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Netflix shares fell more than 10% on Wednesday, as the streaming giant's outlook for the coming quarter left investors nonplussed despite a strong line-up of shows that includes the final season of "Stranger Things".Investors have become accustomed to routine outperformance from the company that propelled the stock to a gain of more than 360% over the past three years, far outpacing media bellwethers like Walt Disney and even tech stalwarts Apple and Alphabet.It has garnered additional attention with the sweeping success of the animated "KPop Demon Hunters".But since peaking in June, shares have declined more than 16%, signaling that investors are growing cautious about its lofty valuation and lack of details about subscriber growth. The company's forward price-to-earnings multiple stands at nearly 40, far more than other media companies and major tech names."Shares have enjoyed a strong run this year, so expectations were already high, and with the valuation sitting above its long-term average, there's added pressure not just to deliver but to exceed," said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.Netflix forecast revenue of $11.96 billion for the fourth quarter, compared with Wall Street's projection for $11.9 billion. Third-quarter revenue was roughly in line with forecasts, at $11.5 billion, according to LSEG data.The company has ventured into advertising and video games to diversify its revenue streams, but these businesses have struggled amid shifts in leadership and strategy, along with competition.For the third quarter, Netflix said it recorded its best ad sales quarter in history without disclosing a number."Netflix must demonstrate soon that its ad program can accelerate growth to justify a sky-high multiple," analysts at Wedbush said, calling the company's latest guidance "underwhelming" after several quarters of standout results.Netflix stopped reporting subscriber figures early in 2025. The company is banking on its major releases through year-end that include "Stranger Things" and two NFL games set to stream live on Christmas Day.However, Evercore ISI analysts suggested investors should buy any dip in the stock, noting competitors Disney+ and HBO Max have increased their subscription prices, giving Netflix plenty of cover to boost its own rates. The Connecticut-based firm missed profit estimates for the third quarter due to a $619 million charge linked to a tax dispute in Brazil. J.P. Morgan analysts described the expense as "noise," noting that "the bigger focus is the lack of revenue upside in the back half of the year"."With no subscriber numbers, some advocates are grasping at straws to find any sign of weakness, as the company is faring much stronger than its rivals," said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore.At least three brokerages lowered their price targets on Netflix after the results.

A Muhurat-to-Muhurat analysis of the stock market performance of India’s top 10 business houses by market cap reveals that the Bharti Airtel group has clocked the highest gain of 24.8 in market capitalisation during the Samvat 2081 helped by a strong rebound in the profitability of the group’s flagship telecom company Bharti Airtel. The Bajaj group led by Rajiv and Sanjiv Bajaj came in second with a market cap gain of 24.2% followed by the Mahindra group in the third spot with 15.7% gain.Sunil Mittal led Bharti group also posted a robust 28.9% annual increase in market cap since the 2021 Diwali, the highest return among the top 10 business houses. Bharti Airtel’s net profit has increased significantly over the past five years helped by an uptick in tariff plans for its mobile and data services and rising consumption of digital content in the country. Net profit increased more than four-fold between FY22 and FY25 to Rs37,481 crore from Rs 8,305 crore. It rose further to Rs40,186 crore in the 12 months (TTM) to June 2025.124750267The market cap of Mahindra group, which ranked third on the list, increased in double digits in each of the three years to Samvat 2081. The group’s major company Mahindra and Mahindra, has been improving its market share in the sports utility vehicles (SUV) and tractor segments aided by new product launches. The company’s net profit nearly doubled between FY22 and FY25 to Rs14,073 crore from Rs7,253 crore and increased further to Rs14,904 crore in TTM to June 2025.The four out of top 10 business groups failed to increase their market cap in the past Samvat year that ended on October 20, 2025. The Shiv Nadar founded HCL Technologies group and the Tata group posted 15.4% and 13.6% loss in their market caps respectively.

