coming quarters, according to Chetan Ahya, from Morgan Stanley.

Speaking to ET Now, Ahya said recent data points suggest that the industrial cycle has turned not just in Asia, but across major developed economies as well.

“So, we have seen a turn in the region’s industrial cycle, but it is also not just the region. We have seen that turn in the US industrial production, European industrial production. So, we think that this is a sort of global industrial cycle revival and something similar is happening in India data as well,” he said.

India’s own industrial production has begun to show signs of improvement, and Ahya believes the recovery has further room to run. A key driver, he noted, will be the revival in non-tech exports, which had been under pressure over the past year due to tariff-related issues.

“What we have seen in the last 12 months in the region is that tech exports have continued to do well, but non-tech has suffered because of the tariff situation. But now that the tariff situation is behind us even for India, and at the same time we are seeing that the US recovery is going to broaden out from tech to non-tech, that will help global trade and that will help Asia’s exports,” Ahya explained.

Beyond exports, he highlighted three major structural trends that are expected to reinforce the industrial upcycle. These include rising investment in AI-related infrastructure, increased defence spending across the region, and accelerating capital expenditure linked to energy transition.
“Number one, you are seeing everybody having to invest for AI-related infrastructure. We are seeing everybody in the region, for example, spending more on defence. So, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and then as you saw in India’s budget as well, the government has increased defence spending allocation by 18%, that will also fuel the industrial cycle,” he said.He added that energy transition will require substantial investment in supporting infrastructure, particularly power grids.

“If you are investing more in solar, the old grid system will not work, so you have to invest in the grid system. So, there is an additional ancillary capex that is emerging. So, yes, a combination of a number of factors we think is bringing this revival of industrial cycle.”

Benign Inflation, No Rate Hike Expected in 2026
On the inflation and monetary policy outlook, Ahya said that while improving growth and exports will lift capacity utilisation, inflation is unlikely to become a concern in the near term.

“Inflation is still not going to be a concern anytime soon because the starting point of inflation is still very low. And if you think about the labour market as one source of potential inflation pickup, the labour market starting point is also that there is a significant amount of slack,” he said.

As a result, he does not expect the Reserve Bank of India to raise rates in the current calendar year.

“So, we do not have a rate hike in calendar year 2026. We have it only in 2027. So, yes, next few quarters we should have a benign environment where growth is strong and inflation is still just heading towards normal levels rather than getting to a point which forces the RBI to think about rate hikes.”

Virtuous Cycle for India’s Capex and Industrial Output
Ahya reiterated that India stands to benefit from the same tailwinds driving Asia’s recovery, particularly as exports pick up and corporate capital expenditure responds.

“If India’s exports pick up, we have always seen that that has an implication for corporate capex in the region as well as in India. So, it will trigger an additional improvement in capex which in turn drives industrial production. So, there is going to be a virtuous cycle that unfolds for India too,” he said.

He added that investments in AI infrastructure, defence and energy transition will further strengthen this cycle for the Indian economy.

India Well-Placed Amid Potential Upside in US Growth
With expectations of stronger US growth, Ahya said Asia — including India — could see additional support, even though India is less export-dependent than some of its regional peers.

“India is definitely less dependent on exports than the rest of the region, but it is a part of the driver for India’s economy too,” he said.

At the same time, he pointed out that India’s current positioning among global investors creates a potentially attractive setup over a 12-month horizon.

“Foreign investors’ positioning in India is at a 25-year low. The long-only investors’ position in India is at a 25-year low. Hedge fund investor positioning in India is at a 15-year low. And amongst the emerging markets, they are maximum underweight on India,” Ahya noted.

Given the weak recent earnings and revenue growth, he believes any turn in fundamentals could offer a differentiated opportunity for India.

“We think actually on a 12-month forward basis, India offers a unique opportunity where investors are sitting very bearish and we see a turn in fundamentals in terms of the corporate revenue growth and normal GDP growth.”

Ring founder Jamie Siminoff said Tuesday that Ring does not store deleted doorbell footage without a subscription, as questions continue over how law enforcement recovered previously inaccessible video evidence in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.

Siminoff addressed the issue during an appearance on “The Bottom Line,” where hosts Dagen McDowell and Brian Brenberg asked about subscription storage, privacy concerns and the reported recovery of doorbell video by federal authorities.

“I do know with Ring specifically, if you delete a recording or if you don’t want a recording, you don’t have a subscription. We do not have it stored. I know that because I built the systems with my team,” Siminoff said.

Siminoff cautioned against speculating about the specifics of the Guthrie investigation and noted that different companies build their systems differently.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE ISSUES DESPERATE PLEA AS SEARCH FOR MISSING MOTHER ENTERS DAY 10

“I wouldn’t want to speculate,” he said. “Maybe they’re also, maybe we’re wrong, and that she did have some sort of subscription. You know, again, we’re getting a lot of, in the sort of in these cases, I’ve found that a lot of the things that we’re hearing are not always correct, and we find out later what’s actually happening.”

