Bharat Seats 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.

Bharat Seats Ltd trades at ₹214, in a confirmed uptrend and 69 weeks into that stage. That is +10.7% against its own 200-day average. It sits at 68% of a 52-week range of ₹140 to ₹249. On relative strength it has been ahead of the NIFTY 500 on a trailing-13-week view for 19 straight weeks.

Today the stock is in a confirmed uptrend — week 69 of stage 2, confirmed. At ₹214 it trades +10.7% versus its 200-day average and sits at 68% of its 52-week range (₹140–₹249).

Against the market, two honest reads. Cumulative: over the last 10.6 years the stock moved +1,228% while the NIFTY 500 moved +272% — ahead of the index over the full window. Recent form: on a trailing-13-week view the stock has been ahead for 19 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.

Story check

Bharat Seats Ltd's story is not scored yet against the markers our research file set on 22 August 2026. Where it sits in its own cycle: EXPANSION. Still open: A sustained expansion of operating profit margin above 6.5% via formal pass-through pricing agreements combined with quarterly revenue surpassing ₹650 Cr without working capital deterioration.

Our read, 22 August 2026. Revenue expanded 51.4% in FY26 to ₹1,951 Cr as OEM seating volumes scaled, but operating margins remained capped at 4.9% to 5.0% and valuation sits at the 93rd PE percentile (30.3x trailing vs 18.1x historical median, verdict RE_RATED_EXPENSIVE), leaving little margin of safety.

What is proven. Revenue expanded 51.4% in FY26 to ₹1,951 Cr as OEM seating volumes scaled, but operating margins remained capped at 4.9% to 5.0% and valuation sits at the 93rd PE percentile (30.3x trailing vs 18.1x historical median, verdict RE_RATED_EXPENSIVE), leaving little margin of safety.

What is not proven yet. A sustained expansion of operating profit margin above 6.5% via formal pass-through pricing agreements combined with quarterly revenue surpassing ₹650 Cr without working capital deterioration.

🚨 What would change our mind. A sustained expansion of operating profit margin above 6.5% via formal pass-through pricing agreements combined with quarterly revenue surpassing ₹650 Cr without working capital deterioration.

🚨 Layer 1 read, 22 August 2026 — DROP. Revenue doubled in three years but the margin fell — and the price already sits at a decade high. Bharat Seats sells car seats to one dominant carmaker, and its sales doubled from Rs 286 Cr to Rs 578 Cr a quarter over three years. The problem is that its profit margin went DOWN over the same stretch, from 6.0% to 4.9%, and management's own 5.5-6.0% margin promise for the year was missed at 5.0% — so making twice as much does not make this company any more profitable per rupee, because the customer, not Bharat Seats, sets the price. Meanwhile the share price now costs 30.3 times earnings, the dearest it has been in ten years and 93% of its own history, and even after adjusting for a normal-year margin it is still 28.7 times, at the 88th percentile — that adjustment is a model estimate…

What would change Layer 1’s mind. Two consecutive quarters of operating margin at or above 5.5% while quarterly revenue holds above Rs 590 Cr (the Timeline's own M1 and M2 milestones) — that would prove Bharat Seats can finally pass raw-material cost through to the carmaker and turn the volume ramp into real operating leverage, and would lift this to P1. The mirror image breaks it outright: quarterly revenue falling below Rs 500 Cr with Rs 9 Cr a quarter of depreciation still to absorb would push net profit down hard on an…

The test written in advance. A sustained expansion of operating profit margin above 6.5% via formal pass-through pricing agreements combined with quarterly revenue surpassing ₹650 Cr without working capital deterioration. — the thesis as written as stated by the next result.

What the company does. Volume off-take from anchor OEM partners pushed quarterly revenue to a run-rate of ₹578 Cr in Q1 FY27, up 35.4% YoY. Cash generation is positive with three-year operating cash flow to net profit at 2.6x and negative 7-day cash conversion cycle, funding ₹332 Cr of cumulative capex while reducing debt to ₹110 Cr in FY26. The valuation multiple at 30.3x trailing PE (88th percentile normalized PE of 28.7x, RE_RATED_EXPENSIVE) leaves no buffer for any cyclical slowdown in passenger vehicle demand or continued raw material cost pressure.

🚨 What the surface reading misses. The surface reading is: 51.4% top-line growth indicates substantial market demand and volume scaling. The research reads it further: Top-line acceleration is driven by passenger vehicle production ramp across anchor OEM platforms following ₹332 Cr multi-year capex.

🚨 What the surface reading misses. The surface reading is: 35.4% YoY quarterly revenue growth demonstrates sustained volume momentum into FY27. The research reads it further: Continued quarterly top-line expansion indicates steady dispatches to primary OEM seating lines, establishing a ₹2,300 Cr annual run-rate.

Sources: our stock research file (22 August 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.

Bharat Seats Ltd reported ₹578 Cr of revenue in the Jun 26 quarter, +35.4% year on year. That is the 9th straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 10 years it has compounded at 10.8% a year. The last full year, FY26, came in at ₹1,951 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹2,102 Cr.

