July was a good lesson for long-term fund investors: Don’t sweat the day-to-day moves.

Tech stocks were hammered one day, then celebrated the next, on the latest hints about the impact of artificial intelligence. International Business Machines stock dropped 25% on July 14, its worst day in the company’s century-old history; Apple shares fell a bracing 7.4% on July 31, the same day that Amazon.com rocketed 15%.

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Mumbai: State Bank of India shares fell 2.2% on Monday, underperforming a largely flat market, even after the country’s largest lender’s June-quarter earnings came in above analyst expectations.

Read more: Indian equities could hit new highs next year: Aditya Birla MF

The stock closed at ₹1,072 even as most brokerages retained their positive stance on the lender following the results. Several firms, including Citi, HSBC, CLSA and JP Morgan, raised their target prices, while maintaining bullish recommendations.

The consensus 12-month target price stands at ₹1,255.14, implying an upside of about 17.1% from Monday’s closing price of ₹1,072.

ET Intelligence Group: A double-digit increase in revenue but lower profitability due to input cost pressure were the key highlights of the June 2026 quarter across sectors. Consumer focussed sectors including automobiles and consumer goods reported strong top line growth led by sustained demand while sectors including cement, pharmaceuticals and downstream oil companies posted lower profitability.

Automobiles

Hits: Maruti Suzuki’s market share increased by 230 basis points year-on-year to 41.2%, aided by a double digit increase in volumes of mall cars and SUVs amid GST rationalisation. Bajaj Auto reported record export volume of 7.3 lakh units, up 54% YoY.

Misses: Higher input costs put pressure on sector’s aggregate margin, which shrank by 210 basis points to 14.4%. Mahindra and Mahindra’s operating margin before depreciation and amortization (Ebitda margin) contracted by 210 basis points to 12.2%.

Outlook: Adverse commodity prices, rising competition and likely slack in rural demand in the case of a deficient monsoon are major risks for the sector in the short term. Companies with new product launches in the pipeline stand to gain volume share.

Revenue change (YoY): 31.6%
Net profit change (YoY): 5.9%Banking

Hits: Asset quality continued to improve. State bank of India reported its lowest gross nonperforming asset (GNPA) ratio of 1.5% in any of the quarters in over two decades and a record quarterly net profit of ₹21,121.2 crore. The retail, agriculture and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) portfolio of banks continued to show double digit YoY growth.

Misses: Profitability remained under pressure for most banks as net interest margins (NIM) either contracted or remained flat sequentially and year-on-year.

Outlook: Credit growth is likely to moderate in the coming quarters on a higher base in the previous year and sustained geopolitical uncertainties. On the liabilities front, attracting deposits may remain competitive for most banks thereby limiting improvement in NIMs.

Revenue change (YoY): 7.0%

Net profit change (YoY):25.1%

Read more: Indian equities could hit new highs next year: Aditya Birla MF

Cement

Hits: Cement prices firmed up 3% sequentially in the June quarter. Ultratech Cement delivered its strongest-ever first quarter in terms of volume, revenue, Ebitda and profit. Cement makers protected profitability through cost optimisation amid rising transportation and packaging costs.

Misses: Barring Ultratech and Shree Cement, which reported double-digit revenue growth, other top companies including Ambuja Cements and ACC posted around 8% drop in their respective top lines amid lower volume.

Outlook: The September quarter will likely show muted volume growth given slower construction activities due to rainy season. Given the continued input cost inflation, companies will be prompted to rely more on cost control to protect margins.

Revenue change (YoY): 7.6%

Net profit change (YoY): -5.3%

CONSUMER
Hits: Volume recovery was a major theme in the June quarter with companies reporting growth across categories. HUL reported 13-quarter strong underlying sales growth driven by 5% volume growth. Nestle reported 24.2% Ebitda margin, the highest June quarter margin in at least four years. Quick commerce remained a major area of
expansion.

