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Jio Financial Services shares rose to Rs 262.65 apiece on Monday, extending a more than 10% jump in a week. The company paid a dividend of Rs 0.5 per share to its shareholders last year. After announcing the latest dividend in April this year, the stock currently has a dividend yield of 0.19%, according to data on Trendlyne.

Fixing the record date as August 10 means that only shareholders who own the company’s shares in their demat accounts as of August 10 (next Monday) will be eligible to receive the dividend, subject to shareholder approval at the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Earlier this month, Jio Financial Services reported 155% year-on-year (YoY) jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 830 crore in the first quarter of FY27, while revenue from operations increased 227% YoY to Rs 2,004 crore during the quarter under review.

Consolidated total income rose 141% YoY to Rs 1,496 crore from Rs 619 crore. It was up 47% from Rs 1,020 crore in the March quarter. Interest income grew 165% YoY to Rs 962 crore, while fees and commission income surged to Rs 325 crore from Rs 54 crore.

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Also read | Jio Financial Services sets record date for dividend. Check details

Jio Financial Services share price

Jio Financial Services shares had jumped nearly 4% to close at Rs 256 apiece on Friday. The stock gained more than 10.5% in a week and over 9% in a month. However, it is down nearly 12% in 2026 so far.
In the longer term, the shares of the company have fallen around 21% in a year. The company currently has a market capitalisation of more than Rs 1.73 lakh crore.Motilal Oswal has a Buy rating on Jio Financial Services with a target price of Rs 315 apiece. The brokerage said the company delivered a healthy quarter, driven by strong growth in Jio Credit, whose assets under management (AUM) crossed Rs 300 billion.

It also highlighted steady progress across the payments, insurance, and asset management businesses, although operating expenses remained elevated due to continued investments in incubating new businesses and expanding existing operations. Motilal Oswal cut its FY27 and FY28 EPS estimates by 4% and 6%, respectively, to account for higher operating costs, but expects consolidated PAT to grow at a 46% CAGR between FY26 and FY28.

Also read | For investors with some patience: 6 mid-cap stocks from different sectors with upside potential of up to 20%

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

This article was written by

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Warren Buffett’s decades-old advice to put money into low-cost S&P 500 index funds remains one of the most widely followed pieces of investment guidance in the world. But as the index has grown increasingly dominated by a small handful of technology giants, analysts say the strategy today carries different risks than when Buffett first popularized it. Here are 10 things to know about the guidance and how it applies to today’s market.

1. The advice traces back to Buffett’s 2013 shareholder letter. In that letter, Buffett instructed the trustee overseeing a bequest to his wife to allocate 90% of the funds to a low-cost S&P 500 index fund, with the remaining 10% directed toward short-term U.S. government bonds. He recommended Vanguard specifically, though he did not name a particular fund or ticker.

2. VOO is widely seen as the closest match to Buffett’s description. Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF, trading under the ticker VOO, carries an annual expense ratio of just 0.03%, among the lowest available for a fund tracking the index, and aligns closely with the kind of low-fee vehicle Buffett described in his original guidance.

3. Technology now dominates the index far more than it once did. According to recent index weighting data, technology stocks make up roughly 37% of the S&P 500. Just three companies, Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft, together account for roughly 20% of the entire index’s value, meaning a large share of any S&P 500 index fund’s performance now hinges on the fortunes of a small handful of mega-cap technology firms.

4. That concentration has grown dramatically since Buffett first gave the advice. Ten years ago, the S&P 500’s 10 largest stocks represented just 15.3% of the index’s total market capitalization. Five years after Buffett’s 2013 letter, that figure had risen to 27.2%. Today, according to MacroMicro data, the top 10 stocks account for roughly 37.5% of the index, down slightly from an all-time high near 43% reached earlier this year, but still among the highest concentration levels in the index’s history.

