Stocks to Watch: Maruti, Ambuja Cements, Adani Total, Hero MotoCorp, ONGC

Here are the top 10 stocks that could be in focus in today's trade:

Maruti Suzuki: Maruti Suzuki India reported single-digit sales growth in July with the sports utility segment continuing to drive overall demand in the market. Maruti Suzuki on Tuesday said its total domestic passenger vehicle sales stood at 1,52,126 units last month as compared to 1,42,850 units in the year-ago month, a growth of 6 per cent. Utility vehicles, consisting of Brezza, Ertiga, Fronx, Grand Vitara, Jimny and XL6, clocked sales of 62,049 units last month, a two-fold jump as against 23,272 units dispatched in the year-ago period.

Ambuja Cements/Sanghi Industries: Reuters reported that Adani-owned Ambuja Cements is making efforts to strengthen its position in the cement industry through the acquisition of a majority stake in the operations of Sanghi Industries. According to sources cited by Reuters, an official announcement of the deal is expected to be made by both companies on Wednesday. However, as of now, the exact percentage of the stake being acquired and the transaction amount remain undisclosed.

Adani Total Gas: Adani Total Gas reported a rise of 9% in consolidated net profit at ₹150 crore, compared to ₹138 crore in the corresponding period last year. The gas distributer's revenue from operations in the first quarter of the current fiscal stood at ₹1,056.1 crore, registering a marginal rise of 1.3 per cent, compared to ₹1,042.3 crore in the year-ago period. On the operating front, the company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) during the June quarter came in at ₹247.8 crore, reporting a rise of 13.3%.

Hero MotoCorp: Hero MotoCorp on Tuesday reported a 12 per cent decline in total sales at 3,91,310 units in July.  The company had sold 4,45,580 units in the year-ago period, Hero MotoCorp said in a statement. Domestic sales were at 3,71,204 units as compared to 4,30,684 units in July 2022, it added. Exports, however, increased to 20,106 units from 14,896 units in the corresponding period of the last year.

ONGC/IOC/Gail/OIL: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed late submission fees (LSF) of ₹2,000 crore on ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, GAIL (India) Ltd, and Oil India Ltd for delayed reporting of their overseas investments, two people familiar with the development said. The move may impact the overseas work commitments of these four state-run energy majors, prompting efforts by them to secure an extension from RBI, which has imposed a late submission fee of ₹500 crore each on the four firms.

Cholamandalam Investment: NBFC firm Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Ltd on Tuesday reported a 28 per cent rise in standalone net profit at ₹726 crore in the April-June quarter. The Chennai-based lender had posted a net profit of ₹566 crore in the year-ago period. The total income in the first quarter of the current fiscal rose to ₹4,134 crore against ₹2,771 crore, Chola said in a regulatory filing. The lender's interest income also increased to ₹3,849 crore from ₹2,612 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

Coal India: Coal India Limited (CIL) recorded a significant 13.4% increase in production in July 2023 compared to July 2022, reaching 53.6 MTs. The company's overall production for the current financial year until July 2023 stands at 229.1 MTs, achieving 99% of the target. CIL is on track to achieve the desired growth rate for the year. The company aims to produce 780 MTs in FY 2024, with a growth rate of 10.9% over the previous fiscal year. CIL's total supplies reached 58.3 MTs in July 2023, showing strong growth of 7.2% compared to July 2022.

Bharti Airtel: Bharti Airtel, India’s second-largest telecommunications service provider, has launched Airtel IQ Reach, a first-of-its-kind self-serve marketing communications platform, which will enable brands or companies to drive targeted customer engagements through personalized communications. Airtel IQ Reach is an intuitive platform that will enable small and medium businesses to make the most of their marketing investments as they engage with target customers in a cost-effective manner with prepaid pay-as-you-go plans, the company said on Tuesday.

PVR Inox: Leading cinema exhibitor PVR INOX on Tuesday reported a consolidated net loss of ₹81.6 crore for the June quarter. The company, earlier known as PVR Ltd, posted a net profit of ₹53.4 crore in the April-June period a year ago, according to a regulatory filing. Its revenue from operations stood at ₹1,304.9 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal. In the year-ago period, the same was at ₹981.4 crore. According to the company, the total number of people visiting cinema halls was 33.9 million during the June quarter.

Escorts Kubota: Escorts Kubota reported an all-time high net profit of ₹282.8 crore which was 91% up from the ₹147.5 crore reported during the corresponding quarter in the previous fiscal. The revenue of operations of Escorts Kubota jumped 15.5% from ₹2,014.9 crore in Q1FY23 to ₹2,327.7 during the period under review. Sequentially, the company's profit after tax (PAT) grew 52.5% from ₹185.5 crore during the quarter ending March 2023 and the revenue from operations jumped 6.6% from ₹2,183 crore during the previous quarter.