New-Age Tech Stocks Witness A Mixed Week, Unicommerce Biggest Loser With A 10% Fall

Indian new-age tech stocks saw a mixed week on the bourses amid a slump in the broader domestic equities market due to global market volatility.

Fifteen of the 28 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage fell in a range of 0.3% to 10% during the week, with Unicommerce emerging as the biggest loser.

Meanwhile, shares of DroneAcharya declined 8.9%, followed by Ola Electric’s shares nosediving about 7.1% during the week.

Among the other top losers were Menhood, ixigo, Paytm, PB Fintech, Yudiz, and MapmyIndia – all down between 3% and 5%.

Yatra, ideaForge, Delhivery, and FirstCry declined more than 2% but below 3% this week.

On the other hand, NSE Emerge-listed TAC Infosec emerged as the biggest gainer this week, with its shares rallying 10.6%.

Among the other 12 gainers during the week were CarTrade, Mamaearth, Nykaa, Zomato, Awfis, and TBO Tek, with their shares rising in the range of 2% to 7%.

In the broader market, Sensex fell 1.43% to end the week at 81,183.93 and Nifty 50 declined 1.52% to end at 24,852.15. On Friday (September 6), Sensex and Nifty 50 declined 1.24% and 1.17%, respectively.

Speaking on the broader market slump, Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, said that the domestic market came under pressure on Friday as SEBI’s deadline over disclosure norms for FIIs neared. However, this would not impact India’s lucrativeness to FIIs in the long term, he said.  

Besides, elevated valuations continue to be a concern and the indices are expected to witness a muted trend in the short term, Nair added.

Meanwhile, Siddhartha Khemka, head of research, wealth management, at Motilal Oswal, said that the domestic equities experienced the most significant single-day decline over the past month on Friday due to concerns over a potential slowdown in the US labour market. 

“We expect consolidation mode to continue in the market over the near term,” Khemka added.

Despite the volatility, the IPO optimism remains high. As per reports, Ather Energy is set to file a DRHP with the SEBI for an INR 4,000 Cr+ public offering, almost a month after the INR 6,000 Cr+ IPO of its rival EV player Ola Electric.

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

Overall, the total market capitalisation of 28 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage stood at around $79.38 Bn as against $80.19 Bn at the end of last week.

All Eyes On EV: EaseMyTrip Forays Into Ebus Making

In an interesting development, online travel aggregator EaseMyTrip announced incorporating a new wholly owned subsidiary Easy Green Mobility to start electric bus manufacturing.

It is looking to invest INR 200 Cr for R&D, product development, and setting up a manufacturing plant over the next 2-3 years. 

While Easy Green Mobility will manufacture ebuses, EaseMyTrip will operate these buses via its other subsidiary YoloBus.

The shares of EaseMyTrip, which have remained volatile with a downward trend since the beginning of the year, jumped over 12% following the announcement on Thursday and ended the day’s trading around 11% higher at INR 43.08 on the BSE. However, the shares slumped the next day to end the week over 6% lower at INR 40.42. 

Unicommerce Slumps After Releasing Q1 Numbers

Shares of recently listed Unicommerce slumped in all five trading sessions this week after posting its Q1 FY25 earnings last Friday (August 30).

With a sharp decline of a little over 10% during the week, the SaaS startup turned out to be the biggest loser. Unicommerce shares ended the week at INR 197.25 on the BSE.

It is pertinent to note that the startup’s profit after tax (PAT) jumped 31% year-on-year to INR 3.51 Cr in Q1 FY25. Even on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, profit rose 22%.

Meanwhile, revenue from contract with customers increased 9.2% YoY and 3.5% QoQ to INR 27.46 Cr during Q1.

The sudden fall in its share price could be due to profit booking. Unicommerce made its debut on the bourses at a whopping 113% premium to its issue price. Currently, the shares are trading 14.2% lower than the listing price of INR 230 on the BSE but 82.6% higher than the issue price of INR 108 apiece.

Brokerages Continue To Be Bullish On Zomato 

Shares of foodtech major Zomato, which have surged over the past year or so over its increasing profits and plans to diversify revenue stream, again received thumbs up from brokerages this week.

CLSA raised its price target (PT) on Zomato to INR 353 from INR 350, which currently implies an upside of about 36% to its last close. The brokerage said that its PT increase was to reflect Zomato’s recent acquisition of Paytm ticketing business.

Besides, it also said, “Quick commerce is reshaping India’s retail supply chain by flattening distribution, giving new brands increased visibility and price competitiveness. Blinkit’s parent Zomato will be the largest listed beneficiary, while staples marketers Marico and Hindustan Unilever face risks as their distribution advantage erodes.”

CLSA also sees Zomato’s Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart reaching $10 Bn in gross order value by FY26 and surpassing $78 Bn within a decade.

Meanwhile, JP Morgan also raised Zomato’s PT to INR 340 from INR 208 earlier, implying about a 31% upside to the stock’s last close, on the back of the company’s quick commerce growth. 

In line with the increase in PTs, shares of Zomato jumped over 7% in the last two trading sessions during the week. The stock ended Friday’s trading at INR 260.05 on the BSE, gaining 3.7% overall during the week.

Continuing its spree of experiments, Zomato announced the launch of ‘dark mode’ this week. Its rival, IPO-bound Swiggy also seems to be on the experimentation mode and has launched a number of new features and services over the past few months. This week, Inc42 reported that Swiggy is piloting a large order fleet in the Delhi NCR region.