Atul 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.

Atul Ltd trades at ₹6,245, losing momentum at the top and 7 weeks into that stage. That is −3.7% against its own 200-day average. It sits at 39% of a 52-week range of ₹5,691 to ₹7,100. On relative strength it is currently behind the NIFTY 500 on a trailing-13-week view (17 weeks and counting).

Today the stock is losing momentum at the top — week 7 of stage 3, confirmed. At ₹6,245 it trades −3.7% versus its 200-day average and sits at 39% of its 52-week range (₹5,691–₹7,100).

Against the market, two honest reads. Cumulative: over the last 10.5 years the stock moved +359% while the NIFTY 500 moved +273% — ahead of the index over the full window. Recent form: on a trailing-13-week view the stock is currently behind (17 weeks and counting; last ahead the week of 2026-06-10) — 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.

Story check

Atul Ltd's story is not scored yet against the markers our research file set on 17 May 2026. Where it sits in its own cycle: MID_CONTRACTION.

Our read, 17 May 2026. FY24-cycle trough is confirmed behind — a depressed-base specialty chemicals compounder turning the corner on volumes, margins, and new product cadence.

From the numbers. PE at 30.8x is 40th percentile of 10Y range — not depressed. Cycle peaked at PE 57.4x in Sep 2024 (PE_EXPANSION) then compressed as EPS recovered faster than price. Current PE cycle labeled CYCLICAL_PEAK /…

From the price. Price stage 3, week 7 — below its 200-day line, relative strength rising.

From the research. FY24-cycle trough is confirmed behind — a depressed-base specialty chemicals compounder turning the corner on volumes, margins, and new product cadence.

🚨 Where they disagree. PE at 30.8x is 40th percentile of 10Y range — not depressed. Cycle peaked at PE 57.4x in Sep 2024 (PE_EXPANSION) then compressed as EPS recovered faster than price. Current PE cycle labeled CYCLICAL_PEAK / MID_CONTRACTION by the system. FII selling per pe_pb_cycle data. The system flags EARNINGS_DISCONNECT — EPS is recovering (FY26 EPS ₹230 vs FY24 ₹110) but PE hasn't re-rated upward, suggesting market is waiting for proof of sustainability.

What is proven. FY24-cycle trough is confirmed behind — a depressed-base specialty chemicals compounder turning the corner on volumes, margins, and new product cadence.

What is not proven yet. China remains the structural headwind — if export pricing aggression resumes (driven by domestic oversupply or policy shifts), Atul's agro-chemical and dye segments face margin re-compression similar to FY24.

The test written in advance. Chinese Specialty Chemicals Competition Resumes Aggression — Chinese Specialty Chemicals Competition Resumes Aggression Chinese benzene/agrochemical export price indices; Atul's quarterly OPM trend vs prior year by the next result.

The test written in advance. Other Income Dependency — Q4 PAT Quality Concern — Other Income Dependency — Q4 PAT Quality Concern Q1 FY27 other income component; core EBITDA trajectory vs reported PAT by the next result.

The test written in advance. Agro-Chemical Demand Cyclicality — Monsoon Sensitivity — Agro-Chemical Demand Cyclicality — Monsoon Sensitivity IMD monsoon forecast; domestic agrochemical channel inventory commentary in Q1 FY27 by the next result.

Lever 3 · Management change — BUILDING. Revenue grew 7 consecutive quarters through FY26, with 4 consecutive quarters of YoY PAT acceleration — the global agro-chemical and specialty chemicals destocking cycle that cratered FY24 earnings is definitively over. What proves it keeps working: Specialty Chemicals Destocking Cycle End — Volume Recovery. It stops working if Chinese benzene/agrochemical export price indices; Atul's quarterly OPM trend vs prior year.

Lever 2 · Value-added mix — BUILDING. Life Science segment runs 19% PBIT margins vs 10% for Performance Chemicals — growing crop protection export volumes (2,4-D, Indoxacarb, Sulphonyl Urea herbicides/insecticides) improve the revenue mix and lift blended margins structurally. What proves it keeps working: Life Science Chemicals — Margin Premium + Export Growth (2,4-D, Indoxacarb, Sulphonyl Urea). It stops working if Chinese benzene/agrochemical export price indices; Atul's quarterly OPM trend vs prior year.

Lever 5 · Regulatory approval — BUILDING. The recently commissioned LER plant drove Q2 FY26 domestic volume uplift — higher LER volumes from new facility was explicitly cited as the key Q2 YoY revenue driver in the investor presentation. What proves it keeps working: Liquid Epoxy Resin (LER) Facility Ramp — New Capacity Driving Performance Chemicals. It stops working if Chinese benzene/agrochemical export price indices; Atul's quarterly OPM trend vs prior year.

Lever 1 · Operating leverage — BUILDING. Three new crop protection products (Mylonis, Salix Gold, Tikadis — May 2026) target India's ₹25,000 Cr+ crop protection market; Atul-Buckman water treatment JV (Feb 2026) opens a new segment. What proves it keeps working: New Product Launches — Crop Protection Retail + Water Treatment JV. It stops working if Chinese benzene/agrochemical export price indices; Atul's quarterly OPM trend vs prior year.

