Christian Pikul
Vice President of Investor Relations & FP&A

Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for listening in today. With me are Mindy West, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Donnie Smith, Chief Financial Officer. After some opening comments from Mindy, Donnie will review some performance highlights from the first quarter, followed by some closing comments from Mindy.

As a reminder, we will be publishing a transcript and recorded playback of these remarks this afternoon, and then we will host a live Q&A session tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. Central Time. Details can be found on our Investor Relations website and in today’s earnings release.

Please keep in mind that some of the comments made during these remarks, including the Q&A portion tomorrow, will be considered forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. As such, no assurances can be given that these events will occur or that the projections will be attained. A variety of factors exist that may cause actual results to differ. For further discussion of risk factors, please see the latest Murphy USA Forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K and other recent SEC filings. Murphy USA takes no duty to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

During today’s discussion, we may also provide certain performance measures that do not conform to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or GAAP. We have provided schedules to reconcile these non-GAAP measures with the reported results on a GAAP basis as part of our earnings press release, which can be found on the Investors section of our website.

The shares of CRDMO player Syngene rallied nearly 17% on Thursday, even after the company reported a 19% year-on-year drop but a strong sequential surge in net profit to Rs 148 crore for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2026, along with key management changes.

While the company’s net profit dropped over 19% from the Rs 183 crore reported in the fourth quarter of the previous financial year, it saw a multi-fold increase from the Rs 15 crore net profit reported in the third quarter of FY26. The net profit for the reported quarter included a gratuity re-measurement credit of Rs 20 crore arising from revised labour codes, and Rs 25 crore exceptional loss related to termination benefits extended to employees in accordance with the approved policy.

Revenue from operations, meanwhile, grew nearly 2% to Rs 1,036.5 crore in Q4 FY26, from Rs 1,018 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. Sequentially, revenue grew more than 13% QoQ from Rs 917.1 crore reported in Q3 FY26.

Syngene said that its profit after tax before exceptional items fell 16% YoY to Rs153 crore in the January-March quarter of the financial year which ended on March 31, 2026.

Key leadership changes

Indian industrialist Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw who transitioned from the role of Non Executive Chairman to Executive Chairman from April 1 onwards, said she is pleased to have taken the role at a pivotal moment in the company’s growth journey. “I look forward to working with the new leadership team to shape our next phase of expansion, as we continue to benefit from the rising global demand for outsourcing across the life sciences sector. While biotech funding remains discerning and largely concentrated on late-stage assets, Syngene’s diversified end-to-end business model—from discovery and development to manufacturing gives us both resilience and strategic agility in navigating these market realities. We are also focused on building new business lines, strengthening our differentiated service offerings, and investing in AI and digital capabilities that will enhance speed, productivity, and value creation for our clients,” she said.

Syngene International’s Managing Director and CEO Peter Bains meanwhile said that Syngene’s full-year revenue from operations grew 3%, and with an EBITDA margin of 25%, performance was in line with its revised full-year guidance. “The overall numbers reflect the specific impact from a single large-molecule biologics client, with the underlying business showing steady momentum. During the year, we continued to invest in new capabilities and emerging modalities such as peptides and ADCs, further strengthening our integrated offering and positioning us for long-term growth,” he said.
Notably, Syngene announced that Siddharth Mittal has been appointed Managing Director and CEO of the company, effective from July 1, 2026, for a five-year term. He will succeed Peter Bains. Mittal earlier served as the Managing Director and CEO of Biocon.
“Q4 reported growth at 2% and 13% sequentially reflects the ongoing product impact in our largest biologics customer, resulting in full year growth of 3%. Operating EBITDA margin at 25% for the year reflects this impact and additional operating costs as we bring the new biologics manufacturing facility in India into operations. We generated Rs. 521 Cr of cash during the year, post capex investment, strengthening our balance sheet,” said the company CFO Deepak Jain.
Notably, Maninder Kapoor Puri will take over as the company’s Chief Human Resources Officer from May 1 onwards. She previously led the human resources function at Biocon.

Macquarie on Syngene

Macquarie maintained its ‘Outperform’ rating on Syngene shares, with a target price of Rs 835 apiece, CNBC-TV18 reported. This implies an upside potential of more than 93% from the stock’s previous closing price of Rs 432.15 apiece.

