VST Industries 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.

VST Industries Ltd trades at ₹233, building a base and 7 weeks into that stage. That is −8.4% against its own 200-day average. It sits at 41% of a 52-week range of ₹208 to ₹269. On relative strength it is currently behind the NIFTY 500 on a trailing-13-week view (4 weeks and counting).

Today the stock is building a base — week 7 of stage 1. At ₹233 it trades −8.4% versus its 200-day average and sits at 41% of its 52-week range (₹208–₹269).

Against the market, two honest reads. Cumulative: over the last 10.3 years the stock moved +51% while the NIFTY 500 moved +274% — behind the index over the full window. Recent form: on a trailing-13-week view the stock is currently behind (4 weeks and counting; last ahead the week of 2026-06-25) — 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 1st 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.

VST Industries Ltd trades at 13.4× P/E, about the cheapest it has ever traded. Its long-run median P/E is 19.4×, measured across 10.4 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 13.4× is about the cheapest it has ever traded, against a long-run median of 19.4× measured over 10.4 years of weekly readings. This is a comparison against the stock's own history — not a claim about what it is worth.

Why the multiple sits where it does: over the past year annual EPS moved +0.6% against a −20.4% price move — earnings outran the price, pushing the multiple DOWN its own range.

The price move, decomposed: over 5y, of the −6.2%/yr price move, ~−1.3%/yr came from earnings growth and ~−4.9 pp from the multiple (compressing); over 10y, of the +2.9%/yr price move, ~+5.8%/yr came from earnings growth and ~−2.9 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: Mixed 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).

VST Industries Ltd reads as mixed on its fundamental arc. Mixed — no clean majority across the growth curves, ROCE holding at 27.7% — the per-curve reads carry the story. The read is built from 12 quarters across 4 curves, on full evidence.

Why it matters: when the curves disagree, the per-curve reads above matter more than any single verdict.

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

4-Factor Sector Score

65.7/100 — rank 2 of 3 in Cigarettes & Tobacco Products · 97% evidence confidence

VST Industries Ltd scores 65.7 out of 100 against the 3 companies it is compared with in Cigarettes & Tobacco Products, ranking 2. Balanced evidence: keep at normal research priority and require another comparable period before raising conviction.

The four contributions add to the total exactly: 20.8 + 21 + 16.4 + 7.5 = 65.7. 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.

VST Industries Ltd reported ₹457 Cr of revenue in the Mar 26 quarter, +30.9% year on year. That is the 2nd straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 10 years it has compounded at 5.2% a year. The last full year, FY26, came in at ₹1,465 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹1,464 Cr.

VST Industries Ltd reported ₹457 Cr of revenue in the Mar 26 quarter, +30.9% year on year. That is the 2nd straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 10 years it has compounded at 5.2% a year. The last full year, FY26, came in at ₹1,465 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹1,464 Cr.

FY26 revenue came in at ₹1,465 Cr (+4.8% on the year), capping 10 years at 5.2% compound. The latest quarter (Mar 26) printed ₹457 Cr, +30.9% year on year — the 2nd consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.

Pace check: the last four quarters averaged +4.6% growth against the decade's 5.2% — the current year is running in line with its own long-run rate.

Acceleration check: trailing-twelve-month revenue grew +4.8% over the last 4 quarters against +1.5%/yr over the last 8 — accelerating; TTM profit +0.3% vs −1.7%/yr — stabilising.

→ Revenue grew — did margins hold as it scaled? Next: 46.0% this quarter (+26.0 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.

VST Industries Ltd's operating margin is 46.0% in the Mar 26 quarter, +26.0 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. Across 13 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 20.0% to 37.0%. The current quarter is running above every full year in that window.

VST Industries Ltd's operating margin is 46.0% in the Mar 26 quarter, +26.0 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. Across 13 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 20.0% to 37.0%. The current quarter is running above every full year in that window.

The latest quarter's operating margin is 46.0%, +26.0 pp against the same quarter a year ago. Across 13 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 20.0%–37.0%.

Why the margin moved: operating margin went +25.7 pp year on year while gross margin went +25.1 pp — the gain came mostly from the gross line: input costs and pricing.

→ Margins held — did that reach the bottom line? Next: profit +120.8% 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.

VST Industries Ltd earned ₹117 Cr of net profit in the Mar 26 quarter, +120.8% year on year. Full-year FY26 profit was ₹292 Cr. The 10-year compound rate is 6.7%. That is 25.6% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier earned ₹53.0 Cr.

