BUZZ — PREVIEW — Nestle India slips ahead of quarterly results; analysts flag input cost pressure

* Nestle India down 0.62% at 1,374.9 rupees ahead of second-quarter results * Analysts expect strong sales and volume growth, but flag higher costs * Kotak Institutional Equities expects revenue to rise 20% y/y and domestic tonnage about 15%, but forecasts gross margin falling 160 bps sequentially to 55.7% * Says higher packaging, palm oil, sugar and dairy costs are likely to weigh on gross profitability * Systematix forecasts revenue growth of 21%, driven by volume growth of about 12% and an 8% contribution from pricing and product mix * Flags higher input and advertising costs, but expects EBITDA margin to expand 83 bps y/y to 22.7% * NEST rated "hold" on average by 35 analysts, median PT at 1,597.50 rupees - LSEG compiled data * YTD stock up 7.07% (Reporting by Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru) ((Surbhi.Misra@thomsonreuters.com | X: |;)