The international brokerage was quoted as saying by the business news channel that EBITDA was 11% ahead of its estimates, while the adjusted net profit of Rs 150 crore was 8% below expectations.

Syngene share price

Syngene shares rallied nearly 17% to trade at Rs 505.60 apiece in the afternoon. The stock has gained over 17% in one week and nearly 29% in one month. The shares of the company are however down nearly 23% in 2026 so far.

In the longer term, the shares of the company dropped 21% in one year, 26% in three years and over 9% in five years. The company currently has a market capitalisation of nearly Rs 20,280 crore.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

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The Indian equity market may be showing signs of calm after recent volatility, but beneath the surface, macroeconomic pressures are quietly building. With Brent crude breaching $120 per barrel and the rupee slipping toward 95 against the dollar, concerns are mounting over whether markets are adequately factoring in the impact on corporate earnings and macro stability.

Speaking to ET Now, Kunal Vora from BNP Paribas noted that the current market behaviour suggests a degree of complacency.

“I agree. I mean, like say that statement makes sense partially. The kind of recovery which we have seen in the last one month after the initial hit which the market took during the conflict does indicate that market is like really overlooking these worries. And I do feel that what we will start seeing is some earnings cuts will start coming in with the kind of levels which we see for crude as well as currency…” he said.

Vora added that early signs of economic softness are already emerging, even if they are not yet fully reflected in reported earnings.

Earnings Risk Building Beneath the Surface

According to him, the current earnings cycle is still benefiting from last year’s strong base, masking underlying weakness.
“Right now what we are seeing in terms of earnings is more a reflection of the good work which we saw in the last year,” he said, adding that the coming quarters could tell a very different story.
On the risk to earnings, Vora highlighted that the impact depends heavily on how long crude remains elevated and how global conditions evolve.
He pointed to historical cycles where crude above $100 had a meaningful impact on Indian corporate earnings, especially during prolonged periods.

“In the period of 11, 12, 13 what we saw was a sharp decline in earnings. Nifty earnings were lowered by about 8% through the course of CY12,” he explained, contrasting it with shorter spikes like 2022, where the damage was limited.

Nifty Earnings Estimates May See Downward Revision
With consensus Nifty earnings currently pegged around 17%, Vora believes expectations are running ahead of reality.

“That number looks pretty elevated… those numbers will have to start coming off, which will start reflecting more in the coming quarter, like say in 1Q FY27,” he said.

He estimates that if crude sustains around $100 or higher, earnings growth expectations could moderate sharply.

“This 17% number could certainly come down to 10-12%,” Vora noted.

Already, earnings estimates across sectors are being revised. Autos, cement, consumer staples, and durables have seen cuts, while financials have also been adjusted lower due to weaker credit growth expectations.

Second-Order Effects and Fiscal Pressure
Beyond direct input cost inflation, Vora warned of second-order effects such as fuel price transmission, demand slowdown, and fiscal constraints.

A prolonged crude spike, he said, could also restrict government spending.

“From a government perspective, the headroom to spend will be low… that is something which could hurt sectors like infrastructure,” he added.

Where Markets May Find Shelter
Despite the challenges, Vora believes certain sectors are better positioned to withstand the current macro pressure.

He pointed to defensives and export-oriented sectors as relative safe havens. “Sectors like consumer staples, telecoms… IT services and pharma end up doing well in these times and utilities,” he said.

However, he warned that commodity-consuming sectors will remain under pressure. “Consumer durables, cement, automobiles… these are all sectors which do start taking a margin hit,” Vora added.

Consumption: Resilient but Under Pressure
On the consumption story, Vora acknowledged near-term risks from rising input costs and rural demand uncertainty, but maintained that structural resilience remains intact.

Even within FMCG, he believes divergence will be key. “Is there a risk to earnings? Certainly,” he said, pointing to rising costs of packaging materials and edible oils.

However, he added that companies with stronger pricing power and GST-related benefits may hold up better than peers.

Outlook: Caution Building Into FY27
While demand has not collapsed, Vora suggests the optimism seen earlier this year is fading. Commodity pressures, currency weakness, and crude inflation are now re-entering the equation.

The result, he implied, is likely to be a more tempered earnings outlook going forward, with FY27 expectations already beginning to be revised lower across sectors.

For now, markets may continue to look steady on the surface—but macro signals suggest the next earnings cycle could look very different from the last.