Market Snapshot USD/INR ₹90.60 -0.1% Nifty 50 Index 25,807.20 -0.6% India 10-Year Bond Yield 6.68% -0.03 Spot Gold ($/oz) $4,977.62 +1.1% S&P 500 Futures 6,861.25 +0.1% Market data as of 08:14 AM IST, Feb. 13, 2026, or the previous close for Indian markets. Data is subject to provider delays. Good morning... I’m Alex Gabriel Simon, and I cover equities in Mumbai. Global equities are under pressure...
Market Snapshot USD/INR ₹90.60 -0.1% Nifty 50 Index 25,807.20 -0.6% India 10-Year Bond Yield 6.68% -0.03 Spot Gold ($/oz) $4,977.62 +1.1% S&P 500 Futures 6,861.25 +0.1% Market data as of 08:14 AM IST, Feb. 13, 2026, or the previous close for Indian markets. Data is subject to provider delays. Good morning... I’m Alex Gabriel Simon, and I cover equities in Mumbai. Global equities are under pressure on fresh concerns over the impact of artificial intelligence on traditional business models. As the list of sectors under threat from AI keeps growing , some investors are nibbling at shares of Indian software firms. That’s a brave call given that names like Infosys, TCS and Wipro have been hammered by the so-called AI scare trade. The Nifty IT index slid to a 10-month low on Thursday, and later, Infosys’ New York-listed stock plunged nearly 10% amid a broad US selloff. Focus today will be on how these stocks perform in Mumbai trading. Investors will also watch Hindalco, ONGC, and Coal India, which reported earnings post-market. Indian stocks may get attention from global investors over the coming sessions as mainland China and Hong Kong are shut for the Lunar New Year break. In today’s newsletter, we write about: The contrarian call on IT giants An earnings boost for Lenskart GQG’s bullish outlook on infrastructure stocks But first, let’s look at how banks are milking a rare arbitrage opportunity. Markets Buzz: Cash Glut Fuels Easy Arbitrage Overnight borrowing costs have plunged after the Reserve Bank of India injected large amounts of cash into the financial system by buying bonds and through FX swaps. That’s created a juicy arbitrage for lenders — borrow at rates well below the benchmark and park the money with the central bank. The tri-party repo rate — a key gauge of liquidity — has fallen well below the Standing Deposit Facility rate, which allows lenders to park excess overnight funds at 5%. Here’s the rub: banks are placing excess cash into this trade rather than ...
Earnings Call Insights: Toast, Inc. (TOST) Q4 2025 Management View CEO Aman Narang highlighted the addition of over 30,000 net locations to the Toast platform in 2025, recurring gross profits growth of 33%, and adjusted EBITDA margin expansion to 34%. He underscored that "our emerging TAMs across retail, international and enterprise doubled ARR in 2025," and noted the successful launch of over 500...
Earnings Call Insights: Toast, Inc. (TOST) Q4 2025 Management View CEO Aman Narang highlighted the addition of over 30,000 net locations to the Toast platform in 2025, recurring gross profits growth of 33%, and adjusted EBITDA margin expansion to 34%. He underscored that "our emerging TAMs across retail, international and enterprise doubled ARR in 2025," and noted the successful launch of over 500 new features including ToastIQ, the conversational AI assistant. Narang explained ToastIQ's capabilities: "ToastIQ not only generates reports and insights about restaurant performance, it executes tasks directly in Toast ranging from menu management to inventory updates." The CEO stated, "We expect another year of record net location adds and consistent ARPU growth as we execute against the priorities we laid out last year." He emphasized the push to grow market share in core U.S. SMB and mid-market restaurants, noting Toast now powers 20% of this U.S. segment and that this share has nearly doubled over the past three years. Narang also pointed to expansion in international markets, retail segments, and the enterprise channel, including the onboarding of Applebee's, Firehouse Subs, and Papa Murphy's. Narang reinforced the company’s commitment to AI, stating, "Less than 4 months post launch, over half of all Toast locations have used ToastIQ...collectively sending over 8 million queries and tens and thousands of locations are already using it each week." President & CFO Elena Gomez reported, "Net adds increased every quarter versus a year ago, and we added a record 30,000 net locations in 2025, ending the year with 164,000 locations. ARR grew 26% and our recurring gross profit stream increased 33% for the year." Gomez stated, "On top of strong top line momentum, we are efficiently scaling the business through disciplined capital allocation and ongoing cost management." She added, "In 2025, we delivered adjusted EBITDA of $633 million and free cash flow of $608 million. GAAP...
Earnings Call Insights: Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT) Q4 2025 Management View CEO Donald Wood highlighted a "strong quarter, strong year, strong 2026 guidance, 6.4% bottom line FFO growth in the quarter, 4.3% for the year and guidance close to 6% at the midpoint for 2026." He stressed that these results exclude the impact of the one-time new market tax credit as reflected in the new Core F...
