IEX shares in free fall, nosedive 28%. What should investors do now?
ADVERTISEMENT The regulatory development comes just hours ahead of IEX's first-quarter earnings for FY26, heightening investor anxiety over the company's near-term outlook.
In an order issued late Wednesday, the CERC said it would initiate market coupling in a phased manner, beginning with the Day-Ahead Market (DAM) by January 2026. This move follows extensive consultations with Grid-India and other power sector stakeholders.
Market coupling is aimed at unifying price discovery by pooling bids from multiple power exchanges and clearing them centrally. The mechanism is expected to improve efficiency and reduce regional price disparities, but it may also disrupt the existing revenue model for dominant players like IEX.Currently, IEX operates independently as a leading player in the DAM and Real-Time Market (RTM). The introduction of coupling would mean bids from IEX and other exchanges will now be centrally matched, potentially eroding IEX's competitive advantage.
ADVERTISEMENT Bernstein downgraded its target price to Rs 122 from Rs 160, maintaining a 'Market-Perform' rating. The brokerage noted, 'Coupling… as bad as it gets,' citing risks to IEX's transaction charges and market share. 'With the moat of liquidity gone, the only way to compete is transaction charge,' it added.UBS, however, maintained a 'Buy' call with a target price of Rs 285. While acknowledging the move was a negative surprise, the firm pointed out that the Grid-India report estimated only a 0.01–0.3% benefit in terms of savings or volume cleared. It also noted that RTM coupling would be considered in later phases. In FY25, DAM and RTM together contributed nearly 80% of IEX's revenue.
ADVERTISEMENT
Axis Capital highlighted the earnings risk, estimating that had market coupling been in place in FY25, IEX's EPS could have been around 30% lower due to loss of market share.Meanwhile, the regulatory update lands just ahead of IEX's Q1FY26 results, which are expected later today. Analysts and investors will focus on management commentary around the implications of market coupling, expected volume trends, and how IEX plans to adapt ahead of the January 2026 implementation.
ADVERTISEMENT
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
(You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
a few seconds ago
- Indian Express
Chandigarh: Absconding GBP officials declared proclaimed offenders
The special court of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Chandigarh, has declared absconding officials of real estate firm Gupta Builders and Promoters (GBP) as proclaimed offenders. The company and its management are accused of duping investors of more than Rs 1,000 crore across the Tricity and several other cities in India before fleeing abroad around four years ago. According to court records, the accused had repeatedly failed to appear despite multiple arrest warrants being issued against them. Given their continued absence, the court declared them proclaimed offenders. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been investigating the matter under the PMLA and has already attached properties worth around Rs 148 crore belonging to the group and its directors. The seized assets include commercial projects at Zirakpur, residential properties, and agricultural land. Those declared PO by the court include GBP group officials Satish Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Raman Gupta, Vinod Gupta and Anupam Gupta. Despite repeated summons, the accused never appeared before the court, leading to the issuance of non-bailable warrants. The GBP Group also faces numerous cases before the Consumer Commission, several complaints with the Chandigarh Police, and multiple cheque bounce cases — in which they too have failed to appear, prompting more warrants. As per reports, the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) had also filed a complaint against GBP Group in the district court in November 2021 for failing to comply with its orders. When the accused failed to appear, the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court declared them fugitives in October 2022. The accused are also on the run in a case filed by the Income Tax Department.
The Hindu
a few seconds ago
- The Hindu
Prestige Group acquires 102 acres of land in Q1 to build homes worth ₹20k crore
Realty firm Prestige Estates Projects Ltd has acquired 102 acres of land in the April-June quarter to build housing projects, with a potential to generate revenue of more than ₹20,000 crore. Looking to expand its residential real estate business, Bengaluru-based Prestige Estates Projects has been acquiring land parcels outright and also partnering with landowners. According to its latest investor presentation, the company acquired a total of 102 acres of land in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai in the first quarter of this fiscal year. These land parcels will be used to develop residential projects, which would have an estimated gross development value (GDV) of Rs 20,400 crore. According to the presentation, Prestige Estates in Hyderabad acquired two plots — 28 acres in Tellapur and 37 acres in Pulimamidi. In Bengaluru, the company has acquired three land parcels — 10 acres in Poojanahalli - Devanahalli, 7 acres in Kothanuru, KR Puram and 10 acres in Ittangur, Sarjapura. At Velachery in Chennai, the company acquired 3.48 acres. Prestige acquired 6.3 acres of land in Mumbai. The presentation did not mention the cost of the land. On financial performance, the company recently reported a 26% increase in its consolidated net profit to ₹292.5 crore during the first quarter of this fiscal. Its net profit stood at ₹232.6 crore in the year-ago period. The total income rose to ₹2,468.7 crore during the April-June period of this fiscal from ₹2,024.5 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding year. Last month, Prestige Estates Projects Ltd reported a four-fold jump in its sales bookings to ₹12,126.4 crore in the first quarter of FY26, mainly due to strong demand for its housing project in Ghaziabad. The company's sales bookings or pre-sales stood at ₹3,029.5 crore in the year-ago period. During the entire last fiscal year, Prestige Estates sales bookings declined 19% to ₹17,023.1 crore, "reflecting the impact of deferred launches amid approval delays". The company has given guidance of achieving ₹27,000 crore worth of sales bookings during the current fiscal year. Prestige Group has delivered over 300 projects and has a pipeline of around 140 projects.
Time of India
a few seconds ago
- Time of India
Sebi proposes lower entry threshold for large-value AIFs at Rs 25 crore
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Markets regulator Sebi has proposed a slew of relaxations for large value funds (LVFs) under the alternative investment funds framework , including reduction in minimum investment requirement to Rs 25 crore from the current Rs 70 a consultation paper issued on Friday, the regulator said the changes aim to widen investor participation and cut compliance proposals follow recommendations from Sebi's Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee and the Ease of Doing Business Working key proposal is to lower the investment threshold to Rs 25 crore, which the regulator said will attract more domestic institutional players such as insurance companies and diversify the investor present, the working groups highlighted that LVF threshold of Rs 70 crore is too high and many investors, including some institutional investors, have limitations on the has also proposed exempting LVFs from several compliance requirements, including the need to follow the standard template for private placement memoranda (PPM), mandatory annual audits of PPM terms, and the responsibility placed on investment committee members for approving fund NISM certification mandate for key investment team members of fund managers may also be waived for LVF-only the regulator has proposed removing the cap of 1,000 investors per AIF scheme for LVFs, citing the large ticket size and the accredited investor base as sufficient also recommended allowing existing AIF schemes, whose investors meet LVF criteria, to convert into LVFs with the consent of all investors. This would enable them to benefit from the proposed markets watchdog noted that LVFs have seen steady traction since their introduction in August 2021, but could play a bigger role in channelling long-term investments, especially into unlisted securities, if entry barriers are Securities and Exchange Board of India has invited public comments on the proposals till August 29.
