Titan strikes gold this festival season with strong jewellery sales growth

P N Gadgil Jewellers too put up a strong show, with its retail segment growing 29 per cent in Q2 FY26. This was driven by healthy store-level performance and festive season sales

The stock of Titan Company, the country’s largest listed jeweller and watchmaker, rose 4.4 per cent after the firm posted better-than-expected sales growth for the July–September quarter (Q2) of 2025-26 (FY26). Despite a high base, Titan’s domestic revenue grew 20 per cent, driven largely by its jewellery segment. In a pre-quarter update, Titan reported 19 per cent growth in its India jewellery division, which was 300–600 basis points (bps) higher than brokerage estimates.

 

Titan’s peer Kalyan Jewellers also reported strong growth of 31 per cent in its India operations, led primarily by robust wedding demand and a strong start to the festival season. The company noted that Navratri sales — not included in the base quarter — partially offset the impact of last year’s Customs duty cut during Q2 of 2024-25 (FY25). Same-store sales growth stood at a healthy 16 per cent.

 

PN Gadgil Jewellers too reported a solid performance, with its retail segment growing 29 per cent in Q2FY26, supported by strong store-level numbers and festival season demand.

 

Most of Titan’s key jewellery brands delivered healthy growth. Tanishq, Mia, and Zoya grew 18 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), while CaratLane posted 30 per cent growth. The company highlighted that rising gold prices pushed up average ticket sizes, offsetting marginal declines in footfall.

 

The high base of Q2FY25 — due to the Customs duty cut — was balanced this year by an earlier start to the festival season in September (versus October in FY25). Growth was supported by increased spending on promotions, including exchange offers and marketing campaigns to spur demand amid elevated gold prices. Like-for-like growth for Tanishq and CaratLane remained in double digits. Titan’s jewellery division added 34 new stores during the quarter, taking the total to 1,120.

 

Among other segments, the watch business grew 12 per cent in the domestic market, led by a 17 per cent increase in the analogue category. The Titan brand posted strong double-digit growth with healthy festival season volumes. Smart wearables, however, remained under pressure, declining 23 per cent, reflecting the overall slowdown in the category.

 

In eye care, domestic revenue rose 9 per cent, supported by international brands, sunglasses, and e-commerce growth. Emerging businesses also posted strong gains: fragrances grew 48 per cent on the back of strong volumes in Fastrack and Skinn; Irth bags grew 90 per cent, driven by network expansion; and Taneira saris grew 13 per cent.

 

Analysts Mihir P Shah and Riya Patni of Nomura said the strong performance came despite a challenging base in Q2FY25, which had benefited from a Customs duty cut (from 15 per cent to 6 per cent in July last year), the impact of Shradh Paksha (considered inauspicious for purchases), and gold prices that were up 43 per cent Y-o-Y and 10 per cent sequentially — all of which affected footfall. Nomura has a ‘buy’ rating on Titan with a target price of ₹4,275 per share.

 

While top line growth has been strong, brokerages expect gross margins to remain under pressure due to surging gold prices. Antique Stock Broking, however, believes steady growth in studded jewellery should partly offset this impact. Improvements in the profitability of the watch segment could also ease some margin pressure. Analysts at Antique, led by Abhijeet Kundu, expect jewellery margins to expand by 210 bps over the next three years, reaching 11.8 per cent by 2027-28, driven by a better product mix and operational efficiencies. The brokerage has a ‘buy’ rating with a target price of ₹2,615 per share.