H T Media 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.

H T Media Ltd trades at ₹26.1, building a base and 6 weeks into that stage. That is +14.2% against its own 200-day average. It sits at 100% of a 52-week range of ₹21 to ₹26. On relative strength it has been ahead of the NIFTY 500 on a trailing-13-week view for 3 straight weeks.

Today the stock is building a base — week 6 of stage 1. At ₹26.1 it trades +14.2% versus its 200-day average and sits at 100% of its 52-week range (₹21–₹26).

Against the market, two honest reads. Cumulative: over the last 4 months the stock moved +11% while the NIFTY 500 moved +1% — ahead of the index over the full window. Recent form: on a trailing-13-week view the stock has been ahead for 3 straight weeks — 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 9th 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.

H T Media Ltd trades at 4.3× P/E, near the bottom of its own range — cheaper only 9% of the time. Its long-run median P/E is 9.8×, measured across 10.1 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 4.3× is near the bottom of its own range — cheaper only 9% of the time, against a long-run median of 9.8× measured over 10.1 years of weekly readings. This is a comparison against the stock's own history — not a claim about what it is worth.

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: No read 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).

H T Media Ltd reads as no read on its fundamental arc. Under eight usable quarters on the growth trio — not enough history for an honest trajectory read. The read is built from 9 quarters across 2 curves, on partial evidence.

Why it matters: with too little history, an honest page says so instead of guessing a trajectory.

Return readings here are annual, not quarterly — read as level and direction only; they can confirm the growth curves but never drive the stage on their own.

Fewer than eight usable quarters on the growth curves — this page will not guess a trajectory from a stub of history.

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

4-Factor Sector Score

53.0/100 — rank 9 of 25 in Entertainment & Media · 68% evidence confidence

H T Media Ltd scores 53.0 out of 100 against the 25 companies it is compared with in Entertainment & Media, ranking 9. Balanced evidence: keep at normal research priority and require another comparable period before raising conviction.

The four contributions add to the total exactly: 17 + 10.1 + 14.1 + 11.8 = 53. 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.

H T Media Ltd reported ₹511 Cr of revenue in the Mar 26 quarter, −0.5% year on year. Over 10 years it has compounded at −3.2% a year. The last full year, FY26, came in at ₹1,803 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹1,871 Cr.

H T Media Ltd reported ₹511 Cr of revenue in the Mar 26 quarter, −0.5% year on year. Over 10 years it has compounded at −3.2% a year. The last full year, FY26, came in at ₹1,803 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹1,871 Cr.

FY26 revenue came in at ₹1,803 Cr (−0.2% on the year), capping 10 years at −3.2% compound. The latest quarter (Mar 26) printed ₹511 Cr, −0.5% year on year.

Pace check: the last four quarters averaged +4.1% growth against the decade's −3.2% — the current year is running faster than its own long-run rate.

Acceleration check: trailing-twelve-month revenue grew +3.6% over the last 4 quarters against +5.1%/yr over the last 8 — stabilising.

→ Revenue slipped — did margins hold as it scaled? Next: 16.5% this quarter (+11.5 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.

H T Media Ltd's operating margin is 16.5% in the Mar 26 quarter, +11.5 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. Across 12 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged −11.0% to 16.0%. The current quarter is running above every full year in that window.

H T Media Ltd's operating margin is 16.5% in the Mar 26 quarter, +11.5 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. Across 12 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged −11.0% to 16.0%. The current quarter is running above every full year in that window.

The latest quarter's operating margin is 16.5%, +11.5 pp against the same quarter a year ago. Across 12 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged −11.0%–16.0%.

Why the margin moved: operating margin went +11.5 pp year on year while gross margin went −1.8 pp — the gain came mostly below the gross line: operating leverage, with costs spread over a bigger revenue base.

→ Margins held — did that reach the bottom line? Next: profit −118.8% 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.

H T Media Ltd posted a net loss of ₹9.7 Cr in the Mar 26 quarter. The full FY26 year was a loss of ₹49.0 Cr. That loss is 1.9% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier earned ₹51.4 Cr. 11 of the last 12 reported quarters were loss-making.

H T Media Ltd posted a net loss of ₹9.7 Cr in the Mar 26 quarter. The full FY26 year was a loss of ₹49.0 Cr. That loss is 1.9% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier earned ₹51.4 Cr. 11 of the last 12 reported quarters were loss-making.

Mar 26 profit was ₹−9.7 Cr, −118.8% year on year. On the full year, FY26 printed ₹−49.0 Cr (−450.0%).

