The Daily Insight — Jul 20

Six things worth knowing before the market opens on a heavy earnings week.

Zepto’s anchor book for a roughly $800 million public issue was close to fully covered on July 17, at a valuation of about $5.1 billion. Its last private round carried $7 billion, so the listing takes 27.1% off the price. Norges and Motilal Oswal are expected to hold 40-45% of the anchor book. The private marks in quick commerce were set when growth was the main thing being measured. The public market is pricing what that growth costs to run, quarter after quarter. (Business Standard)

Bajaj Consumer Care reported June-quarter revenue of ₹341.57 crore, up 24.94%, and profit of ₹70.75 crore, up 84.82%, with EBITDA margin at 24.41% against 15.02%. The company’s own note carries the qualifier. Almond Drops grew in the thirties, but underlying volume growth was in the early teens once adjusted for reductions in millilitres per pack. Roughly half the reported growth came from what the pack no longer contains. Sachets and price-point packs grew fastest of all. (Business Standard)

FMCG raw material costs rose 13.2% year on year in May. Crude was up 58%, which hits packaging and freight before it touches the product. Palm oil rose 11.1% on Indonesia’s biodiesel policy, and refined soyabean in Mumbai was up 20.7%. The rupee compounds it — the average dollar rate ran 10.7% higher, just under ₹95. That is the cost base sitting behind the grammage cuts, and July’s softening in palm will not reach a shelf price before the festive season. (New Kerala)

Flipkart recorded about 85 million daily active users in June, Meesho about 70 million and Amazon over 60 million, according to a BofA note. Meesho now sits second on daily usage, ahead of Amazon, with no reported slowdown in shipments or merchandise value. Usage and revenue are different currencies — Meesho’s lead runs on low-ticket, zero-commission orders. What the gap does buy is frequency, and frequency is what advertising inventory gets priced on, whatever the average order value says. (Entrackr)

Phitku, an alum-based deodorant brand launched in January 2025, has sold a majority stake to Ananta Capital. It appeared on Shark Tank India in January 2026 and found its buyer within months. Marico separately spent close to ₹1,000 crore across three weeks on 4700BC, Skinetiq and Cosmix. The speed says more about the buyers than the brands. India now has enough acquirers with consumer capital allocated that a small brand does not need a decade to find one. (Open Magazine)

Trent closed FY26 with 1,286 stores across 321 cities and has laid out a rollout of roughly 50 Westside, 200 to 250 Zudio and 25 to 40 Star stores a year. Over the medium term Westside goes from about 300 outlets to 700, and Zudio from about 960 to close to 5,000. That is a real-estate plan more than a fashion plan. At 5,000 stores Zudio stops competing with local retail and starts setting what an entire price tier looks like. (Apparel Resources)

Read today’s full edition → https://theinsightlabs.in/daily/2026-07-20

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