The Indian new-age tech stocks continued their mixed performance this week amid the ongoing volatility in the broader domestic equity market.

Though new-age tech stocks performed better overall compared to last week, eight out of the 18 stocks under Inc42’s coverage fell in a range of 0.04% to over 8%.

While ideaForge turned out to be the biggest loser this week (down 8.3%), Nykaa, PB Fintech, DroneAcharya, and the recently-listed Yudiz also declined.

Meanwhile, CarTrade Technologies emerged as the biggest winner this week by gaining 11.5% on the BSE, followed by MapmyIndia, which also rose over 11%.

Eight others, including Paytm, EaseMyTrip, Nazara Technologies, Zomato, and Yatra, gained in a range of 0.8% to 9% this week.

In the broader market, benchmark indices Nifty 50 and Sensex rose 0.1% to 19,653.50 and 0.25% to 65,995.63, respectively, this week. While the indices declined in the first two sessions  of the week, they gained in the last two sessions, helped by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) monetary policy announcement on Friday.

The central bank kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5% for the fourth consecutive time and also maintained India’s FY24 GDP growth forecast at 6.5%.

The market was closed on October 2 due to Gandhi Jayanti.

Siddhartha Khemka, head of retail research at Motilal Oswal said, the market is expected to remain range-bound given the global uncertainty. 

“Markets on Monday would react to crucial US non-farm payroll and unemployment data for the month of September… Also focus will shift toward stock-specific action as Q2 FY24 earnings begin next week,” he said, adding that the IT sector will remain in the limelight as tech majors TCS and Infosys are set to announce their Q2 results next week.

Now, let’s deep dive into understanding the performance of some of the new-age tech stocks this week.

The 18 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage ended the week with a total market capitalisation of $40.28 Bn as against $37.07 Bn last week.

Nykaa’s Robust Q2 Performance Update

Shares of Nykaa witnessed a volatile week, plunging over 4% in the first three sessions but ending Friday’s session up 1.7% on the BSE.

The recovery in the last trading session of the week came on the back of the company’s positive Q2 performance update. The beauty and fashion ecommerce major expects around a 20% year-on-year (YoY) growth in the net sales value (NSV) of its beauty and personal care (BPC) business in the quarter.

Nykaa also said that its net sales for the fashion vertical for the quarter are expected to grow in the early thirties on a YoY basis, while consolidated NSV is likely to grow in the mid-twenties.

The stock ended Friday’s trading session at INR 149.4 on the BSE, down 2.4% week-on-week. 

Meanwhile, the company also announced allotting 1.53 Lakh equity shares as ESOPs this week.

Amol Athawale, VP of technical research at Kotak Securities, said Nykaa shares are still in the consolidation zone but it’s a positive consolidation.

However, the stock will see a fresh rally only after it crosses the INR 150-INR 155 level, following which it can move towards the INR 162-INR 165 mark, he said.

“On the flip side, the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) or INR 142 is the immediate support level for the stock,” said Athawale, adding that below this level, correction is likely to accelerate.

Paytm Touches 52-Week High

Shares of Paytm saw another spike this week, touching a 52-week high of INR 936 during the intraday trading on Friday on the BSE. Though the stock shed some of its gains later in the day, it ended the week at INR 927.9, a rise of 3.5% from Thursday’s close.

Overall, Paytm shares gained over 8% this week.

Despite ESOP expenses continuing to remain a major hurdle for the company on its path to profitability, Paytm allotted 27,687 equity shares to its employees this week.

After a massive fall last year, Paytm shares have gained almost 75% on the BSE so far this year. Currently, the shares are trading at a level last seen in February last year.

Kotak Securities’ Athawale said that the broader texture of the stock is on the positive side and INR 875-INR 880 is the immediate support level.

The stock can move up to INR 949-INR 950 going forward. However, due to the current market volatility, there’s also a possibility of consolidation in the near term if the broader market undergoes a correction, he added.

ideaForge Touches An All-Time Low

While the new-age tech stocks which were battered last year are seeing a sustained positive momentum this year, the situation is different for the startups which listed this year. Drone startup ideaForge, which listed at a 94% premium in July, continues to witness a major slump in its share price. 

This week, its shares declined 8.3%, ending Friday’s session at INR 823.55 on the BSE. ideaForge declined in all four sessions this week, touching an all-time low of INR 815 during Friday’s intraday trading session.

It must be noted that the startup approved the allotment of 1.41 Lakh equity shares, having a face value of INR 10, as ESOPs this week. 

Shares of ideaForge, which listed at INR 1,305.1 on the BSE, are currently trading almost 37% lower from the listing price.