5. Artificial intelligence spending is now a major driver of index-wide earnings. Goldman Sachs has forecast that companies tied to artificial intelligence could contribute roughly half of the S&P 500’s overall earnings growth in 2026. That dependence means a slowdown in AI-related capital spending or disappointing earnings from a handful of mega-cap technology companies could weigh disproportionately on the entire index, a risk that did not exist to the same degree when Buffett first offered his recommendation.

6. Long-term return expectations for U.S. stocks have moderated. Vanguard’s broad U.S. equity return model now projects 10-year annualized returns of between 4.2% and 6.2%, down from an earlier forecast range of 4.9% to 6.9%, reflecting the impact of higher current valuations on expected future returns. By comparison, the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF, trading under the ticker IVV, posted an annualized gain of 15.47% over the 10 years ending in June, a pace analysts generally view as unlikely to be sustained indefinitely.

7. Current valuations remain a point of debate among analysts. According to FactSet data, the S&P 500 currently trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.6, a level some analysts view as elevated relative to historical averages, though others argue current earnings growth, particularly among AI-linked companies, helps justify the higher multiple.

8. Money continues flowing into S&P 500 index funds at record levels. Vanguard’s VOO recently became the first exchange-traded fund in history to surpass $1 trillion in assets under management. According to data cited by Reuters, the fund has attracted roughly $69 billion in net inflows so far in 2026, following $118 billion in 2024 and $138 billion in 2025, with no other ETF attracting more investor money this year.

9. Experts generally still endorse the strategy despite the added concentration risk. Analysts writing for outlets including the Motley Fool and 24/7 Wall St. have said Buffett’s underlying advice remains sound in principle, since S&P 500 index funds continue to offer low costs and broad exposure to the U.S. economy. But those same analysts caution that investors should understand the fund no longer provides the same level of diversification it once did, given how heavily its performance now depends on a small group of dominant technology companies.

10. Buffett himself has continued monitoring risk within specific holdings tied to his broader philosophy. In more recent commentary, Buffett has reportedly cautioned about the risks tied to specific high-profile stocks, including SpaceX, following sharp declines in that company’s share price after its public listing, reflecting his continued attention to volatility and valuation risk even within widely held names.

Analysts broadly agree that Buffett’s core message, favoring low fees, broad diversification and long-term patience over active trading, remains valid advice for the average investor. But they emphasize that today’s S&P 500 looks meaningfully different from the one Buffett first pointed to in 2013, and that investors relying on the index for diversification should understand just how concentrated their exposure to a handful of technology giants has become, particularly if they are also invested in other tech-heavy benchmarks such as the Nasdaq Composite.

Yes. Corporate subscriptions are available for teams and organisations, with discounted rates as user numbers increase. Pricing starts from $1,625 + GST per user.
Get in touch
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Business News subscriptions are used by executives, investors, consultants and professionals who need to stay informed and make better decisions about the WA market. When you subscribe you’ll get

• Unlimited access to WA’s most trusted business journalism
• Data & Insights — detailed profiles of WA companies, people, projects and deals
• MyBN — a personalised feed based on the companies, people and sectors you follow
• Special publications and industry reports
• Daily and weekly email newsletters

Data & Insights is a research tool built specifically for the WA market. It draws on more than 30 years of Business News reporting, updated regularly to reflect what’s happening now. Use it to:

• Look up detailed profiles of WA companies, including financials, directors and ownership
• Find decision-makers and track their career movements
• Research live and completed projects across WA industries
• Monitor deals, appointments and market activity
• Access industry rankings and league tables

Data & Insights is updated daily by our dedicated research team, which uses the latest announcements, ASX filings and editorial coverage to keep our person, company, list and project records up to date.

Business News welcome all opportunities to make our dataset accurate, complete and current, so if you have an update request, please email the team at
general@businessnews.com.au, and we’d be happy to assist.

MyBN
is part of every subscription. It’s your personalised view of Business News. You can follow the companies, people, sectors and projects that matter to you, and get a news feed and alerts tailored to your interests. You can save articles to read later and retain only what you need.

