FY27 Earnings Outlook Improves as 23 Nifty 50 Companies Receive EPS Upgrades in August

The earnings downgrade cycle for Nifty 50 companies showed signs of easing in August, with 23 of the index's 50 constituents, or 46%, receiving upgrades to their FY27 earnings per share (EPS) estimates, according to a report by JM Financial. The upgrades were led by cement, oil & gas, telecom, infrastructure and automobile companies.  

The brokerage firm observed that the FY27 EPS estimates for the Nifty 50 saw an increase of 0.1% from the previous month during August. This partly helped in overcoming the drop observed during July.  

According to the research report, FY27 EPS estimates were lower by 0.7% from the previous month in July, whereas FY28 EPS estimates dropped 0.5%. During August, FY28 EPS estimates saw an increase of 0.2% which showed stability in earnings expectations. 

Nevertheless, even with the positive development, there is still the issue that the estimates are not catching up with the previous levels. In fact, according to JM Financial, the EPS estimates for the Nifty 50 for FY27 have decreased by 9.3% from August 2025 to August 2026, while that of FY28 has fallen by 7.5%. 

Cement Sector Leads Earnings Upgrades 

Cement companies emerged as the biggest contributors to the improvement in earnings expectations during August. JM Financial said FY27 EPS estimates for the sector rose 9% month-on-month.  

Among other sectors, NBFCs recorded a 1.8% increase in FY27 EPS estimates, while oil & gas and metals & mining sectors saw upgrades of 0.5% each.  

The report highlighted that upgrades were relatively broad-based in certain sectors. Both oil & gas companies and both cement companies within the Nifty 50 witnessed upgrades to their FY27 EPS estimates. The index’s sole telecom company also received an earnings upgrade.  

In the infrastructure and ports segment, two of the three constituent companies saw upgrades, while three of the five automobile companies in the index recorded higher FY27 EPS estimates.  

At the company level, Grasim, Bajaj Finserv, Hindalco, SBI and Titan were among the stocks that registered some of the largest upward revisions to FY27 earnings estimates during the month.  

Some Sectors Continue to Face Pressure 

The improvement in the earnings estimate expectation was not consistent among all the sectors. The consumer sector saw the largest decline in its FY27 EPS expectations, with an estimated cut of 4.7%. Automobile companies followed with a 2.2% decline in earnings estimates.  

Regarding individual stocks, some of the sharpest downward revisions to their FY27 earnings per share estimates included those for stocks like ITC, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti Suzuki, and Adani Enterprises. 

Overall, the number of downgrades for FY27 EPS among Nifty 50 companies stood at 17, accounting for 34% of the index. Among sectors, the Metals & Mining sector had the greatest number of downgrades, with three out of its four Nifty 50 stocks facing downgrades. The banking sector also remained under pressure, as three out of five companies in the segment saw their FY27 EPS estimates reduced.