Hindustan Copper Ltd

Price story Before the numbers, the tape. A stock price moves through four repeating seasons: a flat base (stage 1), an advance (2), a top (3), a decline (4). Where the price sits in that cycle frames everything below.

Hindustan Copper Ltd trades at ₹486, in a confirmed uptrend and 43 weeks into that stage. That is +2.8% against its own 200-day average. It sits at 69% of a 52-week range of ₹230 to ₹599. On relative strength it is currently behind the NIFTY 500 on a trailing-13-week view (15 weeks and counting).

Today the stock is in a confirmed uptrend — week 43 of stage 2, confirmed. At ₹486 it trades +2.8% versus its 200-day average and sits at 69% of its 52-week range (₹230–₹599).

Against the market, two honest reads. Cumulative: over the last 10.3 years the stock moved +846% while the NIFTY 500 moved +266% — ahead of the index over the full window. Recent form: on a trailing-13-week view the stock is currently behind (15 weeks and counting; last ahead the week of 2026-05-08) — the ribbon below is that same metric, week by week.

What would end the trend, mechanically: two Friday closes in a row below the 200-day line. That is the exit rule — no debates.

→ The trend is one thing; the bill is another. Are you paying up for it? Next: the P/E sits at the 35th percentile of its own range.

Valuation P/E is the price of ₹1 of annual profit: how many rupees the market pays for each rupee the company earns in a year.

Hindustan Copper Ltd trades at 47.3× P/E, near the bottom of its own range — cheaper only 35% of the time. Its long-run median P/E is 53.0×, measured across 7.1 years of weekly readings. This places the multiple against the stock’s own record, and says nothing about what the business is worth.

Today's P/E of 47.3× is near the bottom of its own range — cheaper only 35% of the time, against a long-run median of 53.0× measured over 7.1 years of weekly readings. This is a comparison against the stock's own history — not a claim about what it is worth.

One caveat before moving on: margins are the best this company has ever printed — cheap against its own history on record margins is not the same thing as cheap. If profitability mean-reverts, today's multiple is higher than it looks.

Why the multiple sits where it does: over the past year annual EPS moved +97.5% against a +80.2% price move — earnings outran the price, pushing the multiple DOWN its own range.

The price move, decomposed: over 5y, of the +27.8%/yr price move, ~+53.7%/yr came from earnings growth and ~−25.9 pp from the multiple (compressing). The split is the honest approximate (price return minus earnings growth); it makes the rally itself visible instead of hiding it behind the percentile.

Put together: the multiple is low against its own past, so the story rests on the earnings line underneath it, not the multiple.

→ Cheap or dear rides on the earnings. Are they actually growing? Next: the fundamental stage — where the business sits in its arc, and how growth has compounded.

Stage: Consistent Every business sits somewhere on a fundamental arc, and this page names the spot before anything else. The last twelve quarters of revenue, profit and EPS growth — plus the return the business earns on its capital — are read as curves: Deteriorating (the curves are falling), Turning around (a trough has just formed and the last few quarters lift off it), Improving (the climb off the trough is sustained), Consistent (steadily positive with healthy returns), Topping out (still high but decelerating from the peak). When the curves genuinely disagree the read is Mixed; too little history is No read. CAGR (compound annual growth rate) is the smooth yearly pace that turns the starting value into the latest one — the fairest way to compare growth across different time spans. Read the columns together: if the 1-year number towers over the 10-year, recent growth is running hotter than the long-run trend. A dash means that window is not held, or the base year was a loss (where a growth rate is not meaningful).

Hindustan Copper Ltd reads as consistent on its fundamental arc. Consistent — revenue, profit and EPS growth have stayed positive through the window, with ROCE at 37.6% and holding. The read is built from 12 quarters across 4 curves, on full evidence.

Why it matters: steady curves with healthy returns are the compounding setup — the risk is the price, not the business.

→ The stage names the trajectory. Next: the revenue line that produces it, quarter by quarter.

4-Factor Sector Score

76.0/100 — rank 1 of 3 in Metals · 87% evidence confidence

Hindustan Copper Ltd scores 76.0 out of 100 against the 3 companies it is compared with in Metals, ranking 1. Balanced evidence: keep at normal research priority and require another comparable period before raising conviction.

The four contributions add to the total exactly: 32.8 + 24.1 + 9.9 + 9.2 = 76. This is the SAME number shown on the sector comparison — it is computed once, for the whole peer set, and read here.

What would change it: The read weakens if profit growth turns negative or margin improvement reverses while sector-relative strength deteriorates.

Revenue Revenue is the top line: everything the company billed its customers in the period.

Hindustan Copper Ltd reported ₹1,156 Cr of revenue in the Mar 26 quarter, +58.1% year on year. That is the 5th straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 10 years it has compounded at 11.1% a year. The last full year, FY26, came in at ₹3,078 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹3,077 Cr.

