Every year, the festive season shines up with Ganesh Chaturthi, with the crescendo building up through Navratri and Durga Puja, and the finale landing on Dhanteras and Diwali before the wedding season takes over. This is accompanied with higher footfalls, orders, ticket sizes and margins. Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research at Kotak Securities, listed out 10 stocks on which the brokerage has a positive view ahead of the festive season, amid expectations of a surge in discretionary spending.
M&M
Shrikant Chouhan expects Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) to continue outperforming industry growth across tractor and CV segments and a strong product launch cycle should help sustain SUV segment leadership. He noted that the company aspires its SUV segment volumes to grow by mid-high teens YoY in FY27. LCV cycle is also likely to continue its momentum, which aids well for the company. “M&M continues to execute well by maintaining a leadership position in all three segments, an improvement in return ratios and cash flow generation,” the analyst further highlighted.
Eicher Motors
The analyst expects Royal Enfield’s domestic volume growth momentum to continue at a healthy pace, and believes that the capacity expansion along with model launches augurs well for the company. A potential entry into the 250 cc segment could further widen the addressable market and attract younger consumers, he said, adding that the aspirational nature of the brand and growing disposable income should benefit Royal Enfield’s demand. “We expect gradual improvement in profitability, driven by price increases, value engineering and control over other costs,” he further said.
Eternal
Zomato and Blinkit-parent Eternal is a leading Indian internet company operating food delivery, quick commerce (Blinkit), going-out (District), and B2B supplies (Hyperpure), Chouhan noted, adding that the company is transforming into a diversified consumer-tech platform, with Blinkit emerging as the key growth engine. “We expect Eternal to deliver a robust 49% revenue CAGR over FY26–29, led by rapid expansion in quick commerce and sustained growth in food delivery. As scale improves and operating leverage strengthens, we forecast EBITDA margins to expand from 2.2% in FY2026 to 5.3% in FY29, driving a meaningful improvement in profitability,” he wrote.
Nykaa
FSN E-Commerce Ventures’ Nykaa is a leading omnichannel beauty, personal care and fashion retailer with a growing portfolio of owned brands. The company expects strong long-term growth, driven by premiumization, AI-led personalization, faster deliveries, category expansion, and continued investments in customer acquisition, Chouhan noted, adding that improving operating leverage and the scaling up of its beauty, fashion, and owned-brand businesses are expected to support profitability. “We remain positive on the stock given its strong growth outlook and improving earnings profile.”
Apollo Hospitals
Apollo Hospitals remains Kotak’s preferred hospital pick. “We like the combination of strong existing-hospital performance, manageable capacity expansion, improving pharmacy profitability and the approaching digital breakeven. Valuations appear reasonable for the quality and growth visibility,” said Chouhan.
Dr. Lal PathLabs
Dr. Lal PathLabs is one of India’s leading diagnostic chains, offering pathology and preventive healthcare services through its extensive network of laboratories and collection centres. The analyst from Kotak Securities noted that the company is seeing a steady recovery in test volumes, with Q1FY27 sample volumes growing 11% YoY. Realization per test also increased around 8%. The turnaround in Suburban Diagnostics and calibrated network expansion should further support volume growth, he said. “With management now expecting mid-teens revenue growth in FY27, we expect sales and earnings to remain on a healthy trajectory, with EBITDA and adjusted EPS CAGR of 16% and 15%, respectively, over FY26-29,” he added.
ICICI Bank
Adding to the slew of bullish brokerage calls for ICICI Bank, Shrikant Chouhan noted that the company has delivered best-in-class underwriting and resilient asset quality, with net NPLs at historical lows. Strong liability franchise and pricing discipline should support NIM resilience, while loan growth recovery and operating leverage provide scope for sustained 15% RoE, he added.
Axis Bank
Naming Axis Bank as another festive pick, Chouhan said the lender’s retail franchise offers significant growth potential through mortgages, affordable housing, gold and education loans. Technology-led execution and improving branch productivity should drive operating leverage, while lower credit costs and better loan mix provide a path toward improving RoE and potential valuation re-rating.
Shriram Finance
The recent MUFG capital infusion and AAA rating upgrade provide a structural funding advantage to Shriram Finance, according to the analyst from Kotak Securities. He noted that lower borrowing costs and improved leverage should support margin expansion and 16% medium-term RoE. Strong asset-quality performance and shift toward newer, lower-risk vehicles support sustainable 17-18% medium-term AUM growth, he further said.
Bajaj Finance
Strong 22% AUM growth demonstrates continued momentum across its diversified lending franchise were the key factors highlighted by Chouhan as he named Bajaj Finance as one of his festive picks. He noted that declining credit costs and Fin-AI-led operating leverage should support RoA expansion, while 21-26% medium-term earnings growth and 19-20% RoE offer a compelling growth-profitability combination.
Disclosure: This article has been written by Debaroti Adhikary, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an investment advisor. Debaroti Adhikary does not hold any financial interest in the company named in the article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of the EconomicTimes Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment.
