The quick-service restaurant (QSR) sector in India has hit a sweet spot after facing significant market turbulence over the past few years, offering an attractive risk-reward profile for equity investors, according to domestic brokerage Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Underperformance creates attractive entry points

Listed QSR stocks have gone through a bruising phase over the last four years, with their combined market value falling by roughly 20% between FY22 and FY26. Over the past twelve months alone, the sector saw a sharp 25% drop as elevated inflation, subdued same-store sales growth (SSSG), and cautious consumer spending took a toll on operating performance and stock valuations.
However, Motilal Oswal believes these structural drag factors are now reaching a bottom. With valuation multiples cooling off from their historical highs and quarterly business updates showing initial signs of operational recovery, the brokerage sees a favourable margin of safety for investors looking to buy into quality consumer names.

Long-term consumption tailwinds intact

India’s organised food ecosystem remains heavily underpenetrated compared with global markets like China or Western economies, leaving substantial room for long-term growth. The domestic QSR market is projected to reach Rs 80,000 crore by 2027, up from Rs 18,800 crore in 2020, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 23%.
The brokerage expects demand to pick up steadily through FY27, backed by stabilising urban consumption, softening input costs, and seasonal demand upticks. At the same time, shifting consumer habits toward digital ordering, delivery apps, and quick-bite options continue to help organised brands take market share from local, unorganised eateries.

Stock picks and investment rationale

Despite near-term margin pressures, major QSR players have pushed ahead with network expansion, opening new outlets across tier-two and tier-three cities to build scale. Operators are also tweaking store sizes, introducing value-oriented menus, and driving operational efficiency to protect store-level profitability.
Motilal Oswal remains selective, favouring companies with robust delivery footprints, lean balance sheets, and proven execution capabilities.

Key stock calls within the space

Jubilant FoodWorks: Motilal Oswal remains bullish on the Domino’s Pizza operator, rating it as a top pick in the QSR basket due to its dominant delivery infrastructure, deep supply chain, and steady store expansion pipeline.

Sapphire Foods India: The brokerage maintains a ‘Buy’ recommendation on Sapphire Foods with a target price of Rs 220. The call is supported by strong momentum in its KFC portfolio, improving store economics, and expectations of scale benefits from its proposed merger with Devyani International.

Westlife Foodworld & Devyani International: The brokerage also highlights Westlife Foodworld (McDonald’s operator in West and South India) and Devyani International for their focus on unit economics, cost optimisation, and footprint expansion in high-growth regional markets.

Motilal Oswal suggests that long-term investors should use current valuation levels to gradually accumulate quality QSR stocks as industry volume growth recovers.

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

PB Fintech reported a 92% year-on-year (YoY) rise in profit after tax for the June quarter, helped by strong growth in insurance premium, higher operating revenue and better margins. The Policybazaar parent posted consolidated profit after tax of Rs 163 crore in Q1FY27, compared with a PAT margin of 6% in the same quarter last year. PAT margin improved to 9% in the June quarter.

Operating revenue rose 40% YoY to Rs 1,888 crore. The company said total insurance premium grew 41% YoY to Rs 8,372 crore. Growth was led by the protection business, which includes health and term insurance. New protection premium rose 53% YoY, while new health insurance premium grew 59%.

PB Fintech said its core online insurance premium grew 41% YoY in Q1FY27. Core new insurance premium, excluding the savings business, rose 48%. Including savings, core new insurance premium grew 39%.

The company said growth, excluding the savings category, has stayed above 34% YoY for 13 straight quarters. Core insurance revenue rose 46% YoY during the quarter. The company also said its insurance customer satisfaction score remained above 90%, supported by improvements in customer onboarding and claims support.

PB Fintech said its core renewal and trail revenue on a 12-month rolling basis stood at Rs 1,003 crore, up from Rs 725 crore in the same quarter last year. This was a 38% rise, led by 55% growth in the insurance segment.

Quarterly core insurance renewal revenue was at an annual recurring revenue run-rate of Rs 999 crore, up from Rs 673 crore in Q1 last year. The company said renewal revenue is a key driver of long-term profit growth.
PB Fintech’s total lending disbursal for the quarter stood at Rs 4,366 crore. Core lending disbursal rose 33% year-on-year to Rs 2,776 crore. Core credit revenue increased 25% year-on-year to Rs 127 crore.The company said core credit disbursal and revenue have grown for four straight quarters. New initiatives business continued to grow, with Q1FY27 revenue rising 35% YoY. Adjusted EBITDA margin in new initiatives improved to negative 5% from negative 6% a year earlier. Contribution margin stood at 7%.

PB Partners, the company’s agent aggregator platform, remained a key part of the new initiatives business. It had more than 5 lakh advisors, while active partner count rose 55% year-on-year to 1.13 lakh in Q1FY27.

Domestic brokerage firm Axis Direct expects Nifty to reach 28,615 by December this year in a bull case scenario, based on a 20.5x valuation. A revival in domestic private capex, backed by policy continuity, improving business confidence, political stability, fiscal discipline and a rural recovery, is expected to drive growth. Markets are also closely watching the global outlook under U.S. President Donald Trump, with tariff-related uncertainties expected to ease in 2026.

With Nifty earnings expected to sustain a 13%+ CAGR over FY23–28, this backdrop could attract fresh capital inflows into Indian markets and support a re-rating of valuations, strengthening the equity outlook.

In a base case scenario, Axis maintains the Nifty target at 27,220 for December, while remaining constructive on Indian equities, supported by strong macroeconomic fundamentals, sustained government capital expenditure, GST 2.0 reforms and an improving corporate earnings cycle. The brokerage has based the target on 19.5x December 2027E earnings.