Only subscribers have full access to all content on the Business News website.

If staying informed about the WA economy is part of your job, and/or you’re looking for networking opportunities in WA, Business News is built for you.

Business News subscribers are:

• Executives and directors tracking competitors, clients and market movements
• Investors and advisers researching companies, deals and industry trends
• Consultants and professionals staying across sectors relevant to their clients
• Business owners looking for leads, context and market intelligence

Most Business News publications cover national or global markets. Business News is focused entirely on Western Australia, which means the journalism, the data and the intelligence are all built around WA companies, people and projects — not adapted from a national feed. Data & Insights, included with every subscription, combines more than 30 years of WA-specific editorial research with live business data. There’s no comparable product for the WA market.

The Morning Digest Email provides a comprehensive wrap of the major headlines, relevant to WA business, and includes with a snapshot of the overnight news covering oil, gold and ASX-listed companies.

The Afternoon Wrap Email focuses on the news covered by our team of journalists during the course of the working day, including exclusive stories and analysis, all of which relates to WA business and the local economy.

The BN Weekender Email contains a wrap of the Business News from the week that was, highlighting the top stories in each area of WA business.
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LeBron James signed with the Philadelphia 76ers this summer for just $8 million over two seasons, a deep discount from the maximum contract he could have commanded elsewhere. But according to new economic projections, the true value of his arrival to the city of Philadelphia could dwarf his actual salary many times over.

Consulting firm The Boyd Company estimated that James’s first full season with the 76ers could generate between $250 million and $430 million in total regional economic activity, a figure the firm shared in a post on X. “A move to Philly is more than a blockbuster sports story — it reinforces one of America’s premier sports and business markets, generates enormous media attention, fan engagement, tourism and economic impact,” the firm wrote. “The Boyd Co. knows that the biggest location decisions — whether made by Fortune 500 companies or superstar athletes — can reshape regional economies and propel a city’s national profile.”

The Boyd Company’s projection does not represent direct revenue for the 76ers organization itself. Instead, it reflects the broader ripple effect James’s presence is expected to have across the wider Philadelphia regional economy, spanning everything from ticket sales and hotel stays to restaurant spending and retail purchases tied to increased tourism and fan travel throughout the season.

James signed a two-year veteran’s minimum contract worth a total of $8 million, walking away from what would likely have been a maximum contract paying him in excess of $50 million annually had he signed elsewhere. His salary for the 2026-27 season specifically will total $3.9 million, according to reporting on the deal. That stark gap between James’s modest actual salary and his projected economic value has led some analysts to describe the signing as potentially the biggest bargain in professional sports history, even before accounting for the on-court talent he brings to a Philadelphia roster that already included Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe and newly acquired forward Jaylen Brown.

Not every economist is comfortable putting a precise number on James’s expected impact this early. Ethan Conner-Ross, an economist with the Philadelphia-based consulting firm Econsult Solutions Inc., cautioned against overstating the certainty of any single projection. “It’s hard to precisely quantify, sitting here today, what that exact number is going to be,” Conner-Ross told The Philadelphia Inquirer. Conner-Ross pointed to several distinct components that would ultimately factor into James’s overall economic footprint in the region, including his own personal spending as a high-earning professional relocating to the area, any local and state taxes he would pay on his income, and the money he would spend on housing, whether renting or purchasing property in the Philadelphia region. That housing question remains unresolved, with some reports suggesting James might instead choose to commute to games from New York City rather than establish a primary residence in the Philadelphia area.

The largest single driver of the projected economic impact is expected to come from home game attendance. Thousands of fans are anticipated to travel to Philadelphia from across the United States, and potentially internationally, specifically to watch James play, a dynamic that would be further amplified if this proves to be the final season of his playing career. Beyond ticket purchases themselves, those visiting fans would generate additional spending on hotels, restaurants, transportation and other tourism-related activity throughout the city during game weekends.