He reiterated that Ring does not retain deleted footage without an active subscription.

“If you delete a recording or if you don’t want a recording, you don’t have a subscription. We do not have it stored,” Siminoff said.

MOTIVE BEHIND ALLEGED NANCY GUTHRIE ABDUCTION STILL UNCLEAR, FORMER HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR SAYS

Federal officials said Tuesday that video was recovered from “residual data located in backend systems,” according to a statement posted on X by FBI Director Kash Patel.

Google cooperated with the FBI to retrieve the video, a federal source confirmed to Fox News Digital.

Asked how investigators may have been able to recover doorbell footage in the Guthrie case, Siminoff again cautioned against speculation and stressed that companies build their systems differently.

“I mean, definitely hard to speculate on something like this because, you know, everybody builds their systems differently,” he said.

He again declined to draw conclusions about what occurred in this case.

AMAZON’S RING EXPANDS AI-POWERED NETWORK TO HELP LOCATE LOST DOGS

“Again, I don’t want to speculate exactly like what happened or what subscription they had or whatever,” Siminoff said. “I think there’s a lot of probably information out there that we don’t know.”

Siminoff said the video evidence could be significant for investigators.

“It does seem like this video footage might be the best evidence so far,” he said, “and it shows why it is just so important to have these cameras.”

While avoiding details of the investigation, Siminoff said he was encouraged that authorities were able to recover video evidence.

“But again, I’m happy to see here that, you know, for whatever the reason was that they were able to with this camera, you know, recover this,” he said. “Because I do think this evidence is hopefully going to lead to the a solution here to this, this really just tragic case.”

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
RNG	RINGCENTRAL INC.	28.93	+1.57	+5.74%
GOOGL	ALPHABET INC.	318.58	-5.74	-1.77%

During the interview, Siminoff also responded to backlash surrounding Ring’s Super Bowl “Search Party” advertisement, which focused on a feature designed to help locate lost pets.

“It actually like is a completely built on privacy,” he said. “So what we do is you we like we look for a dog, someone post a dog, we find it, we say, you know, Jamie, this dog that’s lost in your neighborhood looks like this dog in front of your camera. Do you want to contact your neighbor?”

He said users retain full control over whether any contact occurs.

“If you say no, your privacy is protected. You’re totally fine,” Siminoff said. “If you say yes, then like I think most people would want to, you help return the dog.”

He added that the feature has helped reunite pets with their owners.

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“We’re returning over a dog a day,” Siminoff said. “And we’re doing it by keeping privacy and trust because that is very important.”

Keep up with the latest reporting on the Nancy Guthrie case with Fox Nation’s ‘Vanished: What Happened to Nancy Guthrie?’

Fox News Digital’s Emma Bussey contributed to this reporting.

An expert witness in a case brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, testified that the design features of its social media apps are addictive, likening them to a “drug,” especially when affecting youth.

The landmark case, in which Torrez accuses Meta of exposing children to “sexual exploitation and mental health harm” through interactions on the platform, continued in a New Mexico courtroom Tuesday with witness testimony.

Dr. Anna Lembke, psychiatrist and Stanford professor, told the court after reviewing thousands of pages of internal documents and reviewing social media companies’ own research, she determined the design features of social media are addictive.

The mother of four, who is the highest ranking person overseeing addiction initiatives at the university, defined addiction as “the continued, compulsive use of a substance or a behavior despite harm to self or others.”

Lembke argued that Meta deploys “potent” features, such as Instagram’s “infinite scroll” and tailored-for-you algorithms, to stimulate dopamine release that “drugifies human connection.”

FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM ALLOW PREDATORS TO ‘TRADE CHILD PORNOGRAPHY,’ ACCORDING TO LAWSUIT FILED BY NEW MEXICO

With social media addiction, Lembke said downstream harms include depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm, loneliness, suicidal ideation, cyberbullying and sexual exploitation. Children, she added, are especially prone to rage attacks, screaming, threats of self-harm and insomnia.

After reviewing Meta documents, Lembke argued that the tech giant is aware of social media addiction and has used the term “Problematic Internet Use” internally as a synonym, indicating that the company is “working hard not to call it addiction” or acknowledge the gravity of the issue.  

Lembke testified that individuals would rarely be able to self-identify a social media addiction and would require a skilled therapist to diagnose it. 

She explained that a therapist who is not educated in the field of addiction may spend a lot of time talking about other things, or looking for underlying reasons, rather than targeting the addictive behavior. 