Earnings Call Insights: Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT) Q4 2025 Management View CEO Donald Wood highlighted a "strong quarter, strong year, strong 2026 guidance, 6.4% bottom line FFO growth in the quarter, 4.3% for the year and guidance close to 6% at the midpoint for 2026." He stressed that these results exclude the impact of the one-time new market tax credit as reflected in the new Core FFO metric. Wood emphasized robust leasing activity, with the portfolio ending the year 96.6% leased and 94.5% occupied, noting "601,000 feet of comparable deals done in the quarter at 12% rollover and 2.3 million feet of comparable deals done for the year at 15% rollover, an incremental $11 million of new rent is under contract." Significant acquisitions included Annapolis Town Center and Village Pointe, adding nearly 1 million square feet for $340 million at an initial yield in the low 7% range, with targeted unlevered IRRs approaching 9%. Dispositions in the quarter totaled $169 million, with an additional $150 million closed just after year-end, at combined cap rates in the low 5% range. Wood also introduced a new residential project at Willow Grove Shopping Center, set to include 261 apartments. He reiterated the unique value creation potential from high-quality apartments adjacent to retail assets and the company’s ongoing asset recycling strategy. Wendy Seher, Executive VP and COO, stated, "In 2025, our leasing platform achieved record-breaking volume, delivering the highest annual square footage leased in company history, alongside the strongest comparable rent spreads achieved in over a decade." Seher pointed to a 90 basis point sequential increase in the total comparable lease rate and highlighted robust demand in California and the Greater Washington, D.C. area. CFO Daniel Guglielmone reported, "Our FFO per share of $1.84 for the fourth quarter reflects 6.4% growth versus last year and highlights a really strong underlying quarter operationally." He explained the ...
Earnings Call Insights: Flux Power Holdings, Inc. (FLUX) Q2 2026 Management View CEO Krishna Vanka announced "we achieved profitability for the first time in the company's history." He attributed this milestone to disciplined expense optimization and a sequential increase in revenue, stating, "The discipline we built internally to optimize our expenses, along with the sequential increase in revenu...
Earnings Call Insights: Flux Power Holdings, Inc. (FLUX) Q2 2026 Management View CEO Krishna Vanka announced "we achieved profitability for the first time in the company's history." He attributed this milestone to disciplined expense optimization and a sequential increase in revenue, stating, "The discipline we built internally to optimize our expenses, along with the sequential increase in revenue made this happen." Vanka outlined progress on five strategic initiatives: profitable growth, operational efficiencies, solution selling, building the right products, and integrating value-added software to generate recurring revenue streams. He emphasized, "We have started using AI-driven tools in our engineering design, software development and day-to-day operations to further improve operational efficiencies and productivity." The company introduced its next-generation SkyLNK telematics device, which features onboard analytics, machine learning, and expanded sensing capabilities, with Vanka highlighting, "SkyLNK delivers a competitive advantage in high-performance processing and sensing ... enabling onboard analytics and machine learning directly within each battery system." A new GAT 315 battery was released, expanding offerings in the ground service equipment (GSE) segment. Vanka added, "We now have 4 product lines with multiple configurations that support the GSE segment." Software upgrades included an enhanced SkyEMS platform with intelligent AI-driven alerts and a new mobile interface. Vanka said, "Our initial observations lead us to believe that our customers can gain 10% to 30% uptime by using intelligent alerts with corrective actions." Vanka disclosed, "recently, our most significant customer has conveyed to us that they are implementing a capital freeze ... we expect materially lower revenue in our third quarter." CFO Kevin Royal reported, "Revenue for the second fiscal quarter of 2026 was $14.1 million, up from $13.2 million in the prior quarter and down from...
Earnings Call Insights: Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) Q4 2025 Management View CEO George Colony emphasized a new business paradigm shaped by AI, stating Forrester is “uniquely positioned to help large companies navigate these problems.” He highlighted the company’s pivot over the last three years to align research with AI changes, launch AI-powered products, and leverage AI in research creation....
