Gujarat Fluorochemicals 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.

Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd trades at ₹4,773, in a confirmed uptrend and 15 weeks into that stage. That is +21.3% against its own 200-day average. It sits at 100% of a 52-week range of ₹2,970 to ₹4,773. On relative strength it has been ahead of the NIFTY 500 on a trailing-13-week view for 9 straight weeks.

Today the stock is in a confirmed uptrend — week 15 of stage 2, confirmed. At ₹4,773 it trades +21.3% versus its 200-day average and sits at 100% of its 52-week range (₹2,970–₹4,773).

Against the market, two honest reads. Cumulative: over the last 6.9 years the stock moved +563% while the NIFTY 500 moved +142% — ahead of the index over the full window. Recent form: on a trailing-13-week view the stock has been ahead for 9 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

Gujarat Fluorochemicals 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: MID_CONTRACTION. Our fortnightly research layers last read it on 22 August 2026.

Our read, 22 August 2026. Gujarat Fluorochemicals is transitioning from basic refrigerants into high-value semiconductor fluoropolymers and integrated battery materials, driving earnings recovery off mid-cycle multiples.

From the numbers. Domestic institutional holding expanded by 126 bps from 11.47% in Jun 2025 to 12.73% in Sep 2025, absorbing a 118 bps reduction in promoter holding (62.57% to 61.39%). Total institutional participation reached 17.09%…

From the price. Price stage 2, week 15 — above its 200-day line, relative strength rising.

From the research. Gujarat Fluorochemicals is transitioning from basic refrigerants into high-value semiconductor fluoropolymers and integrated battery materials, driving earnings recovery off mid-cycle multiples.

🚨 Where they disagree. Domestic institutional holding expanded by 126 bps from 11.47% in Jun 2025 to 12.73% in Sep 2025, absorbing a 118 bps reduction in promoter holding (62.57% to 61.39%). Total institutional participation reached 17.09% (DII 12.73%, FII 4.36%), confirming institutional accumulation during the earnings trough.

What is proven. Gujarat Fluorochemicals is transitioning from basic refrigerants into high-value semiconductor fluoropolymers and integrated battery materials, driving earnings recovery off mid-cycle multiples.

What is not proven yet. Failure of R-32 refrigerant capacity to achieve full 20,000-tonne utilization during CY27 combined with battery materials quarterly revenue failing to reach Rs 100 crore by Q4 FY27 would invalidate the structural inflection thesis.

🚨 What would change our mind. Failure of R-32 refrigerant capacity to achieve full 20,000-tonne utilization during CY27 combined with battery materials quarterly revenue failing to reach Rs 100 crore by Q4 FY27 would invalidate the structural inflection thesis.

Layer 1 read, 22 August 2026 — KEEP. Real turn, real moat, but you are paying 82 times earnings for a company still spending ₹6,000 crore before it earns. The June quarter was the best in the company's history — ₹1,588 crore of sales and ₹219 crore of profit, with margins back to 27% — and the two bad quarters before it were caused by a US tariff that has since been cut from 50% to 18%, not by the business breaking. The problem is the price: 82 times trailing earnings, and still 77 times after adjusting for the earnings cycle, so the recovery is already in the share price. Meanwhile the company is mid-way through spending ₹6,000 crore over two years, and return on capital employed is 9.86%, near the bottom of its own historical range — the new plants have to work before that number can rise.

What would change Layer 1’s mind. The Timeline says the thesis breaks if R-32 misses full utilisation in CY27 AND battery revenue misses ₹100 crore a quarter by Q4 FY27. Sharpened to this decision: if the September 2026 quarter gives back the margin — operating margin below 24% with the fluorochemical line no longer growing above 20% — then June was a tariff-relief restock, not an inflection, and an 82-times multiple on a company still nine quarters from its capex earning anything becomes indefensible. A second promoter sale…

Layer 2 read, 22 August 2026 — BENCH. Recovery is visible, but the price and new sector supply leave no room for error. Q1 FY27 revenue reached Rs 1,588 crore and operating profit Rs 426 crore, a hard operating recovery. Yet the soft normalisation model still reads 77.1x PE at the 78th percentile, while external sector data shows SUPPLY_FLOOD plus ABSENT institutions; that combination supports waiting, not rejection.

