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Crude volatility hits Indian Oil while EV deliveries split three ways

India's Q1 prints diverge sharply by sector, and July auto numbers show export strength at BYD and Kia against a NIO slump.

August 1, 2026 Earnings

Refining takes the war's other side

Indian Oil posted a sharp Q1 FY27 loss as crude swings bit — the clearest corporate evidence so far of how the oil move is distributing pain, not just gains, across the energy chain. Downstream refiners absorb price volatility from both ends, so a loss here is a direct read-through from the same crude action pushing companies to raise prices on consumer goods.

India's domestic prints diverge

Away from energy, the quarter looks healthy but uneven. Divi's Laboratories posted strong Q1 2026 growth, and IRB Infrastructure's profit surged 51% on InvIT growth. Aptus Value Housing Finance is the cautionary one: profit jumped 19% but non-performing assets rose, and the stock fell on those asset-quality concerns — a reminder that in lenders, the earnings line is the less informative number.

July autos: exports and hybrids carry the month

BYD's sales rose for a third consecutive month, buoyed by exports. XPENG delivered 38,027 vehicles in July, up 4% year over year, while NIO fell 11% from June — a widening gap among Chinese EV makers within the same month. In the U.S., Kia America posted its best July in company history at 75,857 units, up 7% year over year with retailer sales up 8%, and best-ever results for Sportage, Carnival, Telluride, Seltos and K4 alongside the hybrid variants of Sportage, Sorento and Carnival. Interpretation: the common thread across BYD and Kia is that growth is coming from geographic reach and hybrid mix rather than from pure domestic EV demand, which is where NIO's decline sits.

Sources

Not investment advice.