Earnings Call Insights: Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) Q4 2025 Management View CEO George Colony emphasized a new business paradigm shaped by AI, stating Forrester is “uniquely positioned to help large companies navigate these problems.” He highlighted the company’s pivot over the last three years to align research with AI changes, launch AI-powered products, and leverage AI in research creation. Colony reported that in 2025, Forrester launched AI Access, with Q4 unique users of Forrester AI up 55% year-over-year and prompts up 65%. He noted, “AI increases the value of our research, making it more accessible to clients and enabling them to create new and original content.” Management pointed to the launch of AI Access as a key driver, with over $5 million in bookings since its September debut. Colony announced the appointment of Julie Meringer to lead customer success and the promotion of Christophe Favre to Chief Sales Officer, with a focus on a “culture of growth within sales and improvements to our go-to-market execution.” Strategic changes include exiting the strategy consulting business due to instability in U.S. federal government contracts and competition, plus restructuring the events business to focus on regional, shorter formats. Colony stated, “We are restructuring the business to more intensively focus it on growing research contract value, and we are increasing our investment in AI.” CFO Chris Finn said, “We are starting to see some meaningful areas of improvement in the business. This includes early success with our new AI Access product, which had over $5 million of bookings since its launch in September, along with an increase in the portion of CV on multiyear contracts in the prior year.” Outlook The company guided 2026 revenue at $345 million to $360 million, representing a 9% to 13% decline from 2025, influenced by the planned sunsetting of strategy consulting and restructuring of the events business. Forrester expects operating margins in the ra...
Judge Boasberg Orders Government To Facilitate Return Of Deported Venezuelans Authored by Stacy Robinson via The Epoch Times, A federal judge in Washington has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of Venezuelans whom he said should receive a hearing after their deportation under the Alien Enemies Act. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg wrote in his Feb. 12 ruling that the gove...
Judge Boasberg Orders Government To Facilitate Return Of Deported Venezuelans Authored by Stacy Robinson via The Epoch Times, A federal judge in Washington has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of Venezuelans whom he said should receive a hearing after their deportation under the Alien Enemies Act. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg wrote in his Feb. 12 ruling that the government must parole those deportees into U.S. custody if they present themselves at a port of entry and provide them due process to contest their deportation. Boasberg said his ruling was intended to mirror a Supreme Court ruling from last year, which upheld U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’s order that the government “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The government will also have to pay for the flights and provide a boarding letter to the deportees, but that only applies to those flying in from a third country, not Venezuela itself. The return might be short-lived, Boasberg said, since anyone who is flown back or paroled into the country will be detained by U.S. immigration officials and held in custody while their case plays out. They also face being deported again at the end of the proceedings. An attorney for the plaintiffs previously told the judge that some of his clients were willing to take that risk. The ruling is the latest chapter for the deportees, who were sent to El Salvador’s CECOT terrorism confinement center last year. They were subsequently released into Venezuela. Boasberg ruled in December that the government needed to give the Venezuelans an opportunity to contest their deportation. When the Justice Department objected to that ruling, the judge ordered a hearing to discuss ways the government could provide due process. “I never said, and the plaintiffs never said, they were not deportable,” Boasberg remarked at that hearing on Feb. 9. The question, he told the court, was whether the plaintiffs were deportable under the Alien Enemies Act, an...
JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists recommended selling two-year US Treasuries as a “tactical” trade, citing a resilient growth outlook that will make it hard for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates aggressively. “The underpinnings of the economy are strong and it will be challenging for nominee Kevin Warsh to bend the FOMC to his will once he is confirmed and takes over as chair,” strategists ...
JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists recommended selling two-year US Treasuries as a “tactical” trade, citing a resilient growth outlook that will make it hard for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates aggressively. “The underpinnings of the economy are strong and it will be challenging for nominee Kevin Warsh to bend the FOMC to his will once he is confirmed and takes over as chair,” strategists led by Jay Barry wrote in a note, referring to the Federal Open Market Committee. The Wall Street bank’s view comes ahead of Friday’s crucial US inflation report that may provide fresh clues on the Fed’s next steps, with any sign of easing price pressures likely to fuel demand for shorter-dated, policy-sensitive government debt. Treasury yields have whipsawed this week, influenced by a technology stock selloff and strong US jobs data that helped spur debate about how Warsh — President Donald Trump’s pick to become the next Fed chair — will handle policy. Traders are now pricing a quarter-point Fed rate cut in July and another by the end of the year. Prior to the stronger-than-expected employment numbers earlier this week, they’d virtually priced in a reduction in June. The two-year Treasury yield edged up two basis points to 3.47% in Asia Friday trading, after declining about five basis points in the prior session. Some others disagree with JPMorgan. Hedge fund manager David Einhorn is betting that a Warsh-led Fed will lower interest rates “ substantially more ” than markets are currently predicting. The co-founder of Greenlight Capital said he has bought Secured Overnight Financing Rate futures on expectations of a rally if the Fed reduces borrowing costs more aggressively. JPMorgan expects US core CPI, which strips out food and energy, to have risen a “firm” 0.39% in January, due to early-year price pressures and the fading of lingering effects from the federal government shutdown. Bloomberg Economics’ estimate is for a 0.31% gain, matching consensus. “We think it will be...