Vodafone Idea 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.

Vodafone Idea Ltd trades at ₹13.7, in a confirmed uptrend and 10 weeks into that stage. That is +21.0% against its own 200-day average. It sits at 84% of a 52-week range of ₹7 to ₹15. On relative strength it is currently behind the NIFTY 500 on a trailing-13-week view (1 week and counting).

Today the stock is in a confirmed uptrend — week 10 of stage 2, confirmed. At ₹13.7 it trades +21.0% versus its 200-day average and sits at 84% of its 52-week range (₹7–₹15).

Against the market, two honest reads. Cumulative: over the last 10.4 years the stock moved −78% while the NIFTY 500 moved +280% — behind the index over the full window. Recent form: on a trailing-13-week view the stock is currently behind (1 week and counting; last ahead the week of 2026-07-10) — 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 88th 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.

Vodafone Idea Ltd trades at 171.6× P/E, at the pricey end of its own range (88th percentile). Its long-run median P/E is 35.6×, measured across 1.1 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 171.6× is at the pricey end of its own range (88th percentile), against a long-run median of 35.6× measured over 1.1 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 full 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).

Vodafone Idea 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 12 quarters across 1 curve, on partial evidence.

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

The latest quarter’s profit carries a one-off item larger than the operating base, so the profit curve is shown but does not vote in the stage call.

The return-on-capital curve is not shown — net worth is negative, so a return on capital is not a meaningful number in any basis. This is a distressed balance sheet, and the stage is read from the growth curves alone.

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

51.3/100 — rank 8 of 18 in Telecom Services · 71% evidence confidence

Vodafone Idea Ltd scores 51.3 out of 100 against the 18 companies it is compared with in Telecom Services, ranking 8. Price leads the evidence: RS versus the benchmark is 31%, but earnings trajectory is weak. Wait for revenue and profit confirmation.

The four contributions add to the total exactly: 16.2 + 6.3 + 11.3 + 17.5 = 51.3. 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.

Vodafone Idea Ltd reported ₹11,332 Cr of revenue in the Mar 26 quarter, +2.9% year on year. That is the 7th straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 10 years it has compounded at 2.2% a year. The last full year, FY26, came in at ₹44,873 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹44,872 Cr.

Vodafone Idea Ltd reported ₹11,332 Cr of revenue in the Mar 26 quarter, +2.9% year on year. That is the 7th straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 10 years it has compounded at 2.2% a year. The last full year, FY26, came in at ₹44,873 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹44,872 Cr.

FY26 revenue came in at ₹44,873 Cr (+3.0% on the year), capping 10 years at 2.2% compound. The latest quarter (Mar 26) printed ₹11,332 Cr, +2.9% year on year — the 7th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.

Pace check: the last four quarters averaged +3.0% growth against the decade's 2.2% — the current year is running in line with its own long-run rate.

Acceleration check: trailing-twelve-month revenue grew +3.0% over the last 4 quarters against +2.6%/yr over the last 8 — stabilising.

→ Revenue grew — did margins hold as it scaled? Next: 43.0% this quarter (+1.0 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.

Vodafone Idea Ltd's operating margin is 43.0% in the Mar 26 quarter, +1.0 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 11.0% to 42.0%. The current quarter is running above every full year in that window.

Vodafone Idea Ltd's operating margin is 43.0% in the Mar 26 quarter, +1.0 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 11.0% to 42.0%. The current quarter is running above every full year in that window.

The latest quarter's operating margin is 43.0%, +1.0 pp against the same quarter a year ago. Across 13 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 11.0%–42.0%, and FY26's 42.0% is the top of that band — a record year.

Why the margin moved: operating margin went +0.8 pp year on year while gross margin went +0.0 pp — the gain came mostly below the gross line: operating leverage, with costs spread over a bigger revenue base.

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 null 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.

Vodafone Idea Ltd earned ₹51,970 Cr of net profit in the Mar 26 quarter. That quarter carries a one-off item larger than its own revenue, so the year-on-year figure is an artefact rather than a trading result. Full-year FY26 profit was ₹34,552 Cr. The 10-year compound rate is 28.9%. That is 458.6% of the quarter's revenue.