Misses: Higher transportation and packaging costs dented profitability on a sequential basis.

Outlook: Input cost inflation in categories including edible oil, dairy products, sugar and cocoa is expected to affect profitability. It may prompt companies to undertake another round of price increases across products to defend margins.
Revenue change (YoY): 9.5%
Net profit change (YoY): 0.8%

IT
Hits: Order bookings remained buoyant during the June quarter despite delays in decision making by clients. Tech Mahindra reported 2.2% sequential growth in dollar denominated revenue, the strongest among top IT companies.

Misses: HCL Technologies and Wipro reported sequential squeeze in dollar revenue amid delays in project ramp ups.

Outlook: Process efficiency through artificial intelligence (AI) related routes is expected to compress the revenue growth rates of IT exporters in the medium term. Adoption of AI tools and methods through collaborations will be crucial for Indian IT companies to stay relevant.
Revenue change (YoY):15.9%
Net change (YoY):11.9%

OIL AND GAS
Hits: Oil producers reported strong numbers helped by higher crude oil prices. ONGC and Oil India reported multi-fold jump in their respective standalone net profits. Oil marketing companies (OMC) reported strong demand. Indian Oil posted record quarterly revenue of Rs 2.8 lakh crore.

Misses: Under-recoveries for OMCs shot up in the June quarter denting profitability. Staterun OMCs reported net losses for the quarter.

Outlook: A higher volatility in crude oil prices reduces revenue and profit visibility for the sector. At the prevalent crude oil prices, upstream companies would be able to sustain their profits and profitability. Lack of meaningful increase in product prices will affect performance of OMCs.
Revenue change (YoY): 32.6%
Net profit change (YoY):
-57.2%

PHARMA
Hits: Domestic and specialty sales remained buoyant. Sun pharma’s domestic sales grew 16% YoY, faster than the overall revenue growth of 10%.

Misses: Ebitda margin of Dr Reddy’s contracted sharply to 10.6% from 25.3% a year ago following price erosion in the US generics market. Cipla’s margin fell by around 900 basis points to 16.7% due to cost inflation, inventory write-offs and investments in product development.

Outlook: Specialty and innovative products are emerging as major growth drivers amid slowing sales of generics in the US market. Segments including peptides and respiratory drugs are likely to generate growth traction.
Revenue change (YoY): 15.8%
Net change (YoY):15.9%

Operator

Good evening, and welcome to NIQ’s Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] With that, I’d like to turn the call over to Will Lyons, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

William Lyons
Senior VP & Head of Investor Relations

Thank you. Hello, everyone, and welcome to NIQ’s Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. Joining me today are CEO, Jim Peck; and CFO, Mike Burwell. Following Jim’s and Mike’s prepared remarks, we’ll open the line for Q&A with Jim, Mike and our Chief AI and Product Officer, Troy Treangen.

As a reminder, today’s remarks will include forward-looking statements regarding our expectations and outlook. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements.

For information about factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, please refer to today’s earnings press release and our SEC filings. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made on this call, except as required by law.

During this call, we will also discuss both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are

HOUSTON — Shares of National Energy Services Reunited Corp. jumped nearly 16% Monday after the oilfield services company reported second-quarter results that came in well ahead of Wall Street expectations, with revenue climbing 59% from a year earlier and net income nearly tripling.

The stock, listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker NESR, closed up 15.76% at $33.60, on trading volume of roughly 596,000 shares, giving the Houston-based company a market capitalization of approximately $3.44 billion. Shares had jumped as much as 18.6% in premarket trading before settling into a still-substantial gain by the close.