Sources: our stock research file (17 May 2026) · quarterly results through Jun 26. The story check is re-scored every results season; the record below never changes.

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

Atul Ltd reported ₹1,848 Cr of revenue in the Jun 26 quarter, +25.0% year on year. That is the 10th straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 10 years it has compounded at 9.2% a year. The last full year, FY26, came in at ₹6,274 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹6,644 Cr.

Why this happened. As confirmed in the Q2 FY26 investor presentation: 'The Company maintains a strong Balance Sheet with ~₹1,200 cr of surplus funds available for future expansion.' Net D/E of -0.18 (net cash). Current investments of ₹1,159 Cr as at Sep 30, 2025. This is both a quality floor (no financial risk) and a potential catalyst if capex is announced with a clear returns thesis.

FY26 revenue came in at ₹6,274 Cr (+12.4% on the year), capping 10 years at 9.2% compound. The latest quarter (Jun 26) printed ₹1,848 Cr, +25.0% year on year — the 10th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.

Pace check: the last four quarters averaged +15.6% growth against the decade's 9.2% — the current year is running faster than its own long-run rate.

Acceleration check: trailing-twelve-month revenue grew +15.7% over the last 4 quarters against +16.9%/yr over the last 8 — stabilising; TTM profit +56.3% vs +55.8%/yr — stabilising.

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.

Atul Ltd's operating margin is 21.0% in the Jun 26 quarter, +5.0 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. Across 13 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 14.0% to 25.0%. The current quarter sits inside that band.

Why this happened. H1 FY26 segment data from the official investor presentation shows Life Science Chemicals PBIT% at 19% versus Performance & Other Chemicals at 10%. Export-led growth in Crop Protection — Bulk Actives (2,4-D herbicide, Indoxacarb insecticide, Sulphonyl Urea) drove the Life Science segment 7% YoY in H1, with export realizations recovering. If Life Science grows faster than Performance Chemicals, the blended EBITDA margin will expand even without volume growth in the lower-margin segment.

The latest quarter's operating margin is 21.0%, +5.0 pp against the same quarter a year ago. Across 13 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 14.0%–25.0%.

Why the margin moved: operating margin went +5.4 pp year on year while gross margin went +2.5 pp — the gain came mostly below the gross line: operating leverage, with costs spread over a bigger revenue base.

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

Atul Ltd earned ₹254 Cr of net profit in the Jun 26 quarter, +92.4% year on year. It is the 9th consecutive quarter of growth. Full-year FY26 profit was ₹689 Cr. The 10-year compound rate is 9.7%. That is 13.7% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier earned ₹132 Cr.

Jun 26 profit was ₹254 Cr, +92.4% year on year — the 9th consecutive quarter of growth. On the full year, FY26 printed ₹689 Cr (+38.1%), and the 10-year compound rate is 9.7%.

Why profit moved: revenue contributed +25.0% and the margin +5.0 pp — the quarter was margin-led: most of the profit growth came from keeping more of each sale.

Pace comparison, last four quarters: profit +56.2% vs revenue +15.6%. 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.

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 152% of Atul Ltd's reported profit arrived as operating cash — the cash follows the profit. In FY26 that was ₹1,023 Cr of operating cash against ₹689 Cr of profit. After ₹137 Cr of capital spending, ₹886 Cr was left as free cash.

FY26: operating cash of ₹1,023 Cr against reported profit of ₹689 Cr, leaving free cash of ₹886 Cr after ₹137 Cr of capital spending. Across the last 3 fiscal years the conversion rate is 152% 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 152%: 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.

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).

Atul Ltd's cash conversion cycle runs 70 days in FY26, down from 78 days in FY21. Capital spending ran ₹865 Cr over the last 3 years. At FY26 sales of ₹6,274 Cr each day of that cycle holds about ₹17.2 Cr, so roughly ₹1,203 Cr sits inside the business at any moment.

FY26: debtors at 74 days, inventory at 90 days — roughly 3.0 months of stock waiting to sell; that is where the cash sits while it waits — for a full cycle of 70 days, tighter than FY21's 78.

The full loop: cash goes out to suppliers and production on day 0; stock waits 90 days to sell; customers pay about 74 days after that; and suppliers themselves are paid at 94 days — netting out to the 70-day cycle.

In money terms: at FY26 sales of ₹6,274 Cr, each day of the cycle holds about ₹17.2 Cr — so the 70-day loop keeps roughly ₹1,203 Cr sitting inside the business at any moment.

On the investment side: capital spending of ₹865 Cr over the last 3 fiscal years against ₹882 Cr of depreciation — spending at or below maintenance level. Capital work-in-progress stands at ₹110 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.

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.

Atul Ltd earns a ROCE of 15% in FY26. That is up from a trough of 9% in FY24. Return on invested capital clears the cost of that capital by +2.0 percentage points, so growth here adds value rather than only size. The wiring behind it is 11.0% net margin on 0.80× asset turns.