The rules-based international trade system is in danger, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Wednesday, amid spiralling debt, heavy tariffs and financial insecurity for emerging nations.Guterres said too many countries were trapped in a debt crisis, spending more money on servicing creditors than funding health and education."Global debt has soared. Poverty and hunger are still with us. The international financial architecture is not providing an adequate safety net for developing countries. And the rules-based trading system is at risk of derailment," Guterres said at the UN Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva.Guterres said trade and development was facing a "whirlwind of change", with three-quarters of global growth now coming from the developing world, services trade surging and new technologies boosting the global economy.However, geopolitical divisions, inequalities, conflicts and the climate crisis are limiting progress, the UN secretary-general said.'In turmoil' Furthermore, US President Donald Trump's administration has slapped wide-ranging tariffs on other nations, triggering trade tensions around the globe.Guterres acknowledged that "protectionism might be, in some situations, inevitable", but, he stressed, "at least it should be rational".The UN chief warned that developing countries "continue to be short-changed", with uncertainty rising, investment retreating and supply chains "in turmoil"."Trade barriers are rising, with some least developed countries facing extortionate tariffs of 40 percent, despite representing barely one percent of global trade flows," he said."We see a rising risk of trade wars for goods", while "military expenditure trends show that we are increasingly investing more in death than in people's prosperity and well-being".Faced with these hazards, Guterres outlined four priorities for international action: a "fair global trade and investment system", financing for developing countries, technology and innovation to stimulate the economy, and aligning trade policies with climate objectives.Guterres said 3.4 billion people were living in countries that spend more on debt servicing than on health or education.He called for lower borrowing costs and risks, and quicker support for countries facing debt distress.Meanwhile global financial institutions need reforming so they better represent the needs of developing countries, he added.The UN chief was set to launch later Wednesday the Sevilla Forum on Debt, aimed at tackling debt problems in developing countries by unlocking financing for developing countries, strengthening the ability to mobilise domestic funding, leveraging more private finance and tripling the lending power of multilateral development banks.Guterres praised efforts to close the digital divide between wealthy and poor nations and ensure that technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain become accessible to all countries, "not just rich ones".

Tech Mahindra’s (TechM) stock has lost nearly 10% over the past three months. The ET Infotech index fell by 5% during the period. The company’s lacklustre performance on the bourses was despite its better than expected financial numbers for the September quarter. The stock is under pressure due to concerns over delay in project ramp ups and short term challenges pertaining to the US policy decisions on tariffs and H1B visa. Analysts have lowered the earnings expectations by 2-6% for FY26 and FY27 and have reduced the 12-month target price by 5-9% after the result announcement to factor in the concerns.Over the past few quarters, the company under the leadership of Mohit Joshi who took charge as the CEO in December 2023, has shown consistent improvement in the operating margin (EBIT margin) and deal wins. The EBIT margin has expanded by 100 basis points sequentially to 12.1% in the September quarter. It has nearly doubled after hitting a low of 6.1% in FY24. The company has a target of achieving 15% margin by FY27. While it is on track, the headwinds in terms of delay in project rollouts and delay in discretionary spending by clients may reduce the pace of margin improvement in the near term. This has made the company’s task to meet the targeted profitability in another six quarters challenging. Therefore, a delay of a quarter or two in achieving the margin guidance cannot be ruled out.The total contract value (TCV) of deal wins has also been improving since the June 2024 quarter. The company clocked $816 million in TCV for the latest September quarter compared with $809 million in the previous quarter and $603 million in the year-ago quarter. It had closed FY25 with a TCV of $2.6 billion compared with $1.9 billion in the prior year, reflecting the rising momentum in fetching new business.Despite a bulging order book, TechM’s quarterly revenue collection has remained at around $1.6 billion over the past six quarters. This shows the impact of weak client sentiment on project ramp ups.“The demand environment is uncertain because of the potential threat of recession from the world’s largest economies,” mentioned Axis Securities in a report, adding that the rising subcontracting cost and cross-currency headwinds may impact operating margins negatively. The broking firm has increased the revenue estimate for FY26 by a modest 1% to Rs55,669 crore but has reduced the net profit estimate by 2% to Rs5,096 crore, citing the near term challenges.On average, analysts have reduced the 12-month price target for TechM’s stock by 7% to Rs1,651. The stock was traded at Rs1,448.3 at the end of Tuesday’s special trading session on the BSE, reflecting an upside of 14%.