National Energy Services Reunited reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.44 for the quarter, beating the average analyst estimate of $0.34 by a wide margin. On a GAAP basis, the company posted earnings of $0.43 per share, roughly 29% above consensus expectations. Quarterly revenue reached $520.8 million, well above analyst forecasts of around $442 million to $444 million, representing growth of 59.1% compared with $327.4 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

Net income for the quarter totaled $44.0 million, an increase of 189.6% from the year-earlier period and up 84.7% from the previous quarter. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $106.2 million, roughly 17% ahead of analyst estimates, with an EBITDA margin of 20.4%. Operating margin improved to 12.5%, up from 8.3% in the same quarter last year, while free cash flow margin eased slightly to 19.2% from 21% a year earlier.

The company attributed the outperformance primarily to higher activity levels across its hydraulic fracturing, well testing and wireline logging businesses, segments that have benefited from increased drilling and completion activity among the company’s customers across the Middle East and North Africa region, where National Energy Services Reunited maintains a significant share of its operations.

Sherif Foda, the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, credited the results to the underlying strength of the business heading into the back half of the year. “Our stellar second quarter performance reflects the strength of NESR’s differentiated platform,” Foda said, pointing to the contributions of the company’s workforce and continued customer confidence in the business. Foda also noted that the company had maintained uninterrupted operations across all of its business units despite ongoing regional conflict, with no disruption to customer activity during the quarter.

Alongside the earnings beat, the company’s balance sheet showed meaningful improvement. Cash and cash equivalents rose to $175.0 million as of June 30, up from $124.8 million at the end of 2025. Net debt fell sharply to $99.6 million from $185.3 million at the end of last year, a reduction the company attributed to stronger cash generation and improved working capital management across its operating segments.

Monday’s results extend a pattern of outperformance for National Energy Services Reunited this year. The company had already topped analyst expectations in the first quarter of 2026, when it reported revenue of $404.6 million, a 33.5% increase from the prior year and well ahead of the $361.1 million consensus estimate at the time, alongside earnings of $0.23 per share against a $0.195 estimate. That first-quarter beat had already pushed analysts to raise their full-year forecasts heading into Monday’s report, with 2026 revenue estimates climbing from roughly $1.78 billion to $1.89 billion over the preceding 90 days and full-year earnings-per-share projections rising from $1.49 to $1.67. Estimates for 2027 also moved higher over the same period, with revenue projections increasing to $2.34 billion from $2.23 billion.

Heading into Monday’s report, Wall Street analysts had maintained a broadly bullish stance on the stock, with an average price target of $33.33, implying roughly 15.5% upside from the stock’s pre-earnings trading level. That target was reached and exceeded within the trading session itself following the earnings beat, as shares climbed toward the day’s high.

Not all valuation models shared that optimism heading into the print, however. Some independent intrinsic-value assessments had flagged the stock as potentially overvalued relative to fundamentals prior to Monday’s results, illustrating a divergence between analyst sentiment and certain model-based valuation approaches that has characterized the stock in recent months.

National Energy Services Reunited provides a broad range of oilfield services, including drilling and workover rig operations, directional drilling, wireline logging, well testing, hydraulic fracturing, and a variety of production-related technologies, primarily serving customers across the Middle East and North Africa. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in Houston, with operations concentrated in one of the world’s most active oil and gas producing regions.

Monday’s earnings beat marks the latest in a string of strong quarterly reports for the company over roughly the past 18 months, a run that has included previous double-digit share price gains following earnings releases in both the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. With the second-quarter results now in hand, investor attention is likely to turn toward the company’s outlook for the remainder of 2026, as well as continued monitoring of regional stability across its core operating markets in the months ahead.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Shares of Archer Aviation Inc. surged more than 14% Monday, extending a run of gains driven by a series of technical and partnership milestones for the electric air taxi developer, as investors positioned ahead of the company’s second-quarter earnings report due after markets close.

The stock closed up 14.22% at $6.39, on volume of nearly 22.7 million shares, well above its three-month average of roughly 42.5 million shares, giving the company a market capitalization of approximately $4.83 billion. Despite Monday’s advance, shares remain down 41.40% over the past 12 months, reflecting a difficult stretch for electric vertical takeoff and landing, or eVTOL, companies more broadly over the past year.

