New Delhi, Aug. 17 -- India Inc's June-quarter scorecard is out, and the message is stark: profitability held up, but growth conviction was missing. The earnings season was turbulent, swinging between a weak start and fleeting pockets of hope to a finale clouded by drags from smaller firms.

The entire trajectory underscores a fragile and uneven earnings cycle. While revenue contractions eased and more companies managed steady but modest gains, the recovery lacked a real punch as the ranks of real high-growth outliers stubbornly remained unchanged.

Sectoral prints further dispel any notion of broad-based structural strength: Travel companies rode on summer demand, oil marketing firms thrived on cheaper crude, while auto manufacturers gai...