Hindustan Copper Ltd reported ₹1,156 Cr of revenue in the Mar 26 quarter, +58.1% year on year. That is the 5th straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 10 years it has compounded at 11.1% a year. The last full year, FY26, came in at ₹3,078 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹3,077 Cr.

FY26 revenue came in at ₹3,078 Cr (+48.6% on the year), capping 10 years at 11.1% compound. The latest quarter (Mar 26) printed ₹1,156 Cr, +58.1% year on year — the 5th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.

Pace check: the last four quarters averaged +52.7% growth against the decade's 11.1% — the current year is running faster than its own long-run rate.

Acceleration check: trailing-twelve-month revenue grew +48.6% over the last 4 quarters against +33.9%/yr over the last 8 — accelerating; TTM profit +97.4% vs +76.4%/yr — accelerating.

→ Revenue grew — did margins hold as it scaled? Next: 54.0% this quarter (+18.0 pp YoY).

Operating margin Operating margin is what is left of every ₹100 of sales after running the business, before interest and tax. It is the cleanest read on pricing power and cost control.

Hindustan Copper Ltd's operating margin is 54.0% in the Mar 26 quarter, +18.0 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. That is the widest this company has ever printed on a full-year basis. Across 13 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged −29.0% to 48.0%. The current quarter is running above every full year in that window.

Hindustan Copper Ltd's operating margin is 54.0% in the Mar 26 quarter, +18.0 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. That is the widest this company has ever printed on a full-year basis. Across 13 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged −29.0% to 48.0%. The current quarter is running above every full year in that window.

The latest quarter's operating margin is 54.0%, +18.0 pp against the same quarter a year ago. Across 13 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged −29.0%–48.0%, and FY26's 48.0% is the top of that band — a record year.

Why the margin moved: operating margin went +17.8 pp year on year while gross margin went +14.0 pp — the gain came mostly from the gross line: input costs and pricing.

Worth repeating from the valuation section: cheap against its own history on record margins is not the same thing as cheap — a record margin flatters every ratio built on top of it.

→ Margins held — did that reach the bottom line? Next: profit +137.4% in the latest quarter.

Net profit Net profit is what survives every cost, interest and tax — the number EPS, dividends and book value all grow from.

Hindustan Copper Ltd earned ₹444 Cr of net profit in the Mar 26 quarter, +137.4% year on year. It is the 5th consecutive quarter of growth. Full-year FY26 profit was ₹919 Cr. The 10-year compound rate is 37.5%. That is 38.4% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier earned ₹187 Cr.

Hindustan Copper Ltd earned ₹444 Cr of net profit in the Mar 26 quarter, +137.4% year on year. It is the 5th consecutive quarter of growth. Full-year FY26 profit was ₹919 Cr. The 10-year compound rate is 37.5%. That is 38.4% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier earned ₹187 Cr.

Mar 26 profit was ₹444 Cr, +137.4% year on year — the 5th consecutive quarter of growth. On the full year, FY26 printed ₹919 Cr (+97.6%), and the 10-year compound rate is 37.5%.

Why profit moved: revenue contributed +58.1% and the margin +18.0 pp — the quarter was margin-led: most of the profit growth came from keeping more of each sale.

Pace comparison, last four quarters: profit +96.0% vs revenue +52.7%. Profit is growing faster than sales — fixed costs are being spread over a bigger base, and each extra rupee of revenue drops more to the bottom line.

→ Profit rose — but did the cash follow? Next: 141% of the last 3 years' profit arrived as cash.

Cash flow — the router The P&L says what was earned; the cash-flow statement says what actually arrived. Operating cash flow (CFO) against profit is the cleanest lie detector in the accounts.

Over the last 3 fiscal years 141% of Hindustan Copper Ltd's reported profit arrived as operating cash — the cash follows the profit. In FY26 that was ₹1,474 Cr of operating cash against ₹919 Cr of profit. After ₹366 Cr of capital spending, ₹1,108 Cr was left as free cash.

FY26: operating cash of ₹1,474 Cr against reported profit of ₹919 Cr, leaving free cash of ₹1,108 Cr after ₹366 Cr of capital spending. Across the last 3 fiscal years the conversion rate is 141% of profit.

Cash-flow readings here are annual — that is the resolution our series carries, so this section moves once a year.

Why conversion sits at 141%: the cash cycle tightened 282 days between FY21 and FY26 — cash that used to wait in the cycle now reaches the bank sooner.

Router verdict: the bigger cash user is investment — capital spending ran 2.1× depreciation over three years, so the next section's job is to check what that build-out is buying.

→ So follow the cash to where it goes. Next: ₹1,157 Cr of building over 3 years.

Where the cash goes Working capital is the cash tied up between paying suppliers and getting paid: debtor days (customers owe), inventory days (stock waits), and the cash conversion cycle (the whole loop, in days of sales).