Monday’s rally followed a piloted round-trip test flight of Archer’s Midnight aircraft between Salinas Municipal Airport and Monterey Regional Airport, conducted in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration. Each leg of the roughly 40-mile route took about nine minutes to complete by air, compared with a typical drive time of 35 minutes or more by car. Archer has said it intends to use the route as a template for scaling similar operations, including potential service in the Los Angeles area, and has pointed to the flight as a step toward participation in the federal government’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program. The company has not yet begun commercial passenger service.

The stock also drew support from continued momentum tied to Archer’s expanding partnership with Anduril Industries, the defense technology company known for its autonomous systems work. The two companies have been developing a new autonomous VTOL aircraft platform under the partnership, including a defense-oriented variant referred to as Thunder, which is intended to extend Archer’s technology into longer-range, heavier-payload missions beyond its original focus on urban air taxi service. The Anduril collaboration has been credited in recent market commentary with helping push Archer’s aircraft development into new defense and government-linked applications, an area investors have increasingly focused on for the company given persistent questions about the near-term commercial timeline for urban air taxi operations.

Institutional buying also appeared to contribute to Monday’s move, with Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest reported to have purchased roughly 940,000 shares of Archer stock, adding to a stretch of renewed momentum trading and institutional interest in the name over recent sessions.

Archer has also continued to expand its technology offerings beyond aircraft manufacturing in recent weeks. The company disclosed that its aviation artificial intelligence platform, known as ZEE, achieved a technical milestone in predicting real-time aircraft movements on airport surfaces, giving pilots and air traffic controllers additional advance warning of potential safety risks. According to the company, the ZEE system is capable of modeling multiple possible aircraft routes rather than producing a single fixed forecast, and uses satellite imagery to identify runways, taxiways and parking areas. Archer has begun testing the technology at Hawthorne Airport in California, which the company took over operational control of late last year, and has said it has demonstrated the system to both commercial partners and regulators as it pursues potential pilot programs with government agencies.

Monday’s share price gains came just ahead of Archer’s second-quarter 2026 earnings report, scheduled for release after market close, with a conference call for investors set for later in the day. Analyst estimates compiled ahead of the report called for a quarterly loss of approximately 25 cents per share, alongside revenue of roughly $1.95 million to $2 million, figures that reflect the company’s continued position as a pre-revenue, development-stage business rather than one generating meaningful commercial sales. Archer has beaten consensus earnings estimates in three of its trailing four quarterly reports, with an average earnings surprise of nearly 8% over that stretch, though some models had flagged a less certain setup heading into Monday’s release given a negative estimate revision trend in the days leading up to the report.

As of its most recent quarterly disclosure, Archer reported approximately $951.1 million in cash on hand, with total cash and short-term investments of roughly $1.78 billion, a liquidity position the company has said provides runway to continue funding its aircraft certification and manufacturing buildout as it works toward commercial launch. The company has previously guided to an annual adjusted EBITDA loss in the range of $170 million to $200 million as it continues to invest heavily in research, development and manufacturing scale-up ahead of anticipated commercial operations.

Archer is one of a small number of companies racing to bring electric air taxi service to market in the United States, alongside competitors such as Joby Aviation, which has also seen its shares decline sharply over the past year amid similar questions about certification timelines and the path to commercial revenue. Shares of both companies have faced pressure for much of 2026 even as each has continued to report technical progress, reflecting broader investor caution about how quickly the eVTOL industry can translate flight-test milestones and partnership announcements into meaningful, sustained revenue.

With Monday’s earnings report expected to provide updated detail on Archer’s cash position, regulatory progress, and the commercial trajectory of both its air taxi and defense-related programs, investors are likely to look closely at whether the recent run of technical and partnership announcements is beginning to translate into a clearer near-term path toward revenue generation, or whether the stock’s rally remains driven primarily by headline-level milestones rather than underlying commercial progress.

By Jennifer Nash

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