Financial services firm Equirus Securities, in its latest report, has said the revenue of its universe companies is set to grow 9% in 2QFY26, with EBITDA/PAT both up by 9%, driven by strong OMCs but held back by BFSI. Mid-caps are expected to deliver strong high-teen earnings growth, outpacing large and small caps, though sales growth remains similar across caps.

In Q2FY26, overall PV wholesales rose 3% YoY, as domestic wholesales declined 2% YoY with dealers cutting back on orders with OEMs post the GST cut announcement amid already elevated inventory levels ahead of the festive season. Exports registered a robust 24% YoY growth. PV retail sales increased 3% YoY, with demand being subdued between August 15 and September 21 but rebounding sharply during the Navratri festival, coinciding with the implementation of the GST cuts. Equirus’ top picks in auto are Hero Motocorp and Lumax Industries.

Demand from new construction stayed weak for late-stage materials like tiles and bathware, while organised wood panel players saw some recovery from the market, says Equirus. Paint demand was hit by prolonged monsoons, recovery likely in 3Q26, it adds, ranking APL Apollo, Cera, Greenpanel, and Carysil as top picks.

In construction, Equirus top picks are PNC Infratech, PSP Projects, H G Infra Engineering, RITES, etc. “Equirus Securities continues to prefer companies with a lower order book base, strong balance sheet (less risk of equity dilution) and better working capital management.”

In the financial sector, the company expects asset quality trends to remain healthy across most segments of corporate and retail credit. Trends are likely to improve in MFI and credit cards. Top picks include Axis Bank and HDFC Bank.

In capital markets, Equirus expects sequential EBITDA growth for the listed AMCs to be in the range of 3-6% driven by healthy QAAUM growth across AMCs, while overall earnings are likely to decline sequentially on account of lower treasury income.

In NBFC, the loan growth in 2QFY26 is expected to remain divergent across segments. “Gold financiers are likely to deliver strong yoy growth, supported by sustained gold price momentum.”

Equirus says overall, 2QFY26 is expected to show a mixed performance across lending segments. The top picks in the sector are Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, Fedbank Financial Services, and L&T Finance.

In consumer durables & discretionary, Equirus says RAC volumes fell ~20% YoY in Jul–Aug but rebounded post-Sept 22 on festive demand and GST cuts; margins remained under pressure. The consumer staples sector is likely to post ~7% YoY revenue growth in 2Q, with flattish EBITDA, the report says. “GST 2.0 slowed primary-channel stocking, compressing reported growth and adding MoM volatility.”

In information technology, Equirus says it expects higher QoQ sales growth in most of the top 6 large caps in 2Q vs. 1Q. “Increased macro concerns (started in Mar’25) have been keeping enterprise clients to remain cautious on incremental Tech-led Services spend. But, at the same time, demand trends are stable qoq in 2Q.”

Equirus Securities expects the top 6 large caps to register qoq growth of flat to 2.1% in US$ Sales in CC terms in 2QFY26E. “Coforge, PSYS, R Systems and eClerx with expected US$ Sales growth in the range of 3.6% to 5.8% qoq (PSYS at the lower end and Coforge at the upper end) in CC terms. We expect CC US$ Sales growth to remain tepid in most the ER&D companies (led by soft demand continuing in Mobility/Auto) with LTTS to lead with expected 1.6% CC qoq growth in US$ Sales in 2Q.”

Top picks in the sector are Infosys/TechM amongst large caps and Mphasis/Zensar/KPIT/eClerx amongst midcaps on a relative basis.