Why this happened. Bharat Seats expanded revenue from ₹1,289 Cr in FY25 to ₹1,951 Cr in FY26 and ₹578 Cr in Q1 FY27 by supplying seating systems to expanding vehicle platforms. This volume throughput utilizes expanded capacity following ₹332 Cr of gross additions over the past five fiscal years.

FY26 revenue came in at ₹1,951 Cr (+51.4% on the year), capping 10 years at 10.8% compound. The latest quarter (Jun 26) printed ₹578 Cr, +35.4% year on year — the 9th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.

Pace check: the last four quarters averaged +49.9% growth against the decade's 10.8% — the current year is running faster than its own long-run rate.

Acceleration check: trailing-twelve-month revenue grew +48.3% over the last 4 quarters against +37.4%/yr over the last 8 — accelerating; TTM profit +31.4% vs +28.2%/yr — accelerating.

FY26-Q4. revenue ₹574 Cr and profit ₹13 Cr as reported.

FY27-Q1. revenue ₹578 Cr and profit ₹13 Cr as reported.

Why-sources: our stock research file (22 August 2026) and the company’s own results for those quarters.

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.

Bharat Seats Ltd's operating margin is 4.9% in the Jun 26 quarter, −0.1 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. Across 13 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 3.9% to 7.0%. The current quarter sits inside that band.

The latest quarter's operating margin is 4.9%, −0.1 pp against the same quarter a year ago. Across 13 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 3.9%–7.0%.

🚨 Why the margin moved: operating margin went −0.2 pp year on year while gross margin went −1.6 pp — the loss came mostly from the gross line: input costs and pricing.

FY26-Q4. revenue ₹574 Cr and profit ₹13 Cr as reported.

FY27-Q1. revenue ₹578 Cr and profit ₹13 Cr as reported.

Why-sources: our stock research file (22 August 2026) and the company’s own results for those quarters.

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

Bharat Seats Ltd earned ₹13.0 Cr of net profit in the Jun 26 quarter, +44.4% year on year. It is the 7th consecutive quarter of growth. Full-year FY26 profit was ₹42.0 Cr. The 10-year compound rate is 19.6%. That is 2.2% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier earned ₹9.0 Cr.

Jun 26 profit was ₹13.0 Cr, +44.4% year on year — the 7th consecutive quarter of growth. On the full year, FY26 printed ₹42.0 Cr (+27.3%), and the 10-year compound rate is 19.6%.

Why profit moved: revenue contributed +35.4% and the margin −0.1 pp — the quarter was revenue-led, with the margin roughly flat.

Pace comparison, last four quarters: profit +32.6% vs revenue +49.9%. Profit is growing slower than sales — costs are eating the growth before it reaches the bottom line.

FY26-Q4. revenue ₹574 Cr and profit ₹13 Cr as reported.

FY27-Q1. revenue ₹578 Cr and profit ₹13 Cr as reported.

Why-sources: our stock research file (22 August 2026) and the company’s own results for those quarters.

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 260% of Bharat Seats Ltd's reported profit arrived as operating cash — the cash follows the profit. In FY26 that was ₹107 Cr of operating cash against ₹42.0 Cr of profit. After ₹30.0 Cr of capital spending, ₹77.0 Cr was left as free cash.

Why this happened. Operating cash generation increased from ₹16 Cr in FY22 to ₹107 Cr in FY26, yielding a cumulative 3-year OCF of ₹260 Cr against ₹100 Cr of cumulative net profit. This internal cash generation enabled ₹77 Cr of free cash flow in FY26 and reduced debt by ₹42 Cr to ₹110 Cr.

FY26: operating cash of ₹107 Cr against reported profit of ₹42.0 Cr, leaving free cash of ₹77.0 Cr after ₹30.0 Cr of capital spending. Across the last 3 fiscal years the conversion rate is 260% 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 260%: the cash cycle stretched 13 days between FY21 and FY26 — more of each rupee of profit waits inside the cycle before arriving.

Router verdict: the bigger cash user is investment — capital spending ran 2.8× depreciation over three years, so the next section's job is to check what that build-out is buying.

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).

Bharat Seats Ltd's cash conversion cycle runs −7 days in FY26, up from −20 days in FY21. Capital spending ran ₹242 Cr over the last 3 years. At FY26 sales of ₹1,951 Cr each day of that cycle holds about ₹5.3 Cr, so roughly ₹−37.0 Cr sits inside the business at any moment.

FY26: debtors at 49 days, inventory at 13 days — roughly 0.4 months of stock waiting to sell; that is where the cash sits while it waits — for a full cycle of −7 days, looser than FY21's −20.

The full loop: cash goes out to suppliers and production on day 0; stock waits 13 days to sell; customers pay about 49 days after that; and suppliers themselves are paid at 69 days — netting out to the −7-day cycle.

In money terms: at FY26 sales of ₹1,951 Cr, each day of the cycle holds about ₹5.3 Cr — so the −7-day loop keeps roughly ₹−37.0 Cr sitting inside the business at any moment.

