Filter Coffee - Healthcare’s IPO shot

Drone stocks soar, OpenAI acquires io, and NTPC Green makes a profit.

🗓 Morning, folks!

Markets bounced back on Wednesday after a sluggish start to the week. The Sensex and Nifty closed 0.5% higher, powered by financials, energy, and defence stocks.

ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and Reliance Industries led the gains, while midcaps stayed hot thanks to upbeat earnings and sector-specific momentum.

💡 Spotlight: defence names continue to extend their rally. Common names like ideaForge, Paras Defence, Zen Technologies, HAL, BEL, and DCM Shriram Industries have surged between 8% and 50% since May 7.

Analysts now say the sector is no longer overheated. Instead, it reflects the ‘new normal, especially as demand for indigenous technology grows rapidly. But the real question is, do valuations at this level make sense for new investors to get in? Probably not.

Let’s hit it!

1 Big Thing: Qure.AI is gearing up to go public 📈

India-based healthtech startup Qure.AI is gearing up for a public listing, but only after it hits profitability next year.

The deets: Qure.AI builds AI tools to help diagnose diseases early, think tuberculosis, lung cancer, and stroke. The startup counts big names like AstraZeneca, Medtronic, and Johnson & Johnson MedTech among its global clients.

Worth noting: Qure.AI is growing fast with 60-70% revenue growth annually, and serving 15 million patients each year.

Zoom out: the global AI-in-healthcare market is booming & it is expected to grow from $14.9 billion in 2024 to $110 billion by 2030. As overburdened healthcare systems turn to automation, Qure.AI’s early detection tools are finding strong global demand.

2. NTPC Green’s profit powers up 🔋

NTPC Green Energy lit up the Street with a blockbuster Q4, profits nearly tripled and revenue growth stayed strong.

For context, the company is the renewable energy arm of NTPC, India’s largest power utility. It builds and operates solar, wind, and hybrid projects.

By the numbers:

Profit: ₹233.2 crore, up 188% YoY (vs ₹80.95 crore)
Revenue: ₹622.2 crore, up 22.4% YoY (vs ₹508.14 crore)
QoQ: Profit jumped 255%, revenue up 23%

The how: the company’s execution has been sharp with ramping up output while keeping expenses in check. Also, strong grid demand for clean power is fuelling steady top-line gains.

Zoom out: India is betting big on green energy. The country aims to hit 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030.

Investors clearly liked what they saw as NTPC Green ended 4% higher in Wednesday’s session.

While we are on earnings,

India’s biggest airline, IndiGo, posted a strong March quarter with numbers beating analyst expectations across the board.

By the numbers: net profit for the quarter jumped 62% YoY to ₹3,067.5 crore vs ₹1,894.8 crore last year.

Revenue grew 24% to ₹22,152 crore vs ₹17,825 crore (YoY).

Why it matters: lower crude prices, strong demand, and solid passenger yields especially around events like Mahakumbh boosted profitability. IndiGo also held on to its market dominance, with a steady 64.1% market share in April 2025.

3. OpenAI acquires Jony Ive’s startup to build AI hardware 💰

OpenAI is buying io, the AI device startup co-founded by former Apple design legend Jony Ive, in a $6.5 billion all-stock deal making it OpenAI’s biggest acquisition yet.

What’s the deal: OpenAI will pay $5 billion in equity, with the rest reflecting its 23% stake from 2023. The startup is backed by big-name investors like Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective, Thrive Capital, and Sutter Hill Ventures. Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, holds no equity in io.

Why it matters: this move signals OpenAI’s clear push into hardware—pairing its software firepower with Apple-level design DNA. Ive and his team helped build the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch… and now they’re set to design a new family of AI-native devices.

What’s next: OpenAI will absorb io’s 55-person team of hardware engineers and designers. With Altman’s vision and Ive’s industrial design chops, this could be the iPhone moment of AI—if they pull it off.

4. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

1. TCS rings up ₹2,903 cr BSNL deal 📶

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) secured an add-on Advance Purchase Order (APO) worth ₹2,903 crore from BSNL to further build out the telecom operator’s 4G mobile network across the country.

The deets: the APO covers planning, supply, installation, testing, and maintenance for BSNL’s 4G rollout across 18,685 sites. Alongside, Tejas Networks, a TCS group company, will supply Radio Access Network (RAN) equipment and services worth ₹1,525 crore, indicating a coordinated hardware-software push.

Why TCS for BSNL: TCS is already leading the charge in BSNL’s mega ₹15,000 crore 4G and data centre project, with this new order adding momentum.

The company has already completed 70% of its current BSNL contract, and this latest tranche will help keep the revenue wheels spinning, especially as earlier project revenues begin to taper.

2. Biocon gets Japan nod for arthritis biosimilar 🇯🇵

Biocon Biologics gained 2% after the company received approval from Japan’s health regulator for Ustekinumab BS, its biosimilar drug used to treat skin and joint inflammation.

The deets: the approval is for a subcutaneous injection basically, a shot under the skin used to treat two common immune-related conditions:

Psoriasis vulgaris: a chronic skin condition that causes itchy, scaly patches.
Psoriatic arthritis: a painful joint condition that affects people who already have psoriasis.

Why it matters: this drug will be Biocon’s first biosimilar approved in Japan, one of the world’s largest and most regulated pharma markets.

3. Patel powers up in the Northeast 🌪️

Patel Engineering bags ₹711 Cr hydropower deal in Arunachal.

The deets: the contract is from North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) for a 240 MW hydropower project in Arunachal Pradesh.

240 MW hydropower is enough power to light up roughly 2.5–3 lakh Indian homes.

Hydropower works by using the force of flowing water to spin turbines, which then generate electricity which means it is clean, efficient, and renewable.

The project, located in the Shi Yomi district, is part of the HEO hydropower project and includes civil construction, hydro-mechanical works, and full system commissioning.

Zoom out: India is pushing hard on hydropower to balance its clean energy mix. The country currently has around 47 GW of installed hydro capacity, but the target is far higher, with room for over 100 GW+.

5. Story in data: Nuclear power play 📊

With 172 nuclear warheads, India now ranks 6th globally—just ahead of Pakistan and closing in on the UK.

The shift underscores India’s strategic ambitions amid rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific and a renewed global arms race.

Russia and the US still dominate the charts, but India’s position signals a longer-term doctrine of credible deterrence. It also highlights a broader trend: emerging powers aren’t just growing economically, they’re asserting military weight too.