Early evidence of James’s drawing power has already shown up in ticket pricing data. According to TickPick, the average purchase price for a 76ers game last season was $68. Following James’s signing, the cheapest available ticket for the team’s first preseason home game had already climbed to $283, according to the same source, illustrating the immediate shift in market demand tied directly to his arrival on the roster.

James’s move to Philadelphia is also expected to make him the league’s top-selling jersey this season, with fans expected to purchase his new No. 23 76ers jersey in significant numbers. While Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo’s new No. 7 jersey with the Miami Heat is also expected to sell well following his own offseason move, analysts do not expect it to match the demand generated by a new LeBron James jersey.

James’s arrival has also elevated Philadelphia’s championship odds for the coming season. With James joining an already talented core, the 76ers now hold the fourth-best odds to win the 2027 NBA championship, according to reporting on the team’s outlook, though economic projections tied to James’s presence remain far more certain than any on-court outcome, since a deep playoff run or championship, while not guaranteed, would likely add substantially to the economic activity already projected for his first season with the team.

James’s move to Philadelphia echoes a similar high-profile relocation from earlier in his career, when he left the Miami Heat in 2014 to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, a decision that similarly generated significant economic attention and analysis regarding its impact on Cleveland’s local economy at the time. With James now beginning a new chapter of his career in Philadelphia, economists and city officials are likely to continue closely tracking ticket sales, tourism figures and broader regional spending data throughout the season to determine how closely the actual economic impact of his arrival ultimately aligns with the Boyd Company’s initial $250 million to $430 million projection.

Consumers’ behaviors change due to new technologies, trends, economic environment, and customer needs. Organizations unable to track these changes often experience difficulties with competitiveness, while firms capable of doing this can respond quickly and thus improve customer experience and increase revenues.

Today’s consumers expect a personalized approach, faster services, an efficient digital experience, and customized products.

Monitoring changes in consumer behaviors can help organizations to learn how customers find products, compare different offers, buy items, interact with companies, and behave after sales. In turn, this information is useful to enhance marketing initiatives, design innovative solutions, offer high-quality support, and retain customers.

What is the concept of consumer behavior?

Consumers’ behaviors are the actions, decisions, and emotional reactions of customers during each step of their purchasing journey. They include:

• How do consumers search for the required goods and services?
• What factors influence people’s choices in favor of one brand rather than another?
• Which channels are the main ones for customers?
• How do consumers react to marketing and advertising efforts?
• Why do clients stop making purchases?
• How do customers use the purchased goods or services?
• What causes them to make new orders?

Consumer behaviors involve offline and online activities. Companies examine customers’ visits to websites, social media profiles, search histories, app usage, reviews left by consumers, purchase histories, and customer service interactions to learn more about clients and their needs. Businesses often combine these insights with data collected through social listening tools to better understand customer sentiment and online engagement patterns.

Through behavioral monitoring, firms can detect changes, predict new trends, and adapt to evolving consumer needs.

Why is monitoring consumer behavior important?

Knowing customers’ behaviors allows businesses to compete successfully by providing a better customer experience, improving products, and developing effective marketing campaigns.

Improving Personalization

Nowadays, consumers require more personalized approaches. Firms use behavioral data to personalize product recommendations, marketing campaigns, emails, and other elements of their websites.

For example, streaming service providers examine video-watching behaviors of customers to come up with content recommendations. E-commerce companies use data collected about the browsing and purchasing activity of customers to recommend additional items.

Personalized customer experience increases satisfaction and boosts revenues since customers tend to purchase products that correspond to their interests and needs.

Improving Marketing Performance

Through monitoring consumers’ behaviors, organizations get to know which marketing campaigns are more successful and efficient. Businesses may understand what audiences should be addressed by particular campaigns, on what channels ads work better, what types of marketing messages catch consumers’ attention, and which factors motivate people to buy a product.

Thus, marketing specialists are able to run targeted campaigns and save resources. For instance, a company selling vacations can find out that middle-aged women living on the West Coast react well to ads offering travel packages to Hawaii. In such a case, this firm would be able to develop targeted marketing campaigns aimed at this target audience.

