ITC Q2 results 2026 today schedule, preview | Should you buy ahead of earnings announcement?

While growth in its non-cigarette businesses could offer some support, brokerages expect the company's consolidated earnings to remain under pressure.ITC Q2 results 2026 schedule: Date and timeITC's board of directors is scheduled to meet on Monday, 2 November, 2026, to consider and approve the unaudited standalone and consolidated financial results for the quarter and half-year ended 30 September, 2026.The company disclosed the board meeting date in an exchange filing on October 16.

However, it has not specified the exact time of the results announcement. Investors should watch for the company's exchange filing for the official earnings release.ITC Q2 results 2026 previewKotak Institutional Equities expects ITC's cigarette business to report a subdued performance in Q2FY27, primarily due to the new taxation structure, which has resulted in significant price increases. The company has implemented cumulative blended price hikes of 32-34% over the past six months.The brokerage estimates cigarette volumes to decline 9% year-on-year (YoY), compared with a 5% fall in Q1, due to the normalisation of RSFT volumes following channel stocking ahead of the price hike at the end of Q1 and the delayed price increase in GPI's Marlboro Compact.

Cigarette net sales and EBIT are expected to decline 20% and 27%, respectively, although the contraction is likely to be lower than the 26% and 35% declines recorded in Q1. This improvement is expected to be supported by the second round of price increases in the RSFT segment around the end of Q1.Kotak expects the cigarette business's EBIT trajectory to improve further in Q3, with the decline moderating to 15-20%.

This could be supported by the recent 10% price hike in KSFT Slims, a potential third and final round of price increases in RSFT, and a greater focus on EBIT-neutral alternatives, including Longs, premium DSFT variants and other new launches.Additionally, other income could be impacted by mark-to-market (MTM) losses on bonds amid rising yields. Overall, Kotak expects ITC's net sales, EBITDA and profit after tax (PAT) to decline 4.9%, 17.3% and 20.4%, respectively, on a year-on-year basis in Q2FY27.ITC share price - Buy, sell or hold ahead of earnings?Mahesh M Ojha, VP Research & Business Development at Kantilal Chhaganlal Securities, believes ITC's valuation is attractive and recommends buying the stock ahead of its Q2FY27 earnings announcement.According to the analyst's recommendation, investors can consider buying ITC shares with a stop-loss (SL) of ₹254 and price targets of ₹276, ₹285 and higher.

The recommendation indicates potential upside, although investors should keep the expected weakness in the September-quarter earnings in mind. Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. The views and recommendations above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, not Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.