-- Equitas Small Finance Bank (NSE:EQUITASBNK, BOM:543243) net profit jumped to 2.13 billion Indian rupees in the fiscal fourth quarter from 421.1 billion rupees a year ago, according to an Indian bourse filing on Thursday.
Earnings per share for the quarter ended March 31 climbed to 1.86 rupees from 0.37 rupees a year earlier.
Interests earned by the lender increased year on year to 18.4 billion rupees from 16.4 billion rupees, the filing said.
CFRA, an independent research provider, has providedwith the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:We trim our 12-month target by $1 to $55, 20.0x our next-12-month EPS view of $2.75, a premium to its five-year average of 15.6x. We reduce our 2026 EPS view by $0.02 to $2.72 and 2027 EPS by $0.01 to $2.93. The Q1 core EPS increase (+7.5% Y/Y) breaks a three-quarter streak of declines, and we see continued momentum throughout our forecast horizon. We see positive data center demand trends, with long-term contracted demand (4.3 GW) up 4% since February 2026 (4.1 GW) and up 47% since February 2025 (2.9 GW), while pipeline demand (14.9 GW) is up 15% since February 2026 (12.9 GW) and has more than doubled since February 2025 (6.1 GW). FE has reduced base O&M by over $200M (15%) since 2022, with Q1 2026 showing an additional ~5% YoY decline, while simultaneously improving reliability metrics. We think FE's cost discipline, service quality improvement, and competitive rate positioning should translate into more favorable rate case outcomes, reduced disallowance risk, and potentially higher allowed ROEs.
Consumer stocks were higher Thursday afternoon, with the State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) rising 1.4% and the State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) increasing 0.4%.In corporate news, Lamb Weston (LW) shares rose 1.6% after shareholder Starboard Value said in a letter to the board Thursday that the company should hold an investor day and reset earnings to a normalized level.
The US Food and Drug Administration's Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee rejected the benefits AstraZeneca's (AZN) Camizestrant drug candidate to treat breast cancer, Bloomberg reported Thursday.Six committee members voted against the drug due to disagreement over the trial design and the potential implications in the clinical setting, according to Bloomberg.The drug trial met is primary endpoint of progression-free survival as well as the progression-free survival 2 endpoint, however, FDA does not consider PFS2 a suitable endpoint for regulatory decision making, according to a briefing document.(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)Price: $189.60, Change: $+4.40, Percent Change: +2.37%