18 BSE 500 firms outperformed FY25 revenue, EBITDA, and profit targets in nine months, led by finance and capex players like GE Vernova and Muthoot Finance. Government infrastructure push boosts…
Finance Titans Outpace FY25 Forecasts in Nine-Month Sprint
On March 27, 2026, data compiled by ET intelligence Group showed that only 18 of the 500 companies on the BSE 500 index had already beaten their full-year FY25 revenue, EBITDA, net profit and margin targets during the first nine months of FY26.
The finding was drawn from quarterly filings and strips out one-off gains such as tax refunds or asset sales.
The 18 companies captured pure operating momentum. Six of them are non-bank financiers or insurers; four make turbines, transmission gear or solar equipment.
They have widened their collective EBITDA margin over FY25 levels, according to the ETIG tally.
Capex Champions Ride infrastructure Wave to Boost Margins
An uptick in credit demand and the government’s thrust on infrastructure development have funnelled cheap funds and fresh orders to these firms faster than analysts had pencilled in last April.
The majority of the BSE 500 has failed to clear the low bar set during a fiscal year that itself was labelled “sub-par” by rating agencies.
Pressure is compounded by strong order-book growth reported by GE Vernova T&D, Waaree Energies and Craftsman Automation between April and December.
Muthoot Finance and Tata Investment Corporation saw their loan books expand faster than the system-wide average.
Navin Fluorine: Achieved significant growth in net profit, driven by its speciality chemicals business.
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Muthoot Finance: Saw its loan book expand faster than the system-wide average.
Tata Investment Corporation: Its loan book grew, driven by increased demand for financing.
Aether Industries: A speciality-chemicals supplier that landed export orders for fluorinated intermediates.
Paradeep Phosphate: The only fertilizer maker in the cohort, shows how quickly the tide can turn.
Bajaj Holdings: Delivered negative returns this calendar year.
MCX: Reported negative returns this calendar year.
SBI Capital Markets: Warns that lenders geared to project finance will face higher slippages.
HSBC: Flags strong order-book visibility for GE Vernova and Craftsman.
Winners and Losers on the BSE 500
Broad sentiment has turned cagey after the RBI held the repo rate steady in February and signalled limited room for cuts ahead.
Foreign portfolio investors have pulled funds from Indian equities in 2026, channelling cash instead into treasuries.
Domestic mutual funds, sitting on idle mandates, are rotating into pharma and IT exporters rather than financials or capex plays, data from AMFI show.
The 18 outperformers have delivered negative returns this calendar year, among them Muthoot Finance, Bajaj Holdings and MCX.
What the Surge Signals for Investors and the Credit Landscape
Markets are asking for proof that credit costs will stay low and that order books will not slip beyond the September quarter.
Until then, the gap between earnings upgrades and price-to-book re-rating is stuck at a five-year high for the finance-heavy subgroup.
If the Centre’s infra calendar slips or private-capital expenditure stalls after the monsoon, lenders geared to project finance will face higher slippages.
Yet the same note argues that risk is priced in: price-to-book multiples for the six financial firms in the elite 18 now trade at a discount to their ten-year average, compared with a premium for the rest of the BSE 500 finance pack.
For investors willing to look two quarters ahead, the risk-reward skew is “the most favourable since the 2023 small-cap rout,” the report says.
Private banks are already nudging loan-pricing grids higher for NBFCs, signalling that liquidity is no longer free.
By embedding immersive spaces, skilled personnel, and integrated technology, retailers are turning physical stores into experience engines that reshape capital flows, career pathways, and urban…
Should system credit growth ease, only those financiers with lean cost-to-income ratios—Muthoot and Tata Investment among them—are likely to preserve return on equity above the mid-teens.
On the capital-goods side, analysts at HSBC flag order-book visibility of more than 2x for GE Vernova and Craftsman, enough to cover fixed costs even if commodity prices rebound.
What the Surge Signals for Investors and the Credit Landscape
Markets are asking for proof that credit costs will stay low and that order books will not slip beyond the September quarter.
The next signal to watch is the April-June infrastructure-spending run-rate.
If capital-goods order inflow growth slows, brokerages expect the BSE capital-goods index to surrender its premium to the benchmark.
Conversely, if credit demand holds above nominal GDP, the six finance names that have already beaten FY25 targets could compress their valuation discount by half, adding meaningful gains to share prices by December—gains that would accrue largely to shareholders willing to ride out one more quarter of noisy macro data.
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