New-Age Tech Stocks Witness A Mixed Week As Bears Return, DroneAcharya Biggest Gainer

New-age tech stocks saw a mixed performance this week as the bears returned in the broader equity market despite positive economic data and healthy Q4 FY23 results. The sell-off pressure on HDFC Bank and HDFC Ltd dragged the benchmark indices lower at the end of the week.

Nine out of 14 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage gained in the range of 0.07% to over 16% on the BSE, with drone startup DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations emerging as the biggest winner.

IndiaMART InterMESH (up 10.8%), Nykaa (up 5.6%), Paytm (up 5.3%), and Zomato (up 1%) were among the other gainers this week.

Fino Payments Bank, DroneAcharya, and Paytm reported largely positive FY23 results this week.

Though Fino Payments Bank’s shares rose a day after the company reported a 52.3% year-on-year (YoY) growth in net profit to INR 65.08 Cr in FY23, its shares declined later in the week. Overall, the stock ended the week about 0.1% lower.

Meanwhile, Delhivery was the biggest loser this week, falling about 5% on the BSE.

In the broader equity market, benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 fell over 1% on Friday from Thursday’s close. While Sensex fell 0.1% to 61,054 this week, Nifty50 gained marginally to end the week at 18,069.

There were only four trading sessions this week as the market was closed on Monday (May 1) on the occasion of Maharashtra Day.

“Markets were under a bear hug on the back of a massive profit-taking amid sell-off in HDFC twins, US banking woes and weak Wall Street cues,” said Prashanth Tapse, senior VP (research) at Mehta Equities. 

Siddhartha Khemka, head of retail research at Motilal Oswal, said the market will also take cues from inflation data, exit polls for Karnataka elections, and the ongoing earning season in the next week.

Now, let’s take a deeper look into the performance of some of the new-age tech stocks this week.

The 14 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage ended the week with a total market capitalisation of $26.58 Bn as against  $28.14 Bn last week.

Paytm’s Loss Declines Further In Q4

Paytm reported a 78% decline in net loss to INR 167.5 Cr in Q4 FY23 compared to last year. Sequentially, loss declined 57% from INR 392.1 Cr in Q3 FY23. Helped by business growth across verticals, Paytm’s operating revenue soared 51% year-on-year (YoY) and 13% sequentially to INR 2,334.5 Cr in the quarter.

The fintech giant disbursed 1.19 Cr loans worth INR 12,554 Cr in Q4.

The shares of Paytm rose 5.3% this week, gaining in all four sessions on the projections of it reporting strong growth numbers for Q4. The stock ended Friday’s session at INR 689.45 on the BSE.

The company reported its Q4 results after market hours on Friday. Its shares are expected to keep up their strong growth momentum.

In the short term, traders can buy the counter at around INR 650, said Ganesh Dongre, senior manager of technical research at Anand Rathi. He expects the shares to rally to about INR 740 level in the next 1-2 weeks.

Meanwhile, Paytm on Saturday (May 6) said that it disbursed 41 Lakh loans worth INR 4,115 Cr in April, up 56% and 148%, YoY, respectively. On a month-on-month basis, the value of loans disbursed has declined 8% from INR 4,468 Cr in March.

DroneAcharya Gains Big

Shares of DroneAcharya rose 16.4% this week, gaining in straight three sessions as the drone startup reported upbeat results for FY23. 

In its first-ever financial results filed after its stock market debut in December 2022, DroneAcharya posted a 742% YoY jump in profit after tax (PAT) at INR 3.42 Cr. The startup’s operating revenue shot up 417% YoY to INR 18.57 Cr in FY23.

DroneAcharya expects its revenue to grow 3X in FY24, driven by its recent foray into manufacturing and growing demand for drone pilots.

Despite a sharp rally earlier this week, the drone startup’s shares declined 3.5% on Friday, ending the session INR 152.5 on the BSE due to a slump in the broader market.

Shares of DroneAcharya are trading almost 50% higher than their listing price of INR 102.

However, the stock is extremely volatile and is trading in line with the broader market sentiment, believes Anand Rathi’s Dongre. 

“One can hold it long with a stop loss of around INR 125,” he said, adding that the shares can rise to INR 180-INR 185 level in the next couple of weeks.

Delhivery Biggest Loser

Shares of logistics unicorn Delhivery slumped in all four sessions, ending the week almost 5% lower at INR 355.65 on the BSE. 

Delhivery saw a senior managerial resignation this week, with Sunil Kumar Bansal resigning from his position as secretary and compliance officer. This came at a time when startup majors like Nykaa and Zomato have also witnessed an exodus of several top-level executives in recent months.

Overall, shares of Delhivery have been on an upward trend since mid-April after brokerage Bernstein initiated its coverage on the stock with a ‘market perform’ rating

While the brokerage was positive about Delhivery’s long-term growth prospects, it also highlighted the near-term hurdles for the logistics major.

Dongre said that Delhivery shares are seeing a short-term correction and can fall up to INR 330, which would be a good entry point. The target for the stock is around INR 370-INR 380. “Buy on dips is going on in this counter right now,” he added.