Kotak expects Nifty-50 earnings to grow 18 per cent in FY27 and 13 per cent in FY28. HDFC Securities, meanwhile, said it believes “bottom-up stock and sector specific opportunities” will continue to reward investors | Photo Credit: Reuters
The two brokerages have identified opportunities across infrastructure, defence, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, consumer businesses and technology. While their individual stock selections differ, both see capacity expansion, strong order visibility, improving operating efficiencies and market-share gains as important drivers of growth.
Kotak expects Nifty-50 earnings to grow 18 per cent in FY27 and 13 per cent in FY28. HDFC Securities, meanwhile, said it believes “bottom-up stock and sector specific opportunities” will continue to reward investors.
In infrastructure and capital goods, HDFC Securities has picked Larsen & Toubro, Ambuja Cements and Adani Power, while Kotak has recommended APL Apollo Tubes. HDFC Securities has banked on L&T’s order book of ₹8.53 lakh crore as of September 2026 and its ₹10-lakh crore medium-term order pipeline. Kotak expects APL Apollo to benefit from its planned expansion in structural steel capacity from 5 million tonnes (mt) to 8 mt by FY28.
Defence is another area of overlap in their investment themes, wherein HDFC Securities has included Bharat Electronics, while Kotak has picked Hindustan Aeronautics. Both brokerages see strong order visibility and opportunities from India’s defence manufacturing requirements supporting growth. HAL’s order book stood at ₹2.55 lakh crore at the end of FY26, while BEL had an order book of ₹68,717 crore, according to the respective reports.
Domestic demand
The brokerages are also looking at companies that can benefit from domestic demand and changing consumption patterns. HDFC Securities has picked Maruti Suzuki and Emcure Pharmaceuticals, while Kotak has included Titan and Eternal, the parent of Zomato and Blinkit. Kotak sees quick commerce as an important growth driver for Eternal, with Blinkit targeting more than 3,500 dark stores by March 2027. It expects Titan to benefit from continued jewellery market-share gains.
HDFC Securities has a greater representation of traditional sectors, including coal, metals and textiles, through Coal India, Tata Steel and KPR Mill. Its thesis on KPR Mill includes potential export gains from India’s trade agreements with the UK and European markets.
Kotak, meanwhile, has included technology services company Persistent Systems, citing opportunities from artificial intelligence-related spending and its proposed acquisition of Nagarro. It has also picked specialty chemicals maker Jubilant Ingrevia and Ujjivan Small Finance Bank.
Published on November 3, 2026