Hindustan Copper Ltd's cash conversion cycle runs 16 days in FY26, down from 298 days in FY21. Capital spending ran ₹1,157 Cr over the last 3 years. At FY26 sales of ₹3,078 Cr each day of that cycle holds about ₹8.4 Cr, so roughly ₹135 Cr sits inside the business at any moment.

FY26: debtors at 16 days (an asset-light business — no inventory to speak of) — for a full cycle of 16 days, tighter than FY21's 298.

In money terms: at FY26 sales of ₹3,078 Cr, each day of the cycle holds about ₹8.4 Cr — so the 16-day loop keeps roughly ₹135 Cr sitting inside the business at any moment.

On the investment side: capital spending of ₹1,157 Cr over the last 3 fiscal years against ₹551 Cr of depreciation — the company is building well ahead of wear-and-tear. Capital work-in-progress stands at ₹741 Cr (FY26) — capacity paid for but not yet earning.

The synthesis: the cash is going into capacity, not disappearing into the cycle — the question becomes whether the new capacity earns.

→ Does all this activity actually earn its cost of capital? Next: ROCE is 42% and the ROIC − WACC spread is +22.1 pp.

Return on capital Return on capital employed (ROCE) is the profit the whole business earns on all the money in it — equity and debt together. It is the single best test of whether growth creates value or just size.

Hindustan Copper Ltd earns a ROCE of 42% in FY26. That is up from a trough of −18% in FY20. Return on invested capital clears the cost of that capital by +22.1 percentage points, so growth here adds value rather than only size. The wiring behind it is 29.9% net margin on 0.70× asset turns.

FY26 ROCE is 42%, recovered from a FY20 trough of −18% — the full ladder below shows the fall and the climb, undoctored.

Why the return is what it is — the wiring (FY26): 29.9% net margin × 0.70× asset turns × 1.32× balance-sheet leverage ≈ 27.6% on equity. Margin is doing the heavy lifting; leverage is modest — this is an earned return, not a borrowed one.

The capstone test — ROIC − WACC: 34.1% − 12.0% = a +22.1 pp spread. The 12.0% is a standing assumption for the cost of capital in India, not a per-stock estimate — read the sign and the size of the spread, not the decimals. A spread this wide means every rupee reinvested creates more than a rupee of value — the engine compounds.

→ Returns like these — is the balance sheet borrowing to make them? Next: debt-to-equity is 0.03.

Debt Debt-to-equity says how much of the business is funded by borrowings. Low is the safe corner; the trend matters as much as the level.

Hindustan Copper Ltd carries total debt of ₹111 Cr against shareholder equity of ₹3,342 Cr as of Mar 26, a debt-to-equity of 0.03 — effectively unlevered. On the annual view that ratio went from 0.21 in FY22 to 0.03 in FY26. The returns elsewhere on this page are therefore earned rather than borrowed.

Mar 26: total debt of ₹111 Cr against shareholder equity of ₹3,342 Cr — a debt-to-equity of 0.03. On the annual view, debt-to-equity went from 0.21 (FY22) to 0.03 (FY26). The returns on this page are earned, not borrowed.

→ Who owns this, and are they adding or leaving? Next: Domestic institutions cut 4.5 points over 8 quarters.

Ownership Who owns the stock, quarter by quarter: promoters (the controlling owners), foreign and domestic institutions, and the public. Steady accumulation by people close to the numbers is a signal; a quiet register is also an answer.

Domestic institutions cut 4.5 points of Hindustan Copper Ltd over 8 quarters, the biggest move on the register. That takes domestic institutions to 4.8% of the company. Foreign institutions moved +2.7 points over the same window, to 6.0%. The register is read on the four disclosed classes only; nothing is inferred between filings.

The register over the last two years — Domestic institutions: −4.5 points over 8 quarters to 4.8%; Foreign institutions: +2.7 points over 8 quarters to 6.0%; Promoters: +0.0 points over 8 quarters to 66.1%.

Why the register moved: rotation — foreign institutions +2.7 points against domestic institutions −4.5 points over 8 quarters, with promoters holding steady — one class of institutions handing the register to the other, not a verdict change by the people closest to the numbers.

→ One last check: does the safety math agree? Next: the balance-sheet safety line.

Safety line The Z-score estimates how far a company sits from balance-sheet distress — above roughly 3 is safe, below roughly 1.8 is the danger zone. It was built for manufacturers, so it is not applied to banks and lenders.

Hindustan Copper Ltd: the Z-score is not available for this stock, so we say so rather than invent one. It is a distance-to-distress estimate from the balance sheet, not a forecast of failure. The debt, cash-flow and return sections above carry the balance-sheet evidence this page does hold, and each of them states its own reporting date.

The safety line in one sentence: the Z-score is not available for this stock, so we say so rather than invent one.

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