FDC 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.

FDC Ltd trades at ₹410, in a downtrend and 41 weeks into that stage. That is +2.1% against its own 200-day average. It sits at 54% of a 52-week range of ₹321 to ₹487. 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 downtrend — week 41 of stage 4. At ₹410 it trades +2.1% versus its 200-day average and sits at 54% of its 52-week range (₹321–₹487).

Against the market, two honest reads. Cumulative: over the last 10.4 years the stock moved +121% while the NIFTY 500 moved +276% — 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 2026-07-24) — 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.

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.

FDC Ltd trades at 22.5× P/E, mid-range by its own standards (48th percentile). Its long-run median P/E is 23.0×, 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 22.5× is mid-range by its own standards (48th percentile), against a long-run median of 23.0× 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 +5.5% against a −13.8% price move — earnings outran the price, pushing the multiple DOWN its own range.

The price move, decomposed: over 5y, of the +1.9%/yr price move, ~+0.4%/yr came from earnings growth and ~+1.5 pp from the multiple (expanding); over 10y, of the +7.9%/yr price move, ~+9.0%/yr came from earnings growth and ~−1.1 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 unremarkable against its own past, so the story rests on the earnings line underneath it, not the multiple.

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).

FDC Ltd reads as mixed on its fundamental arc. Mixed — no clean majority across the growth curves, ROCE holding at 15.4% — 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

52.2/100 — rank 19 of 43 in Pharma - Formulators · 90% evidence confidence

FDC Ltd scores 52.2 out of 100 against the 43 companies it is compared with in Pharma - Formulators, ranking 19. Balanced evidence: keep at normal research priority and require another comparable period before raising conviction.

The four contributions add to the total exactly: 16.7 + 14.8 + 15.7 + 5 = 52.2. 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.

FDC Ltd reported ₹585 Cr of revenue in the Mar 26 quarter, +18.9% year on year. That is the 2nd straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 10 years it has compounded at 8.1% a year. The last full year, FY26, came in at ₹2,171 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹2,171 Cr.

FY26 revenue came in at ₹2,171 Cr (+3.0% on the year), capping 10 years at 8.1% compound. The latest quarter (Mar 26) printed ₹585 Cr, +18.9% year on year — the 2nd consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.

Pace check: the last four quarters averaged +3.2% growth against the decade's 8.1% — the current year is running slower than its own long-run rate.

Acceleration check: trailing-twelve-month revenue grew +3.0% over the last 4 quarters against +5.7%/yr over the last 8 — stabilising; TTM profit +4.9% vs −4.2%/yr — accelerating.

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.

FDC Ltd's operating margin is 18.0% in the Mar 26 quarter, +7.0 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.

The latest quarter's operating margin is 18.0%, +7.0 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 +7.2 pp year on year while gross margin went −2.4 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.

FDC Ltd earned ₹103 Cr of net profit in the Mar 26 quarter, +164.1% year on year. Full-year FY26 profit was ₹281 Cr. The 10-year compound rate is 5.2%. That is 17.6% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier earned ₹39.0 Cr.

Mar 26 profit was ₹103 Cr, +164.1% year on year. On the full year, FY26 printed ₹281 Cr (+5.2%), and the 10-year compound rate is 5.2%.

Why profit moved: revenue contributed +18.9% and the margin +7.0 pp — the quarter was margin-led: most of the profit growth came from keeping more of each sale.

Pace comparison, last four quarters: profit +20.1% vs revenue +3.2%. 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 87% of FDC Ltd's reported profit arrived as operating cash — the cash follows the profit. In FY26 that was ₹200 Cr of operating cash against ₹281 Cr of profit. After ₹166 Cr of capital spending, ₹34.0 Cr was left as free cash.

FY26: operating cash of ₹200 Cr against reported profit of ₹281 Cr, leaving free cash of ₹34.0 Cr after ₹166 Cr of capital spending. Across the last 3 fiscal years the conversion rate is 87% 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 87%: the cash cycle tightened 50 days between FY21 and FY26 — cash that used to wait in the cycle now reaches the bank sooner.

Router verdict: the bigger cash user is investment — capital spending ran 2.3× 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).

FDC Ltd's cash conversion cycle runs 102 days in FY26, down from 152 days in FY21. Capital spending ran ₹352 Cr over the last 3 years. At FY26 sales of ₹2,171 Cr each day of that cycle holds about ₹5.9 Cr, so roughly ₹607 Cr sits inside the business at any moment.

FY26: debtors at 26 days, inventory at 182 days — roughly 6.0 months of stock waiting to sell; that is where the cash sits while it waits — for a full cycle of 102 days, tighter than FY21's 152.

The full loop: cash goes out to suppliers and production on day 0; stock waits 182 days to sell; customers pay about 26 days after that; and suppliers themselves are paid at 106 days — netting out to the 102-day cycle.

In money terms: at FY26 sales of ₹2,171 Cr, each day of the cycle holds about ₹5.9 Cr — so the 102-day loop keeps roughly ₹607 Cr sitting inside the business at any moment.

On the investment side: capital spending of ₹352 Cr over the last 3 fiscal years against ₹153 Cr of depreciation — the company is building well ahead of wear-and-tear. Capital work-in-progress stands at ₹96.0 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.

FDC Ltd earns a ROCE of 17% in FY26. That is up from a trough of 13% in FY23. Return on invested capital clears the cost of that capital by −1.2 percentage points, so growth here is not yet paying for the capital it uses. The wiring behind it is 12.9% net margin on 0.74× asset turns.

FY26 ROCE is 17%, recovered from a FY23 trough of 13% — the full ladder below shows the fall and the climb, undoctored.

🚨 Why the return is what it is — the wiring (FY26): 12.9% net margin × 0.74× asset turns × 1.17× 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: 10.8% − 12.0% = a −1.2 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. Negative — growth at these returns destroys value until the returns recover.

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.

FDC Ltd carries total debt of ₹15.0 Cr against shareholder equity of ₹2,485 Cr as of Mar 26, a debt-to-equity of 0.01 — effectively unlevered. On the annual view that ratio went from 0.02 in FY22 to 0.01 in FY26. The returns elsewhere on this page are therefore earned rather than borrowed.

Mar 26: total debt of ₹15.0 Cr against shareholder equity of ₹2,485 Cr — a debt-to-equity of 0.01. On the annual view, debt-to-equity went from 0.02 (FY22) to 0.01 (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 1.1 points of FDC Ltd over 8 quarters, the biggest move on the register. That takes foreign institutions to 1.4% of the company. Domestic institutions moved −0.4 points over the same window, to 6.3%. The register is read on the four disclosed classes only; nothing is inferred between filings.

The register over the last two years — Foreign institutions: −1.1 points over 8 quarters to 1.4%; Domestic institutions: −0.4 points over 8 quarters to 6.3%; Promoters: +0.0 points over 8 quarters to 69.7%.

🚨 Why the register moved: foreign institutions drove it (−1.1 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.

FDC 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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