US polls hit tech stocks; Qcomm’s Dhanteras gold rush

US technology stocks took a major beating days after the Democratic Party took control of both chambers of the Congress. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.

Also in the letter:
■ Honasa Q2 revenue jumps
■ Deepinder Goyal vs TheLiverDoc
■ Angel One overtakes Zerodha

Programming note: We'll be back in your inbox on November 10. Wishing all our readers a happy and prosperous Diwali.

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Tech stocks tank as Democratic sweep triggers AI slowdown fears

Investors initially cheered a historic “blue wave” in the US midterms, but the rally did not hold amid fears of a Democratic clampdown on AI expansion.

Companies in the Nasdaq Composite shed $2.5 trillion in market value as investors pulled back from AI bets.


Chipmakers take the hit: Nvidia, the face of the AI boom and the S&P 500’s heaviest weight, slid 9.3%, leaving it down 2.6% for 2026 after annual gains of roughly 39%, 171%, and 239% in the prior three years. AMD fared worse, tumbling 17.3%, and Qualcomm 9.5%.

Data centre operators IREN and Applied Digital fell over 14%, while power suppliers GE Vernova and Constellation Energy slid 7.5% and 2.5%.

Big Tech and Musk’s empire: The sell-off spread beyond chips. Meta shed 4%, Amazon and Alphabet each lost 2.2%, and Snap dropped 12% after missing third-quarter revenue estimates.

Companies helmed by Elon Musk, who poured millions to back Republican candidates in the elections, also fell. Tesla tumbled 9.5% and SpaceX eased 6.7%, extending losses after the two Texas-based firms erased more than $120 billion in combined market value following the Democrat victory.

Also Read: Midterm results may slow US visa curbs, but no quick relief likely for IT

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Quick commerce platforms see surge in Dhanteras demand

Quick commerce platforms are seeing a surge in demand for Dhanteras as consumers rush to make last-minute purchases for the festival.

Gold rush: Consumers ordered occasion-specific items such as puja thalis, fruits, flowers, brooms and utensils, alongside higher-value stock-keeping units like gold and silver coins and lightweight jewellery on the rapid delivery platforms.

• Swiggy’s Instamart recorded a 23-fold jump in gold coin orders in the week leading up to Dhanteras.
• Silver coin orders grew seven times during the period; 5-gram and 10-gram denominations saw almost equal demand.

Yes, and: Flipkart Minutes logged threefold order growth between October 30 and November 5. Orders for kitchen appliances such as juicer mixers, air fryers and induction cooktops rose tenfold. The platform said the surge was led by Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai.

Pincode overload: Heavy demand in top cities pushed up order volumes across multiple pincodes in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, leading Blinkit, Instamart and Zepto to temporarily pause services for a brief period on Friday.

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Honasa Consumer revenue grows 36% in Q2, highest since listing

(L-R) Honasa cofounders Ghazal Alagh and Varun Alagh

Honasa Consumer, the parent of personal care brand Mamaearth, reported its highest revenue growth since going public in 2023, in the July-September quarter.

Financials:

• Revenue from operations: Up 36% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 731 crore.
• Net profit: Rose 87% to Rs 73 crore.
• Ebitda: Nearly doubled to Rs 93 crore from Rs 48 crore a year earlier.

Growth path:

• Honasa’s growth came on the back of increased traction in its focus categories, including face cleansers, shampoos, face serums, suncare, and moisturisers.
• They grew over 40% during the quarter and comprised more than 80% of the company's business.
• Underlying volume growth stood at 31.3%, indicating that the expansion was largely volume-led.

Brand biz: The Gurugram-based company’s younger brands, including The Derma Co, Aqualogica, Dr Sheth's, BBlunt, and Staze grew over 45% YoY. Mamaearth, its flagship brand, continued to register high-teens growth, while The Derma Co maintained its profitable growth trajectory.

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Deepinder Goyal, TheLiverDoc trade barbs over Temple's scientific claims

Eternal founder Deepinder Goyal

Soon after revealing its wearable device to the public, Deepinder Goyal's startup Temple found itself at the centre of a heated exchange on X, with the founder sparring with hepatologist and social media personality Cyriac Abby Philips (TheLiverDoc) over allegations that the product’s claims of measuring blood flow to the brain lack scientific backing.

What's the issue: TheLiverDoc alleged that the device could measure blood flow to the face and scalp but had not demonstrated that it could reliably measure blood flow inside the brain.

Goyal's defence: He said Temple had already spent $30 million building the product, of which $20 million was his personal investment.

"We have 14-day, no-questions-asked returns (which even Apple doesn't offer in India). If the product doesn't work, it fails out of the gate and the company dies before recovering a tenth of its R&D," Goyal wrote.

Temple’s vision: Hours later Goyal published his broader vision for Temple. He wants to turn the wearable into a screenless AI personal assistant that can handle everyday tasks while tracking health metrics.

The company is also working on features such as chewing detection, snoring patterns, sleep positions, rapid eye movement tracking, and continuous body temperature monitoring.

Also Read: Temple's most groundbreaking features not public yet, Goyal says as doctors question product

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Angel One overtakes Zerodha to become India's second-largest stockbroker

Angel One has overtaken Zerodha to become India's second-largest stockbroker by active clients in October as Zerodha's base declined for the second consecutive month, according to National Stock Exchange (NSE) data.


Groww stays on top: Groww continued to retain its position as India's largest stockbroker by active clients, adding 3.04 lakh clients in October to take its total to 1.38 crore. The Bengaluru-based platform accounted for 29.4% of NSE's client base, up from 29.2% in September.

Industry growth: Overall, NSE's active client base grew 1.3% month-on-month to 4.67 crore at the end of October, adding 6.15 lakh clients during the month. Groww, Angel One, and Zerodha together accounted for nearly 60% of NSE's active clients at the end of October.