Business
PhysicsWallah IPO: Issue off to slow start on Day 2; retail investors show early interest – The Times of India
The initial public offering (IPO) of edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah drew a muted response on the second day of bidding, with only 10% subscription recorded so far. The Rs 3,480-crore IPO, which opened earlier this week, will close for bidding on November 13.According to data available on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) till 11:30 am on Wednesday, investors placed bids for 1,83,06,625 shares against the total issue size of 18,62,04,143 shares. The retail individual investors (RII) portion was subscribed 46%, while non-institutional investors (NII) subscribed 4%. The qualified institutional buyers (QIB) segment, however, saw no participation for the second consecutive day, as per news agency PTI.Before the issue opened to the public, PhysicsWallah raised Rs 1,563 crore from anchor investors on Monday, the company said. This IPO marks a significant milestone as the first major pure-play edtech company to seek a stock market listing in India.The company has set a price band of Rs 103-109 per share, valuing it at over Rs 31,500 crore at the upper end. The issue consists of a fresh share sale worth Rs 3,100 crore and an Offer for Sale (OFS) of up to Rs 380 crore by the promoters.Both Alakh Pandey and Prateek Boob, the company’s co-founders, will each sell shares worth Rs 190 crore through the OFS. They currently hold 40.31% stake each in the Noida-based edtech firm.PhysicsWallah had filed its draft documents with Sebi in March under the confidential pre-filing route and obtained the regulator’s nod in July. The company later submitted its updated Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) in September, followed by the RHP. The confidential filing method allowed the startup to keep key IPO details undisclosed until advanced stages of the process.The company said that funds raised through the IPO will be used to support expansion and growth initiatives. PhysicsWallah provides test preparation courses for competitive exams like JEE, NEET, GATE, and UPSC, along with various upskilling programmes. Its content is offered through YouTube, its website, mobile apps and a mix of offline and hybrid learning centres.The edtech firm, backed by WestBridge Capital, Hornbill, and GSV Ventures, reduced its losses to Rs 243 crore in the financial year ended March 2025, down from Rs 1,131 crore a year earlier. Its revenue increased to Rs 2,887 crore from Rs 1,941 crore during the same period, according to PTI.PhysicsWallah’s shares are scheduled to debut on the stock exchanges on November 18.
Business
Nike shares fall 9% on weak outlook, expected 20% sales decline in China
A Nike logo is displayed at a Nike store in Austin, Texas, Feb. 5, 2026.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
Shares of Nike fell in extended trading Tuesday after the retailer warned sales will fall for the rest of the calendar year, led by an expected 20% decline in its key China market during the current quarter.
Chief Financial Officer Matt Friend said during the company’s earnings call that Nike expects sales for its current fiscal fourth quarter to drop between 2% and 4%, compared with Wall Street estimates of a 1.9% increase, according to LSEG.
For the duration of the calendar year, Friend said, the company expects sales to fall by a low single-digit percentage, led by growth in North America and offset by declines in China. That outlook wasn’t comparable to estimates.
Nike beat expectations across the business on both the top and bottom lines for its fiscal third quarter, but its guidance left investors with more questions about how long its turnaround will take. Friend also cautioned that Nike’s guidance was based off of where the global economic picture stands today — and it could change given recent geopolitical volatility.
“We also recognize that the environment around us has become increasingly dynamic, and we could experience unplanned volatility due to the disruption in the Middle East, rising oil prices and other factors that could impact either input costs or consumer behavior,” said Friend. “We are focused on what we can control.”
Shares fell more than 8% in extended trading.
Here’s how the world’s largest sneaker company did for its fiscal third quarter, compared with estimates from analysts polled by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: 35 cents vs. 28 cents expected
- Revenue: $11.28 billion vs. $11.24 billion expected
The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended Feb. 28 was $520 million, or 35 cents per share. That’s a 35% decline from $794 million, or 54 cents per share, a year earlier. That plunge came as Nike’s gross profit margin slid 1.3 percentage points to 40.2%, “primarily due to higher tariffs in North America,” the company said.
Sales were flat at $11.28 billion, compared to $11.27 billion last year.
While Nike beat expectations on the top and bottom lines, it posted a mixed picture regionally. Nike’s largest market of North America continued to show steady growth, as revenue climbed 3% to $5.03 billion, but that was just shy of Wall Street’s expectations of $5.04 billion, according to StreetAccount.
Meanwhile, Nike’s Greater China market continued to shrink, with revenue down 7% to $1.62 billion during the quarter. Still, that total beat analyst estimates of $1.50 billion, according to StreetAccount.
Nike is continuing to work through a colossal turnaround under CEO Elliott Hill. About a year and a half into his tenure, Hill has made strides in repairing parts of the business, but has been clear that it’ll take time for the entire company to improve given the retailer’s scale and complexity.
He reiterated that expectation on Tuesday, saying in a news release that “the pace of progress is different across the portfolio.”
“The areas we prioritized first continue to drive momentum,” Hill said. “The work is not finished, but the direction is clear, our teams are moving with focus and urgency, and our foundation is getting even stronger to build the future of NIKE.”
Friend said Nike’s turnaround efforts “will continue to impact results over the balance of the calendar year.”
Nike’s recovery was already coming at a tough time as a global trade war dented its efforts to improve profitability and drive sales from inflation-weary shoppers. But now the athletic company will have to contend with a new war in the Middle East that’s already led to rising gas prices and is expected to send consumer prices even higher, which could push shoppers to cut back on nice-to-haves like new clothes and shoes to save money elsewhere.
“We continue to be encouraged by the momentum in North America. We’ve got a strong order book for summer,” Friend said. “We’re seeing positive signs and sell through. We’re not seeing a consumer reaction to what’s going on in the Middle East at this point in time, in North America.”
Hill has focused in part on revitalizing Nike’s business with wholesale partners as opposed to direct sales on its website and in stores. Wholesale revenue climbed 5% to $6.5 billion.
Meanwhile, direct sales slid 4% to $4.5 billion.
Business
Tech giant Oracle makes ‘significant’ job cuts
It is thought that thousands of people may have lost their jobs at Oracle, one of the world’s largest tech companies.
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Business
Oil nears highest price since start of Iran war
The US-Israel Iran war has halted almost all traffic in a key waterway and the price Brent crude has surged.
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