Varun Beverages shares fell 7.5% on Tuesday after Q1 India volume growth missed estimates, but the stock recovered on Wednesday morning.

The quarter is widely tracked in the market as Q1 FY27, though the company itself reports on a January to December calendar year.

The trigger was India volumes. Varun Beverages sold 14.4% more cases in the country during the April-June period compared to a year earlier, well short of the 20%-plus growth analysts were expecting.

Management pointed to unusual weather in April as the culprit, and said growth stayed above 20% in every other month of the season, which typically kicks off in March.

The rest of the report wasn’t as gloomy. Revenue rose 21% year-on-year to ₹8,650.5 crore, a shade ahead of estimates.

EBITDA grew 17% to ₹2,344 crore, though margins slipped by about 0.9% points to 27.1% as costs edged up.

Gross margin actually improved, touching 55%, helped by early stocking of raw materials and a growing share of low- and no-sugar drinks in the portfolio.

International operations did some heavy lifting too. The South African arm, Twizza, added 11.8 million cases to volumes for the quarter, and stronger overseas pricing lifted consolidated realisation per case by 1.2%.

Chairman Ravi Jaipuria stayed upbeat, saying the company has the capacity, product range and distribution network to keep growing profitably in the years ahead. The stock has since started clawing its way back.

At 9:50 am on Wednesday, Varun Beverages is trading at ₹436.20, up 1.44% or ₹6.20 from the previous close, recovering some of Tuesday’s losses even as it remains well below its 52-week high of ₹555.80.

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