Effective personalization usually brings significant profit. As recent studies demonstrate, organizations using personalized marketing strategies tend to receive a much higher return on investment than companies utilizing generic campaigns.

Tip: Small businesses may rely on basic analytics or manual research to understand customer preferences and online engagement. However, as customer conversations grow across multiple channels and regions, larger organizations often turn to enterprise platforms such as Sprinklr Social Listening tool to analyze customer sentiment, monitor brand perception, identify emerging trends, and gain deeper insights into consumer behavior at scale

Key ways businesses use to monitor consumer behaviors

Firms apply different methods to track customer behaviors in the process of researching and analyzing them.

Quantitative Research

The primary purpose of quantitative research is to measure numerical indicators. Businesses examine various metrics, including:

• Number of sales
• Conversion rate
• Retention rate
• Click-through rate
• Purchase frequency
• Average purchase size

Using this method of research allows firms to spot global trends in the behavior of large audiences.

For example, a retail company may notice that mobile sales have risen by 40% over the last year. It shows consumers’ preferences for mobile purchasing processes.

Qualitative Research

The goal of qualitative research is to uncover emotions, motivations, and perceptions of consumers. Researchers conduct interviews, focus groups, open questionnaires, and user testing to understand how people act.

For example, customers could tell why difficult navigation or slow-loading pages prevent them from finishing the purchasing process. Such insights can contribute greatly to improving customer experience.

Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics is a set of technologies used for predicting future behaviors of customers. Organizations use this tool to predict:

• Possibilities to convert leads into clients
• Chances of customers’ churn
• Product demand
• Customer lifetime value
• Clients’ response to special offers

Predictive AI systems enable businesses to take care of customer needs beforehand.

For example, a company may discover that some customers show symptoms of dissatisfaction or loss of interest. In such a situation, businesses can run a campaign aimed at retaining clients.

Customer Journey Mapping

Customer journey mapping is a technique allowing businesses to trace every interaction of customers with a firm. Such interactions may relate to:

• Ads seen by customers
• Social media interactions
• Website visits
• Contacts with customer support
• Payment process
• Interactions that occur after the purchasing process

Customer journey mapping helps firms to detect points that cause trouble for users and prevent them from completing the desired actions.

For example, a company may find out that a lot of users leave websites without buying goods because of complicated registration. To avoid losing potential customers, firms need to optimize these processes.

New AI systems for customer journey mapping analyze data coming from surveys, phone calls, client reviews, and other interactions to detect key touchpoints. Many organizations also integrate social listening tools into journey mapping strategies to identify customer concerns and trending discussions across online communities.

Cohort Analysis

In cohort analysis, clients are divided into groups based on their common traits or events and monitored for changes in behavior. Cohorts may consist of people who:

• Bought something in a certain month
• Are customers from a particular marketing campaign
• Live in certain regions
• Belong to a specific age group
• Have started subscriptions at a certain point in time

Analyzing cohorts makes it possible to see general behavioral tendencies and draw conclusions from them.

For example, an organization could find out that clients recruited via influencer marketing remain loyal for a much longer period than those obtained via paid search ads.

Cohort analysis gives businesses an understanding of how marketing campaigns affect retention rates and customer lifetime value.

Conclusion

Monitoring changes in consumer behavior has become critical for modern organizations. By discovering customers’ behaviors, businesses may be able to develop efficient marketing campaigns, invent innovative products, offer good support, and establish connections with clients.

Organizations obtain valuable data on customer behaviors from their websites, mobile apps, CRM systems, social media, interactions with customer support services, surveys, and AI-powered analytical platforms. Combining the methods of qualitative and quantitative research allows organizations to learn more about customers and their needs. The use of social listening tools further helps companies track customer opinions, industry trends, and brand reputation in real time.

Technologies, such as predictive analytics, customer journey mapping, cohort analysis, and A/B testing, help companies identify important tendencies and predict future trends.