The brokerage expects Nifty earnings to grow at 13% CAGR over FY23–FY28, led by financials, underpinning healthy medium-term market returns, and notes that geopolitical tensions, crude oil volatility and currency movements may create near-term volatility.

Axis Direct recommends investors maintain good liquidity (10-15%) to use any dips in a phased manner, amid market volatility, and build a position in companies where the earnings visibility is quite high, with an investment horizon of 12-18 months.

While extreme volatility has subsided as per India VIX, the market is not entirely out of the woods. Intermittent spikes may persist, especially given ongoing global uncertainties.
The near term outlook for the Indian economy and corporate earnings may witness increased volatility, driven by commodity price movements, global risk aversion, and foreign fund flows.However, the medium-to-long-term outlook remains constructive, supported by domestic demand resilience, improving earnings visibility, and structural reforms.

Axis values Nifty at 16.5x in a bear case scenario, implying a target of 23,030 in December this year.

While valuations may remain above average amid potential policy shifts under the Trump regime, persistent inflation in developed markets and historically elevated interest rates increase downside risks.

Uncertainty around currency movements, oil prices, and global trade is likely to weigh on export-driven growth in 2026. Additionally, concerns over global growth, exacerbated by tariffs and geopolitical tensions, could compress market multiples in the near term.

Elevated Valuations
The Nifty is currently trading slightly above its long-term average valuation multiples (18.4x) and continues to command a premium over most emerging markets. The premium is supported by superior earnings growth, stronger corporate governance, macroeconomic stability and favourable demographic trends. However, elevated valuations imply that future market appreciation will increasingly depend on earnings upgrades rather than multiple expansion.

Also Read | Inside LIC’s Rs 16 lakh crore portfolio: Its biggest stock buys and sells in June quarter

Going forward, market performance is likely to be driven increasingly by sustained earnings growth, healthy free cash flow generation, improving ROCE and balance-sheet strength, rather than further valuation expansion. Companies that can navigate cost pressures while maintaining growth and generating consistent cash flows are likely to emerge as key outperformers through FY27. Axis continues to favour a bottom-up approach, with greater emphasis on quality growth companies having sustainable business models, pricing power, strong earnings visibility and execution capabilities.

In this environment, Axis Direct has maintained an overweight stance on BFSI, Telecom, Capital goods, Healthcare, Auto, Power & Energy, but it remains cautious on IT in the medium term, led by AI disruption.

(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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Ireland’s online betting market has rarely been busier. A World Cup summer has pushed sports betting turnover to seasonal highs, while the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) continues to roll out the country’s first dedicated licensing regime in decades.

The result is a market in which sportsbooks are competing harder than ever for Irish customers, on odds, mobile apps and payout speed rather than marketing spend alone.

That competition has changed how punters choose where to bet. Instead of defaulting to the most familiar high-street name, a growing share of customers now compare Irish betting sites on the measures that matter over a full season: the depth of GAA and horse racing markets, everyday odds value, withdrawal times and how well a bet slip holds up on a phone. Independent comparison platforms such as Topend Sports now test operators with real deposits before ranking them, a sign of how much more discerning the Irish bettor has become.

A newly regulated market takes shape

The backdrop to all of this is the Gambling Regulation Act 2024, the most significant overhaul of Irish gambling law in almost seventy years. The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, established in March 2025, is phasing in a licensing framework covering betting, gaming and lotteries, alongside consumer protections that include a ban on gambling with credit cards and a National Gambling Exclusion Register.

For operators, the message is straightforward: the era of light-touch oversight is ending. Sportsbooks that want a long-term future in the Irish market are investing in compliance, safer-gambling tools and identity verification, while bettors are being encouraged to check an operator’s licence position before depositing. Brands that appear on the Revenue Commissioners register, and in time on the GRAI’s own register, offer dispute-resolution and self-exclusion protections that offshore operators cannot match.

What separates the best betting sites in Ireland this year

Irish bettors have priorities that set the market apart from its British neighbour. GAA coverage is the clearest test: the sportsbooks earning strong reviews in 2026 price the All-Ireland championships well beyond the match result, into handicaps and scorer markets. The horse racing calendar, from Punchestown to the Galway Races, demands proper each-way terms and best-odds-style concessions, while football remains the biggest driver of turnover, with League of Ireland depth increasingly treated as a mark of an operator that takes the local market seriously.

The way people bet has shifted too. Most wagers are now placed on a phone, so app stability and mobile bet slips carry real commercial weight, and the credit card ban has pushed payments towards debit cards, Revolut and e-wallets. Free bets still headline most sign-up offers, but reviewers consistently advise that everyday odds value beats a one-off promotion over the course of a season. In short, the best betting sites Ireland has to offer in 2026 are winning on product quality rather than promotional noise.

Why the shake-up matters beyond the bookmakers

The Irish experience carries lessons well beyond gambling. The operators gaining ground are, notably, those that treated compliance as a product feature rather than a cost centre. That will sound familiar to UK business owners: a recent government survey on regulation found 96 per cent of firms believe regulators create unnecessary problems, yet in Ireland’s betting market clear rules appear to be rewarding the best-prepared companies rather than holding them back.

Advertising and affiliate marketing are adjusting in parallel. The GRAI has signalled tighter restrictions on gambling promotion, including a broadcast watershed, and comparison publishers are responding with more prominent licence disclosures and responsible gambling signposting. With licensing costs likely to thin the field, analysts expect some consolidation among smaller brands, leaving a market where competition is fought on odds, market depth and payout speed. For Irish bettors, the practical advice from reviewers is consistent: judge a sportsbook on its everyday product and its licence position, not the size of its welcome offer.