VST Industries Ltd earned ₹117 Cr of net profit in the Mar 26 quarter, +120.8% year on year. Full-year FY26 profit was ₹292 Cr. The 10-year compound rate is 6.7%. That is 25.6% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier earned ₹53.0 Cr.

Mar 26 profit was ₹117 Cr, +120.8% year on year. On the full year, FY26 printed ₹292 Cr (+0.7%), and the 10-year compound rate is 6.7%.

Why profit moved: revenue contributed +30.9% and the margin +26.0 pp — the quarter was margin-led: most of the profit growth came from keeping more of each sale.

Pace comparison, last four quarters: profit +22.9% vs revenue +4.6%. 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: 65% 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 65% of VST Industries Ltd's reported profit arrived as operating cash — most of the profit is real cash. In FY26 that was ₹218 Cr of operating cash against ₹292 Cr of profit. After ₹37.0 Cr of capital spending, ₹181 Cr was left as free cash.

FY26: operating cash of ₹218 Cr against reported profit of ₹292 Cr, leaving free cash of ₹181 Cr after ₹37.0 Cr of capital spending. Across the last 3 fiscal years the conversion rate is 65% 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 65%: the cash cycle stretched 157 days between FY21 and FY26 — more of each rupee of profit waits inside the cycle before arriving. Less than 70% of profit arriving as cash is the thing to watch on this page.

Router verdict: conversion is below par and the cash cycle has stretched 157 days — the next section's job is to find where the cash is stuck.

→ So follow the cash to where it goes. Next: the 305-day cycle, in money terms.

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).

VST Industries Ltd's cash conversion cycle runs 305 days in FY26, up from 148 days in FY21. Capital spending ran ₹−163 Cr over the last 3 years. At FY26 sales of ₹1,465 Cr each day of that cycle holds about ₹4.0 Cr, so roughly ₹1,224 Cr sits inside the business at any moment.

FY26: debtors at 12 days, inventory at 359 days — roughly 11.8 months of stock waiting to sell; that is where the cash sits while it waits — for a full cycle of 305 days, looser than FY21's 148.

The full loop: cash goes out to suppliers and production on day 0; stock waits 359 days to sell; customers pay about 12 days after that; and suppliers themselves are paid at 66 days — netting out to the 305-day cycle.

In money terms: at FY26 sales of ₹1,465 Cr, each day of the cycle holds about ₹4.0 Cr — so the 305-day loop keeps roughly ₹1,224 Cr sitting inside the business at any moment.

On the investment side: capital spending of ₹−163 Cr over the last 3 fiscal years against ₹183 Cr of depreciation — spending at or below maintenance level. Capital work-in-progress stands at ₹0.0 Cr (FY26) — capacity paid for but not yet earning.

The synthesis: the working-capital loop is the cash sink the router flagged — watch the cycle, not the P&L.

→ Does all this activity actually earn its cost of capital? Next: ROCE is 28% and the ROIC − WACC spread is +16.7 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.

VST Industries Ltd earns a ROCE of 28% in FY26. That is up from a trough of 21% in FY25. Return on invested capital clears the cost of that capital by +16.7 percentage points, so growth here adds value rather than only size. The wiring behind it is 19.9% net margin on 0.73× asset turns.

FY26 ROCE is 28%, recovered from a FY25 trough of 21% — the full ladder below shows the fall and the climb, undoctored.

Why the return is what it is — the wiring (FY26): 19.9% net margin × 0.73× asset turns × 1.39× balance-sheet leverage ≈ 20.2% 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: 28.7% − 12.0% = a +16.7 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 0.00.

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.

VST Industries Ltd carries ₹0.0 Cr of borrowings against ₹1,446 Cr of equity in FY26, a debt-to-equity of 0.00. Over 5 years borrowings went from ₹0.0 Cr to ₹0.0 Cr. Capital spending ran ₹−163 Cr across the last 3 of those years.

FY26: borrowings of ₹0.0 Cr against equity of ₹1,446 Cr — a debt-to-equity of 0.00. Over 5 years borrowings went from ₹0.0 Cr to ₹0.0 Cr while capital spending ran ₹−163 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: Domestic institutions cut 6.6 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 6.6 points of VST Industries Ltd over 8 quarters, the biggest move on the register. That takes domestic institutions to 6.0% of the company. Promoters moved +0.0 points over the same window, to 32.2%. The register is read on the four disclosed classes only; nothing is inferred between filings.

The register over the last two years — Domestic institutions: −6.6 points over 8 quarters to 6.0%; Promoters: +0.0 points over 8 quarters to 32.2%; Foreign institutions: +0.0 points over 8 quarters to 1.8%.

🚨 Why the register moved: domestic institutions drove it (−6.6 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.

VST Industries 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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