Mumbai: Beneath the gloom gripping Indian equities, a quiet rally is reshaping parts of the market. Even as foreign investors pull money out, crude prices climb and benchmark indices struggle for direction, a narrow band of companies tied to infrastructure, industrials and commodities is emerging as a standout winner.
A Mint analysis of 1,431 BSE-listed stocks with a market capitalization of more than ₹1,000 crore shows that while nearly 47% of companies remain in the red so far in 2026, 64 stocks—or nearly 5% of the universe—have posted outsized gains of more than 50%.
Additionally, around 150 stocks gained between 25% and 50%, 245 rose by 10% to 25%, and another 294 recorded modest gains of up to 10%.
Sectoral concentration
Notably, one-third of these high-performers are concentrated within the capital goods, industrials, and commodity-linked sectors, prompting a closer look at their drivers. Key movers include Sterlite Technologies, whose stock price quadrupled, along with GE Power India and Aeroflex Industries—a manufacturer of metallic flexible flow solutions—both of which have doubled year-to-date.
According to Gurmeet Singh Chawla, managing director at Master Portfolio Services, this sharp outperformance in a narrow set of stocks reflects a market that is rewarding earnings clarity over everything else.
“Capital goods, industrials, and commodity-linked sectors have been the clearest winners due to the government’s sustained infrastructure push, a revival in private capex, and order inflows that give companies genuine multi-year revenue visibility,” he said. “The global shift away from China as a sole manufacturing base has added another structural tailwind for domestic industrial capacity.”
Tanvi Kanchan, associate director, Anand Rathi Share & Stock Brokers echoed this thought, "This is a high-conviction, fundamentally anchored rally concentrated in sectors where earnings delivery, order visibility, and policy tailwinds have aligned simultaneously. The concentration of outperformers in capital goods, industrials, and commodity-linked sectors reflects the intersection of three structural forces operating in parallel."
Chawla emphasized that at the company level, lower debt, improved capacity utilization, and operating leverage are translating revenue growth more effectively into profits.
While FY26 data for many firms is still awaited, their strengthening balance sheets are already evident.
For instance, Schneider Electric Infrastructure—part of the Schneider Electric Group—has surged over 70% this year. CMIE data shows its debt-to-equity ratio fell significantly from 1.4 in FY24 to 0.7 by FY25.
TD Power Systems, a global AC generator manufacturer with a ₹19,000-crore market cap, has jumped 70% year-to-date. This momentum is supported by margin expansion, which rose from 14.7% to 15.4% over the previous two fiscal years, signalling fundamental strength ahead of its FY26 results.
Familiar names in the commodity-linked space include Welspun Corp and Gallantt Ispat (a manufacturer of a wide gamut of iron and steel products), which have risen around 59% and 62%, respectively, this year.
“Commodity businesses have benefited from stable pricing and steady domestic demand, while defence, railways, power equipment, and engineering firms remain attractive given the size and longevity of their order books,” Chawla noted.
Headwinds ahead?
While the performance has been impressive, fresh uncertainties—ranging from rising crude oil prices to geopolitical friction and supply chain bottlenecks—are casting a shadow.
Consequently, the sustainability of this rally remains a concern, leaving investors to question whether the structural outlook for these sectors remains fundamentally intact.
Experts anticipate some short-term hiccups but remain optimistic about the long-term structural outlook for these sectors.
“Higher crude prices, geopolitical tensions and logistics disruptions can squeeze margins, slow procurement decisions and delay project execution,” Chawla said, adding that these are not small concerns for companies with significant international exposure or high import dependence.
“But they are more likely to cause delays than damage the cycle itself”, he said.