Nykaa stock hits record low on muted growth outlook in Q4

Beauty retailer Nykaa saw its stocks dip to a 52-week low of Rs 114.30 per share during intraday trading on Wednesday. At 1.40 pm on Wednesday, the stock picked up to Rs 114.90 per share. 

It ended Tuesday at Rs 116.90 per share on BSE after sliding to Rs 115 per share during the intraday trade. The company’s shares have declined by nearly 58.75% in the last year. 

Nykaa announced a slew of top appointments on Monday, including hiring a new CTO and CFO after the company saw an exodus of its key leadership. The exits coincided with sliding stock prices and intense competition, Reuters said. 

The beauty e-tailer expects muted growth in Q4 of FY23 due to reduced customer spending. “Consumer pullback in discretionary spending has had some impact on our fashion business, leading to subdued growth in NSV this quarter. For Q4 FY23, we expect our percentage revenue growth rates in the fashion business to come through in the late teens,” FSN Ecommerce, the parent entity of Nykaa, said in a filing with the bourses. 

“For FY23, at the consolidated level, we expect to sustain our percentage growth rate in line with 9M FY23,” it said in the filings. The beauty retailer is yet to issue its audited performance update for Q4 FY23. 

A sector report by ICICI Securities on Indian internet stocks said there were signs of consumption fatigue across online food ordering and ecommerce for beauty and personal care (BPC) space. 

“Q4 is historically a weak quarter for Nykaa. Q4 FY23 also experienced consumption fatigue. In our view, the management’s decision to activate a new sale event in Q4 FY23 was to counter these headwinds,“ said the report.

"Overall, we estimate revenue growth of 31.3% year-on-year for Q4, FY23. We estimate EBITDA to grow 73% year-on-year and Profit After Tax (PAT) to grow 4% year-on-year basis," it added.

Nykaa also faces competition from Reliance Retail-backed omnichannel beauty product platform Tira launched earlier this month.