What would change Layer 2’s mind. Advance only after the new fluoropolymer and battery capacity produces recurring reported revenue and operating cash while normalised valuation falls materially without a sector supply glut worsening.

The test written in advance. Failure of R-32 refrigerant capacity to achieve full 20,000-tonne utilization during CY27 combined with battery materials quarterly revenue failing to reach Rs 100 crore by Q4 FY27 would invalidate the structural inflection thesis. — the thesis as written as stated by the next result.

The test written in advance. Capital Expenditure Gestation & Execution Delay — Capital Expenditure Gestation & Execution Delay by the next result.

The test written in advance. Export Tariff & Trade Policy Uncertainty — Export Tariff & Trade Policy Uncertainty Re-escalation of US tariff rates above 18% or customer purchase order deferrals in Western export corridors. by the next result.

What the company does. The core chemical business is expanding as R-32 refrigerant capacity scales to 20,000 tonnes and high-value fluoropolymers grow at 17-20% annually. The battery materials platform provides an integrated China-plus-one alternative addressing 70% of LFP cell chemistry value across LiPF6, PVDF, and cathode active materials. Execution on the Rs 6,000 crore two-year capex plan, project relocation from Oman to India, and export working capital normalization are the primary monitorables.

🚨 What the surface reading misses. The surface reading is: PAT grew 20.3% YoY and doubled QoQ from Rs 100 crore, suggesting explosive sudden profit acceleration. The research reads it further: Q4 FY26 PAT was depressed by a 42% tax rate and post-commissioning EV expense recognition; Q1 FY27 normalized tax to 29% while chemical EBITDA expanded to Rs 458 crore (+29% YoY) on R-32 volume throughput.

🚨 What the surface reading misses. The surface reading is: High OCF/PAT of 1.73 in FY26 indicates 1.73x cash conversion relative to net profit. The research reads it further: OCF was elevated at Rs 961 crore due to Rs 367 crore non-cash depreciation, but capex of Rs 1,235 crore exceeded OCF, resulting in negative Free Cash Flow of Rs -274 crore in FY26 and cumulative 5-year FCF of Rs -1,791 crore.

Lever 2 · Value-added mix — BUILDING. Commissioning of 20,000-tonne R-32 capacity positions GFL to replace declining R-22 volumes with higher-realization refrigerants. What proves it keeps working: Refrigerant Portfolio Expansion & R-32 Scale-Up. It stops working if Refrigerant quota allocations are curtailed or global R-32 pricing collapses due to unconstrained Chinese capacity additions.

Lever 1 · Operating leverage — BUILDING. Captive chloromethanes, HF integration, and renewable power additions expand chemical EBITDA margins toward 30%. What proves it keeps working: Operating Leverage from Chemical Integration. It stops working if Basic chemical feedstock spreads turn negative or renewable energy transition encounters grid integration constraints.

Sources: our stock research file (22 August 2026) · quarterly results through Jun 26 · the company’s own earnings calls. 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.

Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd reported ₹1,588 Cr of revenue in the Jun 26 quarter, +24.0% year on year. That is the 2nd straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 8 years it has compounded at 3.3% a year. The last full year, FY26, came in at ₹4,996 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹5,303 Cr.

Why this happened. Fluoropolymers generated Rs 848 crore in Q4 FY26 (+19.0% YoY). Approvals in semiconductor fab infrastructure and EV battery binders allow the company to capture market share vacated by exiting legacy western producers such as 3M, lifting blended realizations.

FY26 revenue came in at ₹4,996 Cr (+5.5% on the year), capping 8 years at 3.3% compound. The latest quarter (Jun 26) printed ₹1,588 Cr, +24.0% year on year — the 2nd consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.

Pace check: the last four quarters averaged +9.2% growth against the decade's 3.3% — the current year is running faster than its own long-run rate.

Acceleration check: trailing-twelve-month revenue grew +9.5% over the last 4 quarters against +11.7%/yr over the last 8 — stabilising; TTM profit −3.2% vs +32.5%/yr — rolling over.

FY26-Q4. revenue ₹1,369 Cr and profit ₹100 Cr as reported.

FY27-Q1. revenue ₹1,588 Cr and profit ₹219 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.

Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd's operating margin is 27.0% in the Jun 26 quarter, +0.0 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. Across 9 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 17.0% to 35.0%. The current quarter sits inside that band.

Why this happened. Fluorochemical segment revenue expanded 52.0% YoY in Q1 FY27 driven by initial R-32 volumes. The full 20,000-tonne Phase 1 capacity is scheduled for commercial utilization in CY27, supported by domestic cooling demand and global Montreal Protocol phase-out transitions.

The latest quarter's operating margin is 27.0%, +0.0 pp against the same quarter a year ago. Across 9 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 17.0%–35.0%.

Why the margin moved: operating margin went +0.0 pp year on year while gross margin went +3.5 pp — the gain came mostly from the gross line: input costs and pricing.

FY26-Q4. revenue ₹1,369 Cr and profit ₹100 Cr as reported.

FY27-Q1. revenue ₹1,588 Cr and profit ₹219 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.

Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd earned ₹219 Cr of net profit in the Jun 26 quarter, +20.3% year on year. Full-year FY26 profit was ₹574 Cr. The 8-year compound rate is 11.5%. That is 13.8% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier earned ₹182 Cr.

Jun 26 profit was ₹219 Cr, +20.3% year on year. On the full year, FY26 printed ₹574 Cr (+5.1%), and the 8-year compound rate is 11.5%.

Why profit moved: revenue contributed +24.0% and the margin +0.0 pp — the quarter was revenue-led, with the margin roughly flat.

Pace comparison, last four quarters: profit +0.4% vs revenue +9.2%. Profit is growing slower than sales — costs are eating the growth before it reaches the bottom line.

FY26-Q4. revenue ₹1,369 Cr and profit ₹100 Cr as reported.

FY27-Q1. revenue ₹1,588 Cr and profit ₹219 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 137% of Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd's reported profit arrived as operating cash — the cash follows the profit. In FY26 that was ₹961 Cr of operating cash against ₹574 Cr of profit. After ₹1,236 Cr of capital spending, ₹−275 Cr was left as free cash.

FY26: operating cash of ₹961 Cr against reported profit of ₹574 Cr, leaving free cash of ₹−275 Cr after ₹1,236 Cr of capital spending. Across the last 3 fiscal years the conversion rate is 137% 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 137%: the cash cycle stretched 123 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 3.4× 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).

Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd's cash conversion cycle runs 417 days in FY26, up from 294 days in FY21. Capital spending ran ₹3,461 Cr over the last 3 years. At FY26 sales of ₹4,996 Cr each day of that cycle holds about ₹13.7 Cr, so roughly ₹5,708 Cr sits inside the business at any moment.

FY26: debtors at 94 days, inventory at 453 days — roughly 14.9 months of stock waiting to sell; that is where the cash sits while it waits — for a full cycle of 417 days, looser than FY21's 294.

The full loop: cash goes out to suppliers and production on day 0; stock waits 453 days to sell; customers pay about 94 days after that; and suppliers themselves are paid at 129 days — netting out to the 417-day cycle.

In money terms: at FY26 sales of ₹4,996 Cr, each day of the cycle holds about ₹13.7 Cr — so the 417-day loop keeps roughly ₹5,708 Cr sitting inside the business at any moment.

On the investment side: capital spending of ₹3,461 Cr over the last 3 fiscal years against ₹1,008 Cr of depreciation — the company is building well ahead of wear-and-tear. Capital work-in-progress stands at ₹1,900 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.

Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd earns a ROCE of 10% in FY26. That is up from a trough of 9% in FY20. Return on invested capital clears the cost of that capital by −5.5 percentage points, so growth here is not yet paying for the capital it uses. The wiring behind it is 11.5% net margin on 0.42× asset turns.

FY26 ROCE is 10%, recovered from a FY20 trough of 9% — the full ladder below shows the fall and the climb, undoctored.

🚨 Why the return is what it is — the wiring (FY26): 11.5% net margin × 0.42× asset turns × 1.51× balance-sheet leverage ≈ 7.3% on equity. Margin does its share; leverage is modest — this is an earned return, not a borrowed one.

The capstone test — ROIC − WACC: 6.5% − 12.0% = a −5.5 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.

Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd carries total debt of ₹2,290 Cr against shareholder equity of ₹7,913 Cr as of Mar 26, a debt-to-equity of 0.29 — effectively unlevered. On the annual view that ratio went from 0.37 in FY22 to 0.29 in FY26. The returns elsewhere on this page are therefore earned rather than borrowed.

Mar 26: total debt of ₹2,290 Cr against shareholder equity of ₹7,913 Cr — a debt-to-equity of 0.29. On the annual view, debt-to-equity went from 0.37 (FY22) to 0.29 (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.

Domestic institutions added 3.7 points of Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd over 8 quarters, the biggest move on the register. That takes domestic institutions to 13.3% of the company. Promoters moved −1.2 points over the same window, to 61.4%. The register is read on the four disclosed classes only; nothing is inferred between filings.

The register over the last two years — Domestic institutions: +3.7 points over 8 quarters to 13.3%; Promoters: −1.2 points over 8 quarters to 61.4%; Foreign institutions: −0.8 points over 8 quarters to 4.4%.

Why the register moved: domestic institutions drove it (+3.7 points), absorbed on the other side by promoters (−1.2 points) — steady accumulation by institutions reading the same numbers this page reads.

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.

Gujarat Fluorochemicals 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.

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.

Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd trades at 84.9× P/E, at the pricey end of its own range (83rd percentile). Its long-run median P/E is 52.7×, measured across 6.0 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 84.9× is at the pricey end of its own range (83rd percentile), against a long-run median of 52.7× measured over 6.0 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 +5.7% against a +28.5% price move — the price outran earnings, pushing the multiple UP its own range.

The price move, decomposed: over 3y, of the +15.9%/yr price move, ~−20.4%/yr came from earnings growth and ~+36.3 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.

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).

Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd reads as mixed on its fundamental arc. Mixed — no clean majority across the growth curves, ROCE holding at 10.9% — 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

51.2/100 — rank 3 of 4 in Chemicals - Flourine · 87% evidence confidence

Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd scores 51.2 out of 100 against the 4 companies it is compared with in Chemicals - Flourine, ranking 3. Price leads the evidence: RS versus the benchmark is 30.3%, but earnings trajectory is weak. Wait for revenue and profit confirmation.

The four contributions add to the total exactly: 12.7 + 10.4 + 8.1 + 20 = 51.2. 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.

Said versus delivered

What Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd's management promised, set against what actually arrived — 4 tracked promises on the record. Read straight from the company’s own earnings calls. A promise that slipped stays on this page after it is met.

Oman Project and Funding Strategy Reversed · 12 August 2026. In Feb 2026, management described Oman as a planned $216 million greenfield battery materials project, and in May 2026 it explicitly said there was no change to the Oman capex plan. In Aug 2026, management said the project was on hold, the capacity was being moved to India, and Oman-specific sovereign funding would not be available for India. Management cited geopolitical delays and a stronger Indian environment, but did not provide a revised project schedule or quantify the replacement funding.

Fluoropolymer Near-Term Growth Drivers Became More Constrained · 12 August 2026. In May 2026, management guided to 15%-20% fluoropolymer growth for FY27 and the following couple of years while describing capacity additions as supporting continued growth. In Aug 2026, management said that until new capacity arrives in about a year, growth would depend largely only on pricing and should not include volume or mix growth. This materially weakens the near-term volume and mix assumptions behind the earlier outlook, and the latest call also contains a conflicting closing statement that still attributes 17%-20% annual growth primarily to volume and high-value products.

Significant Escalation in FY27 EV Capex · 26 May 2026. In the Nov 2025 call, management projected that capital expenditure for the EV battery materials segment in FY27 would be close to Rs. 1,500 crore. However, in the May 2026 call, the planned EV capex for FY27 was increased significantly to Rs. 2,300 crore, showing a substantial expansion in their near-term spending plans.

Fluoropolymer Growth Projection Revised Downward · 26 May 2026. During the Nov 2025 call, management confidently maintained their projection of 25% growth in the Fluoropolymer segment, citing tailwinds from a legacy competitor's exit. However, in the May 2026 call, management lowered this growth expectation to 15% to 20% for the current financial year.

Every quote above is taken word for word from the company’s own earnings calls.

Frequently asked questions