On the investment side: capital spending of ₹242 Cr over the last 3 fiscal years against ₹85.0 Cr of depreciation — the company is building well ahead of wear-and-tear. Capital work-in-progress stands at ₹12.0 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.

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.⚠ unverified

Bharat Seats Ltd earns a ROCE of 20% in FY26. That is up from a trough of 7% in FY21. Return on invested capital clears the cost of that capital by +2.2 percentage points, so growth here adds value rather than only size. The wiring behind it is 2.2% net margin on 2.65× asset turns.

FY26 ROCE is 20%, recovered from a FY21 trough of 7% — the full ladder below shows the fall and the climb, undoctored.

Why the return is what it is — the wiring (FY26): 2.2% net margin × 2.65× asset turns × 3.20× balance-sheet leverage ≈ 18.7% on equity. Margin does its share; leverage is a meaningful part of the equation.

The capstone test — ROIC − WACC: 14.2% − 12.0% = a +2.2 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.⚠ unverified

Bharat Seats Ltd carries total debt of ₹110 Cr against shareholder equity of ₹230 Cr as of Mar 26, a debt-to-equity of 0.48. On the annual view that ratio went from 0.31 in FY22 to 0.48 in FY26. Read the returns elsewhere on this page with that leverage in mind.

Why this happened. Total debt dropped by ₹50 Cr over two years as capital expenditure moderated to ₹30 Cr in FY26 from ₹138 Cr in FY24. Debt-to-equity declined alongside an interest coverage ratio exceeding 14x, reducing financial risk.

Mar 26: total debt of ₹110 Cr against shareholder equity of ₹230 Cr — a debt-to-equity of 0.48. On the annual view, debt-to-equity went from 0.31 (FY22) to 0.48 (FY26). Read the returns on this page with that leverage in mind.

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 Bharat Seats Ltd moved a full percentage point over the last two years — the register is quiet. Foreign institutions moved +0.1 points over the same window, to 0.1%. The register is read on the four disclosed classes only; nothing is inferred between filings.

The register over the last two years — Promoters: +0.1 points over 8 quarters to 74.7%; Foreign institutions: +0.1 points over 8 quarters to 0.1%; Domestic institutions: +0.1 points over 8 quarters to 0.2%.

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.

Bharat Seats Ltd: the Z-score reads 4.35. A Z-score above roughly 3 reads as safe and below roughly 1.8 as the distress zone, so this sits well clear of distress. It is a distance-to-distress estimate from the balance sheet, not a forecast of failure.

Why it matters: a Z-score of 4.35 sits well clear of the distress zone — the balance sheet is not the risk here.

The safety line in one sentence: the Z-score reads 4.35.

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.

Bharat Seats Ltd trades at 28.4× P/E, at the pricey end of its own range (88th percentile). Its long-run median P/E is 18.6×, 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 28.4× is at the pricey end of its own range (88th percentile), against a long-run median of 18.6× 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 +29.0% against a +39.4% price move — the price outran earnings, pushing the multiple UP its own range.

The price move, decomposed: over 5y, of the +39.1%/yr price move, ~+24.7%/yr came from earnings growth and ~+14.4 pp from the multiple (expanding); over 10y, of the +24.8%/yr price move, ~+19.6%/yr came from earnings growth and ~+5.2 pp from the multiple (expanding). 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 full against its own past, so the story rests on the earnings line underneath it, not the multiple.

A quarterly PEG curve, which only the second data source carries, is not drawn on this page: its two data sources do not share enough overlapping reported history to be compared. A figure nobody could check is not used to price growth — the gap is a decision, not missing data.

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 27 August 2026 price, Bharat Seats Ltd was paying for profit growth of about 17.9% a year. Profit itself has compounded 19.6% a year over the past 10 years. Today the market pays 28.4× P/E, the 88th percentile of its own 11-year range.

What the two numbers say together. The multiple is full against its own past, and the growth the price is paying for is close to what this company has actually delivered.

How to hold this number: it is a reading of one day's price, taken on 27 August 2026, not a running figure — every other number on this page, the multiple included, is read off the live quote as of 18 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: 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).

Bharat Seats Ltd reads as consistent on its fundamental arc. Consistent — revenue, profit and EPS growth have stayed positive through the window, with ROCE at 20.0% and holding. The read is built from 8 quarters across 4 curves, on partial evidence.

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

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.

A partial read: at least one curve is short, or the returns curve is not the computed quarterly series — hold the stage word a little more loosely.

4-Factor Sector Score

67.5/100 — rank 1 of 1 in Auto Ancillaries - Seats · 78% evidence confidence

Bharat Seats Ltd scores 67.5 out of 100 against the 1 companies it is compared with in Auto Ancillaries - Seats, ranking 1. Confirmed research leader: earnings, capital efficiency and relative strength agree. Move to management, catalyst and risk diligence.

The four contributions add to the total exactly: 29.9 + 18.1 + 7 + 12.5 = 67.5. 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