Auto, financials see earnings cut following Covid-19-linked state lockdowns

Automobile and financial stocks dominate the list of companies where analysts have scaled back their earnings estimates for FY22 following the lockdowns announced in several states to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Meanwhile, hospitals, cements and metal companies have seen further upgrades in their FY22 earnings estimate, shows Bloomberg data. United Breweries, India’s largest beer company, has seen a 16 per cent cut, while Tata Motors has seen a 12 per cent cut in their earnings per share (EPS) estimates in the last one month. Axis Bank, SBI Cards and Maruti Suzuki are among the top 10 companies from the Nifty 100 universe who have seen maximum cut in earnings. Analysts say there could be further cut in earnings if the second-wave doesn’t peak soon. They say earlier consensus quarter-on-quarter earnings growth for the June quarter was 7 per cent. But the Covid-19 surge this has dropped to minus 16 per cent.