Kotak Securities has issued a BUY rating for Fractal Analytics with a fair value of ₹1,000 against the current market price of ₹818. According to Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities, the company is positioned as a leading pureplay provider of enterprise data, analytics and AI (DAAI) services. The brokerage expects robust 16.6% US$ revenue CAGR over FY2026-29E, with growth accelerating in FY2028E and FY2029E as enterprise AI adoption scales rapidly. Operating leverage and lower absolute ESOP expense are expected to drive 300 bps of EBITDA margin expansion, with the company projecting a strong 36% adjusted PAT CAGR over FY2026-29E.
As reported by Kotak Securities, Fractal serves 112 must-win clients (MWCs) and has demonstrated strong account mining capabilities by scaling six client accounts to annual revenues of US$20 million. The company maintains healthy attrition levels and a high Glassdoor rating despite industry-wide AI talent shortages, reflecting its strong employee value proposition. The global DAAI services market is expected to grow at 16.7% CAGR through FY2030E, with Fractal positioned to deliver broadly similar growth rates. Kotak Securities expects AI to become central to enterprise business operations, potentially expanding Fractal's role from a strategic vendor to a strategic partner across the enterprise.
Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts delivered better-than-expected Q1FY27 results with revenues growing 28% year-on-year, EBITDA increasing 41% year-on-year, and PAT showing strong growth. According to Kotak Securities, EBITDA margin expanded 380 bps year-on-year to 40.7% due to improved room rates and contained costs. The owned portfolio witnessed 10% year-on-year growth in ARR to ₹20,722 per day and 390 bps year-on-year improvement in occupancy to 67.5%, leading to 17% year-on-year RevPAR growth to ₹13,982 per day. Domestic room revenues grew 25% year-on-year, increasing the share of domestic customer revenues to 58% from 54% in Q1FY26.
As reported by Kotak Securities, Leela has announced a 30-key wildlife resort at Tadoba, Maharashtra, at a planned capex of ₹120 crore, with commissioning targeted in FY31. The company now has 812 keys in its owned pipeline to be commissioned progressively over the next 4-5 years, along with 283 managed keys across Mumbai, Sikkim and Jaisalmer to be commissioned over the next two years. Leela plans to expand its portfolio to 5,257 keys across 25 hotels by FY30E, with 2,646 owned keys. The company's gross debt stood at ~₹1,500 crore as of June 2026, while net debt stood at ~₹1,330 crore as of June 2026.
According to Kotak Securities, Leela is expected to deliver 17% EBITDA CAGR over FY26-30E on the back of industry-leading double-digit RevPAR growth and addition of new owned keys. The brokerage remains confident of Leela's ability to sustain industry-leading ARR growth, as it remains focused on luxury properties that are supply constrained (5% of incremental industry supply). However, key risks identified include high revenue concentration among clients, geographies and verticals, technology breakthroughs in AI self-recursive improvements that could reduce demand for specialized services, and intensifying competition and deflationary pressures in the base business.
