Five numbers from the last results of the week, and what each of them costs.
Castrol sold 27% more and earned 23% less
Castrol India’s September-quarter revenue rose 27% to Rs 1,735 crore, and its net profit fell 23% to Rs 176 crore. The gap sits in one line of the accounts: raw and packing material cost Rs 1,086 crore against Rs 636 crore a year earlier, a rise of 70.8%. EBITDA fell 19% to Rs 262 crore. Over nine months the company is still ahead — revenue up 20%, EBITDA up 11% — so the damage is concentrated in this quarter. The read is that Castrol held shelf price to protect volume, and the December quarter shows whether it can take that price back. (Autocar Professional, EquityBulls)
Lumax grew revenue 34.5% and profit 50%
Lumax Auto Technologies reported September-quarter revenue of Rs 1,555.51 crore against Rs 1,156.36 crore a year earlier, with consolidated profit up about 50% to Rs 116.67 crore. On the same day it approved a mechatronics plant at Manesar: about Rs 150 crore of capex, peak annualised turnover of about Rs 500 crore, commissioned in two phases from the third quarter of FY2028. Mechatronics is where content per car is rising — power window switches, telematics units, antennas, oxygen sensors. Spending Rs 150 crore for a 3.3-times return at peak, two years out, perhaps says the order book behind it is already visible. (Autocar Professional)
Netflix’s best India quarter came through Flipkart
Netflix recorded its highest-ever quarterly paid net subscriber additions in India in the September quarter. India revenue grew about 18% year on year on a currency-neutral basis, and viewing hours rose 24%. The company credited Indian shows — Lock Upp drew more viewing hours in its first 91 days than any previous Netflix title in India — and its first transaction-based loyalty bundle, which it runs with Flipkart. It did not disclose how many additions came through that bundle. The read is that in India the hard part was never the content, it was the checkout. (Inc42, Business Standard)
Messaging apps must be tied to an active SIM
India’s SIM-binding requirement is reported to take effect on January 1, 2027, covering WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Snapchat, Arattai, ShareChat, Josh and JioChat. An app account will have to stay bound to an active registered SIM in the device, with the stated aim of cutting fraud run from numbers whose SIMs are no longer live. The work for the apps is in the re-verification flow rather than the sign-up. The people it lands on first are not the fraudsters, but anyone running a messaging app on a tablet, a second phone or a desktop without the SIM in it. (Inc42, ETV Bharat)
Garuda Aerospace’s revenue rose 67% before its IPO
Garuda Aerospace reported FY26 revenue of Rs 206 crore, up 67% on the year, and profit up about 41% to Rs 25.9 crore. The drone maker is preparing to list, which is the only reason a private company’s full-year numbers are in public view at all. Profit growing slower than revenue is the detail worth holding: a 67% revenue rise against a 41% profit rise means the growth was bought with something, and the prospectus is where the company will have to name it. (Entrackr, Inc42)
The full edition, with three more briefs, is here: https://theinsightlabs.in/daily/2026-10-25
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