Vodafone Idea Ltd earned ₹51,970 Cr of net profit in the Mar 26 quarter. That quarter carries a one-off item larger than its own revenue, so the year-on-year figure is an artefact rather than a trading result. Full-year FY26 profit was ₹34,552 Cr. The 10-year compound rate is 28.9%. That is 458.6% of the quarter's revenue.

Mar 26 profit was ₹51,970 Cr, null year on year. On the full year, FY26 printed ₹34,552 Cr (null), and the 10-year compound rate is 28.9%.

🚨 Read this profit with care: at ₹51,970 Cr it is larger than the whole quarter's revenue of ₹11,332 Cr — no operating business earns more than it sells, so this is a one-off item (a debt-to-equity conversion, a tax write-back or an asset sale), not money the business earned. The underlying operations are running at 43.0% operating margin; the year-on-year jump and any P/E built on this number are artefacts of the one-off, not a real earnings turn.

→ Profit rose — but did the cash follow? Next: 101% 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 101% of Vodafone Idea Ltd's reported profit arrived as operating cash — the cash follows the profit. In FY26 that was ₹19,411 Cr of operating cash against ₹34,552 Cr of profit. After ₹20,936 Cr of capital spending, ₹−1,525 Cr was left as free cash.

FY26: operating cash of ₹19,411 Cr against reported profit of ₹34,552 Cr, leaving free cash of ₹−1,525 Cr after ₹20,936 Cr of capital spending. Across the last 3 fiscal years the conversion rate is 101% 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 101%: the cash cycle held roughly steady between FY21 and FY26 — so conversion tracks profitability rather than the cycle.

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 16-day cycle and ₹50,944 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).

Vodafone Idea Ltd's cash conversion cycle runs 16 days in FY26, down from 22 days in FY21. Capital spending ran ₹50,944 Cr over the last 3 years. At FY26 sales of ₹44,873 Cr each day of that cycle holds about ₹123 Cr, so roughly ₹1,967 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 22.

In money terms: at FY26 sales of ₹44,873 Cr, each day of the cycle holds about ₹123 Cr — so the 16-day loop keeps roughly ₹1,967 Cr sitting inside the business at any moment.

On the investment side: capital spending of ₹50,944 Cr over the last 3 fiscal years against ₹66,715 Cr of depreciation — spending at or below maintenance level. Capital work-in-progress stands at ₹1,454 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 −2% and the ROIC − WACC spread is −14.1 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.

Vodafone Idea Ltd earns a ROCE of −2% in FY26. That is up from a trough of −8% in FY19. Return on invested capital clears the cost of that capital by −14.1 percentage points, so growth here is not yet paying for the capital it uses. The wiring behind it is 77.0% net margin on 0.23× asset turns.

FY26 ROCE is −2%, recovered from a FY19 trough of −8% — the full ladder below shows the fall and the climb, undoctored.

🚨 Why the return is what it is — the wiring (FY26): 77.0% net margin × 0.23× asset turns × −5.36× balance-sheet leverage ≈ −94.9% 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: −2.1% − 12.0% = a −14.1 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. 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 −5.38.

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.

Vodafone Idea Ltd's net worth is negative — it owes more than it owns — so a debt-to-equity ratio is not meaningful here. On the annual view that ratio went from −3.45 in FY22 to −5.38 in FY26. The returns elsewhere on this page are therefore earned rather than borrowed.

Mar 26: total debt of ₹1,92,528 Cr against shareholder equity of ₹−35,758 Cr — a debt-to-equity of −5.38. On the annual view, debt-to-equity went from −3.45 (FY22) to −5.38 (FY26). The returns on this page are earned, not borrowed.

→ Who owns this, and are they adding or leaving? Next: Promoters cut 12.5 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.

Promoters cut 12.5 points of Vodafone Idea Ltd over 8 quarters, the biggest move on the register. That takes promoters to 25.6% of the company. Foreign institutions moved −6.5 points over the same window, to 6.2%. The register is read on the four disclosed classes only; nothing is inferred between filings.

The register over the last two years — Promoters: −12.5 points over 8 quarters to 25.6%; Foreign institutions: −6.5 points over 8 quarters to 6.2%; Domestic institutions: −1.4 points over 8 quarters to 6.0%.

🚨 Why the register moved: promoters drove it (−12.5 points), alongside foreign institutions (−6.5 points) — distribution into the market’s bid.

→ 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.

Vodafone Idea 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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