Brands
Duroflex makes senior level appointments
Mumbai: One of India’s leading sleep solutions brands, Duroflex, has made senior-level appointments in its team. Rajat Rastogi has been roped in as the chief financial officer and Rajesh Kumar Dash as the product and category head. These appointments are in line with the company’s vision, which aims to go public in three or four years. As a significant member of the executive leadership team, Rastogi will be overseeing all aspects of finance and accounting as the company heads towards growth.
Rastogi has over 20 years of corporate finance experience across a variety of industries, from FMCG to e-commerce. Previously, he held the role of finance head at Udaan.com and has also worked at Livspace, Flipkart, Coca-Cola, and Fosroc Chemicals.
Rastogi’s core strengths are financial reporting for statutory compliance, business performance measurement, and financial modelling & forecasting. As chief financial officer at Duroflex, Rastogi will be responsible for ensuring the organisation’s strong financial health. He will oversee FP&A and controllership functions, lead funding discussions, work with department heads to analyse financial data, and develop the company’s financial strategy. He will also consult with the board of directors and business heads of Duroflex.
Dash is a product and marketing expert with 20 years of experience in P&L, product & category management, portfolio management, and life cycle management.
He has previously worked with Youkraft, Zee TV, Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting, Pentair India, and T-Net Japan. An ardent advocate of consumer-centricity, Dash will lead product and category management at Duroflex.
Commenting on this appointment, Duroflex CEO Mohanraj J said, “We are pleased to welcome Rastogi to the Duroflex family. His extensive experience across multiple industries will contribute to our growth and help us develop a strategic roadmap for our IPO. We look forward to working with him to become a prominent sleep solutions organisation with our aggressive expansion plans.”
Rastogi said, “I’m very excited to join Duroflex. Over the past few years, they have grown remarkably, thanks to the agile leadership team and focused efforts towards becoming India’s sleep expert. I look forward to working with the team and collaborating with internal and external stakeholders to accelerate the company’s strategic growth and path to profitability.”
Dash said, “I am excited to join Duroflex. The organisation’s culture is based on a strongly held and widely shared set of beliefs that are supported by strategy and structure. They have some of the smartest minds with strong technical expertise, a data-driven mindset, passion for products, and strategic thinking. I am excited about being part of the growth journey of Duroflex to become the most admired brand in the sleep and comfort industry.”
Brands
Microsoft faces worst quarter since 2008 financial crisis
Cloud giant battles soaring AI costs and fierce competition from nimble startups.
MUMBAI: When the tech titan starts looking a little wobbly, even the Magnificent Seven can feel the tremors because Microsoft is currently starring in its own sequel, “Clouds and Doubts.” Microsoft is on track for its worst quarterly performance since the 2008 global financial crisis, according to Bloomberg, as investors grow increasingly uneasy about rising capital expenditure and intensifying competition from nimble AI firms. The company has been pouring money into AI infrastructure, yet markets are questioning when these hefty investments will finally deliver stronger revenue growth.
At the same time, investors are shifting away from traditional software stocks amid fears that AI startups such as Anthropic and OpenAI are developing autonomous agents capable of replacing established products, including those from Microsoft. Jonathan Cofsky, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors, noted growing concern that customers may bypass Microsoft and deal directly with AI vendors, potentially disrupting its core business and putting pressure on pricing and margins.
Microsoft’s stock has tumbled 25 per cent in the first quarter, putting it on course for its largest drop since a 27 per cent fall in the fourth quarter of 2008. It has also emerged as the weakest performer among the so-called Magnificent Seven technology stocks, while a broader index tracking the group has fallen 14 per cent over the same period. The shares slipped a further 1.7 per cent after markets opened on Friday, marking a potential fourth consecutive session of declines.
Cofsky pointed out that Microsoft has become more capital intensive and that improved investor confidence will hinge on assurances that software growth will not slow materially. Despite the sell-off, the stock is now trading at less than 20 times projected earnings over the next 12 months, its lowest valuation level since June 2016. Its valuation remains slightly above that of the S&P 500 Index, although it has recently traded at a discount to the broader benchmark for the first time since 2015.
Bloomberg data shows Microsoft’s capital expenditure, including leases, is expected to surge to $146 billion in fiscal 2026, up around 66 per cent from $88 billion in fiscal 2025. Spending is projected to climb further to $170 billion in fiscal 2027 and $191 billion in fiscal 2028, based on average estimates. Investors are growing cautious about such levels of spending without clearer signs of stronger growth.
Microsoft’s Azure cloud division has reported a slight slowdown in growth compared with the previous quarter, while its Copilot AI product has seen limited user traction, prompting internal changes aimed at improving performance. Ben Reitzes, an analyst at Melius Research, warned in a March note that Microsoft’s upside in Azure could be constrained as the company works to address challenges related to its AI models and Copilot offering, adding that these issues are unlikely to be resolved in the short term.
Of the 67 analysts covering Microsoft, 63 maintain buy ratings, three hold ratings and one a sell rating. The average 12-month price target of $592 implies a potential upside of more than 64 per cent, the highest on record based on data going back to 2009. The stock is also trading below its 200-day moving average by the widest margin since 2009.
Reitzes suggested the dominance of buy ratings may indicate complacency among analysts, while highlighting risks in Microsoft’s productivity and business processes segment as well as its More Personal Computing division. In contrast, Tal Liani of Bank of America reinstated coverage with a buy rating, citing durable multi-year growth prospects across cloud and AI. Jake Seltz, portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments, maintained that Microsoft retains strong long-term value and that its AI strategy is likely to be validated over time, viewing near-term concerns as a potential opportunity for longer-term investors.
The report highlights a growing divergence in market sentiment, with optimism around long-term AI potential weighed against immediate execution risks and investor uncertainty. In the world of big tech, even the mightiest clouds can have silver linings but right now, Microsoft’s investors are scanning the horizon for clearer skies.