→ Profit rose — but did the cash follow? Next: 294% 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 294% of H T Media Ltd's reported profit arrived as operating cash — the cash follows the profit. In FY26 that was ₹99.0 Cr of operating cash against ₹−49.0 Cr of profit. After ₹−4.0 Cr of capital spending, ₹103 Cr was left as free cash.

FY26: operating cash of ₹99.0 Cr against reported profit of ₹−49.0 Cr, leaving free cash of ₹103 Cr after ₹−4.0 Cr of capital spending. Across the last 3 fiscal years the conversion rate is 294% 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 294%: the cash cycle stretched 31 days between FY21 and FY26 — more of each rupee of profit waits inside the cycle before arriving.

Router verdict: no single sink dominates — the next section checks both the working-capital cycle and the capital spending.

→ So follow the cash to where it goes. Next: a −73-day cycle and ₹−54.0 Cr of building.

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).

H T Media Ltd's cash conversion cycle runs −73 days in FY26, up from −104 days in FY21. Capital spending ran ₹−54.0 Cr over the last 3 years. At FY26 sales of ₹1,803 Cr each day of that cycle holds about ₹4.9 Cr, so roughly ₹−361 Cr sits inside the business at any moment.

FY26: debtors at 80 days, inventory at 88 days — roughly 2.9 months of stock waiting to sell; that is where the cash sits while it waits — for a full cycle of −73 days, looser than FY21's −104.

The full loop: cash goes out to suppliers and production on day 0; stock waits 88 days to sell; customers pay about 80 days after that; and suppliers themselves are paid at 241 days — netting out to the −73-day cycle.

In money terms: at FY26 sales of ₹1,803 Cr, each day of the cycle holds about ₹4.9 Cr — so the −73-day loop keeps roughly ₹−361 Cr sitting inside the business at any moment.

On the investment side: capital spending of ₹−54.0 Cr over the last 3 fiscal years against ₹310 Cr of depreciation — spending at or below maintenance level. Capital work-in-progress stands at ₹4.0 Cr (FY26) — capacity paid for but not yet earning.

The synthesis: neither the cycle nor the build-out is hoarding the cash — the machine is reasonably clean.

→ Does all this activity actually earn its cost of capital? Next: ROCE is 7% and the ROIC − WACC spread is −9.5 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.

H T Media Ltd earns a ROCE of 7% in FY26. That is up from a trough of −4% in FY23. Return on invested capital clears the cost of that capital by −9.5 percentage points, so growth here is not yet paying for the capital it uses. The wiring behind it is −2.7% net margin on 0.45× asset turns.

FY26 ROCE is 7%, recovered from a FY23 trough of −4% — the full ladder below shows the fall and the climb, undoctored.

🚨 Why the return is what it is — the wiring (FY26): −2.7% net margin × 0.45× asset turns × 2.45× balance-sheet leverage ≈ −3.0% on equity. Margin does its share; leverage is a meaningful part of the equation.

The capstone test — ROIC − WACC: 2.5% − 12.0% = a −9.5 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. Negative — growth at these returns destroys value until the returns recover.

→ Returns like these — is the balance sheet borrowing to make them? Next: debt-to-equity is 0.47.

Debt Debt-to-equity says how much of the business is funded by borrowings; interest cover says how many times operating profit pays the interest bill. Low and high, respectively, is the safe corner.

H T Media Ltd carries ₹766 Cr of borrowings against ₹1,619 Cr of equity in FY26, a debt-to-equity of 0.47. Operating profit covers the interest bill 2×. Over 5 years borrowings went from ₹837 Cr to ₹766 Cr. Capital spending ran ₹−54.0 Cr across the last 3 of those years.

FY26: borrowings of ₹766 Cr against equity of ₹1,619 Cr — a debt-to-equity of 0.47. Operating profit covers the interest bill 2×. Over 5 years borrowings went from ₹837 Cr to ₹766 Cr while capital spending ran ₹−54.0 Cr in just the last 3 — the build-out is being paid for out of cash, not debt.

→ Who owns this, and are they adding or leaving? Next: the register is quiet.

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.

No holder of H T Media Ltd moved a full percentage point over the last two years — the register is quiet. Promoters moved +0.0 points over the same window, to 69.5%. The register is read on the four disclosed classes only; nothing is inferred between filings.

The register over the last two years — Foreign institutions: −0.1 points over 8 quarters to 0.0%; Promoters: +0.0 points over 8 quarters to 69.5%; Domestic institutions: +0.0 points over 8 quarters to 0.1%.

→ 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.

H T Media 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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