FY26 ROCE is 15%, recovered from a FY24 trough of 9% — the full ladder below shows the fall and the climb, undoctored.

Why the return is what it is — the wiring (FY26): 11.0% net margin × 0.80× asset turns × 1.27× balance-sheet leverage ≈ 11.2% on equity. Margin does its share; leverage is modest — this is an earned return, not a borrowed one.

The capstone test — ROIC − WACC: 14.0% − 12.0% = a +2.0 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. Positive but thin — value creation with little room for error.

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.

Atul Ltd carries total debt of ₹183 Cr against shareholder equity of ₹6,297 Cr as of Mar 26, a debt-to-equity of 0.03 — effectively unlevered. On the annual view that ratio went from 0.03 in FY22 to 0.03 in FY26. The returns elsewhere on this page are therefore earned rather than borrowed.

Mar 26: total debt of ₹183 Cr against shareholder equity of ₹6,297 Cr — a debt-to-equity of 0.03. On the annual view, debt-to-equity went from 0.03 (FY22) to 0.03 (FY26). The returns on this page are earned, not borrowed.

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.

Foreign institutions cut 1.2 points of Atul Ltd over 8 quarters, the biggest move on the register. That takes foreign institutions to 7.4% of the company. Promoters moved +0.2 points over the same window, to 45.3%. The register is read on the four disclosed classes only; nothing is inferred between filings.

Why this happened. The FY24 earnings trough (PAT ₹324 Cr, down 36% from FY23) was driven by global agrochemical destocking, Chinese export dumping, and weak European demand. From Q1 FY26, all three conditions began normalizing: channel inventories cleared, Chinese pricing stabilised somewhat, European demand recovered. Each quarter of FY26 printed higher PAT than its prior-year comparable. Performance & Other Chemicals segment drove H1 FY26 revenue growth at 14% YoY, while Life Science Chemicals grew 7% — both segments above FY24 trough rates.

The register over the last two years — Foreign institutions: −1.2 points over 8 quarters to 7.4%; Promoters: +0.2 points over 8 quarters to 45.3%; Domestic institutions: +0.1 points over 8 quarters to 25.9%.

🚨 Why the register moved: foreign institutions drove it (−1.2 points) — distribution into the market’s bid.

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.

Atul 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.

Why this happened. The Q2 FY26 investor presentation explicitly states: 'Year-over-year revenue also increased by 12%, driven by higher LER volumes from the recently commissioned facility.' This is new manufactured capacity that had not existed in the prior-year comparables, creating a structural volume step-up that is not a cyclical recovery. The RACL (Rudolf Atul Chemicals Ltd, 50:50 JV with Nouryon for textile chemicals) plant stabilization and LER ramp together represent the capex cycle beginning to pay off.

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

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.

Atul Ltd trades at 23.1× P/E, near the bottom of its own range — cheaper only 15% of the time. Its long-run median P/E is 32.6×, measured across 10.6 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 23.1× is near the bottom of its own range — cheaper only 15% of the time, against a long-run median of 32.6× measured over 10.6 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 +40.1% against a −2.3% price move — earnings outran the price, pushing the multiple DOWN its own range.

The price move, decomposed: over 5y, of the −7.6%/yr price move, ~+2.6%/yr came from earnings growth and ~−10.2 pp from the multiple (compressing); over 10y, of the +11.2%/yr price move, ~+11.3%/yr came from earnings growth and ~−0.1 pp from the multiple (roughly flat). 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.

What the price assumes This reading works the multiple backwards. It asks one question: what yearly rate of profit growth is a buyer at the market price already paying for? The number is the growth rate that makes eleven years of profit — six years growing, then five fading — add up to that day's market price, once each year is discounted at 11% a year.

Solved at its 13 June 2026 price, Atul Ltd was paying for profit growth of about 18.3% a year. Profit itself has compounded 9.7% a year over the past 10 years. Today the market pays 23.1× P/E, the 15th percentile of its own 11-year range.

What the two numbers say together. The multiple is low against its own past, and the growth the price is paying for is above what this company has actually delivered. A multiple that looks low because earnings fell is not the same thing as a low bar to clear.

How to hold this number: it is a reading of one day's price, taken on 13 June 2026, not a running figure — every other number on this page, the multiple included, is read off the live quote as of 11 September 2026. A higher price is paying for more growth and a lower price for less, so it moves whenever the price does, and this page does not restate it between measurements.

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).

Atul Ltd reads as mixed on its fundamental arc. Mixed — no clean majority across the growth curves, ROCE holding at 14.2% — 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.

4-Factor Sector Score

62.3/100 — rank 3 of 10 in Dyes & Pigments · 100% evidence confidence

Atul Ltd scores 62.3 out of 100 against the 10 companies it is compared with in Dyes & Pigments, ranking 3. Acceleration candidate, not a confirmed leader: earnings are strong but sector-relative strength is -27.2% and the one-year return is -0.9%. Do not upgrade until sector-relative strength is above zero and another reported period confirms growth.

The four contributions add to the total exactly: 27.4 + 18 + 15.1 + 1.8 = 62.3. 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.

Frequently asked questions