Five stocks that made news today: Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto and more

After opening on a positive note, markets slipped in to the negative territory on back of profit booking ahead of corporate earnings of ITC and SBI, which can decide the direction of market. Also, weak global markets affected the movement of the domestic markets on Thursday.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty declined 0.10 per cent and 0.03 per cent to 27,809.35 and 8,421, respectively.

Below are the five stocks which stayed in news today.

• Godrej Properties: Shares of Godrej Properties surged over 6 per cent on Thursday after the company said it sold over 200 apartments, with an area over 400,000 sq ft, in just three weeks after the launch of its new residential project in Gurgaon.
• Strides Arcolab:# Share price of the company rose over 8 per cent on Thursday after the company announced that it has agreed to buy South Africa-based Aspen Pharmacare Holdings' generic drugs business in Australia for about $299.90 million.# Strides Pharma Global Pte, Singapore and Strides (Australia) Pharma Pty, Australia, wholly owned subsidiaries of Strides Arcolab, have signed definitive agreement with wholly owned subsidiaries of Aspen Pharmacare Holdings to acquire generic pharmaceutical business in Australia together with certain branded pharmaceutical assets.
• Globus Spirits: Shares of Globus Spirits surged 20 per cent on Thursday after the company announced better-than-expected fourth quarter numbers on Wednesday. For the quarter ended March 2015, it registered net profit of Rs 3.57 crore, up 157.54 per cent, against net loss of Rs 6.20 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Gross sales of the company jumped 34.56 per cent year-on-year (yoy) to Rs 228.94 at the end of the quarter under review.
• Tata Steel: Tata Steel shares tanked 5 per cent on Thursday after the steel maker announced disappointing fourth quarter earnings. Tata Steel on Wednesday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 5,674.29 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, against a profit of Rs 1,035.87 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Consolidated gross sales of the company declined 20.66 per cent year-on-year (yoy) to Rs 33,336.84 at the end of the quarter under review.
• Bajaj Auto: Shares of Bajaj Auto soared 6.94 per cent to Rs 2,299.75 on Thursday after the announcement of Q4 results. For the January-March period, the two-wheeler major posted a net profit of Rs 621.62 crore, against Rs 763.93 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Total Income from operations decreased 3.9 per cent to Rs 4,739.34 crore for the quarter under review. Angel Broking Senior Research Analyst Bharat Gianani says: "Bajaj Auto 4QFY2015 results were ahead of our estimates due to better operating performance. Revenues declined 4 per cent yoy to Rs 4,739 crore but were better than our estimate of Rs 4,519 crore. Higher export realisation lead to beat on the top line. Operating margins adjusted for one time provision of Rs 59 crore (on account of increase in gratuity provisions) stood at 18.9 per cent; which is in line with our estimates. At present, we have accumulate rating on the stock."