Brands
Nobel Hygiene acquires Godrej’s Snuggy diapers
MUMBAI: Indian disposable hygiene manufacturer, Nobel Hygiene, has acquired Godrej consumer products’ diaper brand Snuggy.
Founded in 1987 by Shogun Diapers, the Snuggy brand is a regional jewel and has a strong market in four southern states of India.
This acquisition marks a full circle for Nobel Hygiene’s founder and managing director Kamal Johari as the inspiration to enter the disposable care’s market came from a brief stint distributing Snuggy diapers, even before the brand was sold to GCPL in the year 2003.
Johari said, “We are fortunate for the excellent timing, as we had our eye on this brand for a few years. Being a specialist, high-quality diaper manufacturer with a passion for excellence; we will do full justice to Snuggy. We hope to deliver an excellent product to the relevant target audience, many of whom still recognise the brand.”
The Indian diaper market is estimated to grow at 26 per cent CAGR. With this acquisition, Nobel Hygiene plans to leverage its manufacturing expertise and provide an enhanced product for Indian babies and Indian moms. It will greatly help the company drive growth in accordance with its aggressive aims.
The diaper business in India reported total net sales of approximately Rs 5500 crore in the year 2017, out of which approximately Rs 5000 crore is from baby diapers.
Brands
Google nears Nvidia in race for world’s most valuable company
Market cap gap narrows as Google hits $4.65 trillion, Nvidia at $4.86 trillion.
MUMBAI: In the AI gold rush, even the giants are sprinting and Google is suddenly gaining ground. Google is rapidly closing in on Nvidia in the race to become the world’s most valuable publicly listed company, with the gap between the two narrowing sharply amid diverging stock momentum. The tech giant’s market capitalisation has surged to around $4.65 trillion, following a more than 140 per cent rise in its share price over the past year.
That rally has added over $2.6 trillion in value in just 12 months, including nearly $900 billion since January alone. Its stock recently hovered at $381.80, slipping marginally by 0.04 per cent, but still reflecting strong upward momentum.
Nvidia, meanwhile, continues to hold the top spot with a valuation of approximately $4.86 trillion. The chipmaker crossed the $5 trillion milestone in October last year and peaked at $5.27 trillion on 27 April. However, its shares have largely plateaued over the past six months, rising just 0.2 per cent recently to $199.99.
The contrast in trajectories is striking. While Nvidia has seen relatively flat movement, Google has gained over 36 per cent in the same six-month period. Barron’s estimates suggest that if current trends hold, the valuation gap could shrink to as little as $190 million by the time Nvidia reports its first-quarter earnings on 20 May.
Daily momentum paints a similar picture. Nvidia recorded average daily gains of about 0.66 per cent last month, compared to Google’s stronger 1.42 per cent, an edge that could prove decisive in the short term.
Driving Google’s resurgence is its aggressive push into artificial intelligence across its ecosystem, from search and YouTube to cloud computing. The company has already invested $144 billion in capital expenditure over the past two years and plans to deploy a further $490 billion over the next two.
Its cloud division is also gathering pace. Google Cloud reported an order backlog of nearly $220 billion in the latest quarter, with total backlog touching a record $462 billion, around half of which is expected to be realised within two years. The company’s entry into chip sales is also beginning to factor into its growth narrative.
The last time Google briefly topped the S&P 500 by market value was in February 2016, when it edged past Apple for just two days. This time, the stakes and the numbers are far higher.
At the heart of the contest lies a single force: artificial intelligence. As both companies pour billions into infrastructure, chips and platforms, the leaderboard is no longer just about size, it is about who can scale the future faster.