META RESEARCHER WARNED OF 500K CHILD EXPLOITATION CASES DAILY ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM PLATFORMS

Having diagnosed people with social media addiction, Lembke said identifiers are typically frequency of use, loss of control, cravings and withdrawal, consequences and risk factors.

While adolescents are particularly vulnerable due to brain development, Lembke said anyone can develop an addiction with enough exposure.

She added social media can function neurologically like other addictive substances, especially in youth.

“A child growing up in a family not feeling supported or verbally abused, it would be natural to turn to a self-soothing mechanism,” Lembke said.

On Monday, a safety researcher for Meta also warned executives that there may be upward of half a million cases of sexual exploitation of minors every day on social media platforms. 

META SUED AFTER TEEN BOYS’ SUICIDES, FAMILIES CLAIM TECH GIANT IGNORED ‘SEXTORTION’ SCHEMES

Citing Meta’s internal documents, Lembke said the company acknowledged that females are more likely to be vulnerable to social media.

She added that through her own clinical work, boys are more prone to gaming, while girls experience “negative social comparisons,” body dysmorphia driven by filters, and a heightened need for validation and approval after viewing idealized bodies and faces girls feel unable to measure up to.

She further criticized Instagram for providing ‘frictionless access,’ noting that children often lie about their age during the platform’s ‘ineffective age verification’ process, and that its parental controls are too complex for even well-educated parents to navigate.

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Among other addictive qualities of Instagram’s app, Lembke described the notification tool as a potent feature that ‘triggers’ or induces cravings to return to the platform. She added that the 24-hour time limit on stories creates a “fear of missing out,” or “FOMO,” which compels users to check the platform more frequently.

Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, is expected to be questioned in court Wednesday.

Fox News’ Eric Revell contributed to this report. 

London-based Mozart AI has raised $6 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round led by Balderton Capital, as the startup looks to reshape how music is created in the age of artificial intelligence.

The fundraise follows a $1.1 million pre-seed round completed last summer, taking Mozart AI’s total funding to more than $7 million. The latest investment coincides with the launch of the company’s long-awaited mobile app and comes amid rapid early traction for its AI-powered “Generative Audio Workstation”.

Mozart AI is positioning itself as a creator-first alternative to legacy digital audio workstations, many of which have dominated music production since the 1990s. Its platform is designed to support everyone from professional producers refining chart-ready releases to bedroom musicians creating and sharing their first tracks online.

The company says more than 100,000 users signed up within two months of its beta launch in September, with over one million songs already created. Artists using the platform include producers and collaborators linked to A$AP Rocky, Avicii and Kodak Black, while some tracks created using the software have already surpassed 10 million streams on Spotify.

Alongside Balderton, the seed round attracted participation from Mercuri, EWOR and a group of high-profile angel investors including Eventbrite co-founder Kevin Hartz, Oscar-winning director Charles Ferguson and Frame.io founder Emery Wells.

The funding will be used to expand Mozart AI’s team, further develop its core technology and build on the viral momentum generated by its beta launch, ahead of a full public release.

Built by musicians, the platform combines traditional digital audio workstation functionality with AI-driven tools that assist rather than replace the creative process. Users can create music from scratch with AI support or generate tracks using prompt-driven “agentic” workflows.

Features include context-aware stem generation, real-time suggestions for MIDI progressions and drums, synth and effects creation, and the ability to remix sounds into new styles. Time-consuming production tasks such as quantisation and time stretching are handled automatically, while built-in video tools allow users to create and share music videos directly to social platforms.

Crucially, Mozart AI says artists retain full copyright over their work. The platform is built on commercially cleared third-party generative models, including those from ElevenLabs, which are trained exclusively on licensed material, enabling users to release and monetise their music without legal uncertainty.

Sundar Arvind, chief executive and co-founder of Mozart AI, said the company’s aim was to remove technical barriers without diluting artistic control. “Far from replacing creativity, AI is levelling up the adrenaline-filled process through which musicians compose and discover the right sounds,” he said. “We’re building toward a world where a spark of creativity can be turned into a release-ready, monetisable song in minutes.”

Industry figures echoed that sentiment. Ash Pournori, songwriter and former manager of Avicii, said the most successful AI music platforms would be those that empower rather than threaten artists. Meanwhile Umair Ali, producer for Kodak Black and Lil Baby, described Mozart AI as “an always-on sketchpad” that accelerates ideation without flattening the creative process.

Daniel Waterhouse, general partner at Balderton Capital, said the investment reflected a belief that AI tools must work with musicians, not against them. “Mozart AI enables artists to spend more time experimenting and iterating on ideas, rather than wrestling with clunky legacy software,” he said.

Founded by a team that blends musical and technical expertise, Mozart AI has moved from concept to premium product in less than a year. With fresh funding secured and a growing user base, the company is now betting that its artist-led vision can help define the next generation of music technology.

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