Just Dial 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.

Just Dial Ltd trades at ₹717, in a downtrend and 81 weeks into that stage. That is +10.1% against its own 200-day average. It sits at 60% of a 52-week range of ₹500 to ₹860. On relative strength it has been ahead of the NIFTY 500 on a trailing-13-week view for 4 straight weeks.

Today the stock is in a downtrend — week 81 of stage 4, confirmed. At ₹717 it trades +10.1% versus its 200-day average and sits at 60% of its 52-week range (₹500–₹860).

Against the market, two honest reads. Cumulative: over the last 10.4 years the stock moved +6% while the NIFTY 500 moved +276% — behind the index over the full window. Recent form: on a trailing-13-week view the stock has been ahead for 4 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.

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.

Just Dial Ltd trades at 43.7× P/E, mid-range by its own standards (49th percentile). Its long-run median P/E is 44.1×, 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 43.7× is mid-range by its own standards (49th percentile), against a long-run median of 44.1× 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 +121.1% against a −13.4% price move — earnings outran the price, pushing the multiple DOWN its own range.

The price move, decomposed: over 5y, of the −5.8%/yr price move, ~−1.9%/yr came from earnings growth and ~−3.9 pp from the multiple (compressing); over 10y, of the +2.6%/yr price move, ~+0.1%/yr came from earnings growth and ~+2.5 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 unremarkable against its own past, so the story rests on the earnings line underneath it, not the multiple.

Stage: No read 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).

Just Dial Ltd reads as no read on its fundamental arc. Under eight usable quarters on the growth trio — not enough history for an honest trajectory read. The read is built from 10 quarters across 2 curves, on partial evidence.

Why it matters: with too little history, an honest page says so instead of guessing a trajectory.

One or more growth curves carry a base-effect spike — a large year-on-year move off a near-zero or loss-making comparable quarter. Those spikes are capped before the classifier reads the trajectory, and shown pinned on the chart, so a single distorted quarter does not drive the stage call.

Fewer than eight usable quarters on the growth curves — this page will not guess a trajectory from a stub of history.

4-Factor Sector Score

39.5/100 — rank 11 of 13 in E-Commerce - Platform - Utility · 87% evidence confidence

Just Dial Ltd scores 39.5 out of 100 against the 13 companies it is compared with in E-Commerce - Platform - Utility, ranking 11. Balanced evidence: keep at normal research priority and require another comparable period before raising conviction.

The four contributions add to the total exactly: 19.3 + 9.1 + 5 + 6.1 = 39.5. 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.

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

Just Dial Ltd reported ₹270 Cr of revenue in the Mar 24 quarter, +15.9% year on year. That is the 8th straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 10 years it has compounded at 8.5% a year. The last full year, FY24, came in at ₹1,043 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹1,043 Cr.

FY24 revenue came in at ₹1,043 Cr (+23.4% on the year), capping 10 years at 8.5% compound. The latest quarter (Mar 24) printed ₹270 Cr, +15.9% year on year — the 8th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.

Pace check: the last four quarters averaged +24.0% growth against the decade's 8.5% — the current year is running faster than its own long-run rate.

Acceleration check: trailing-twelve-month revenue grew +23.4% over the last 4 quarters against +27.0%/yr over the last 8 — rolling over; TTM profit +122.7% vs +127.7%/yr — rolling over.

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.

Just Dial Ltd's operating margin is 26.0% in the Mar 24 quarter, +12.0 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. Across 12 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged −0.3% to 31.0%. The current quarter sits inside that band.

The latest quarter's operating margin is 26.0%, +12.0 pp against the same quarter a year ago. Across 12 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged −0.3%–31.0%.

Why the margin moved: operating margin went +11.9 pp year on year while gross margin went +0.0 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.

Just Dial Ltd earned ₹116 Cr of net profit in the Mar 24 quarter, +38.1% year on year. It is the 3rd consecutive quarter of growth. Full-year FY24 profit was ₹363 Cr. The 10-year compound rate is 11.6%. That is 43.0% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier earned ₹84.0 Cr.

Mar 24 profit was ₹116 Cr, +38.1% year on year — the 3rd consecutive quarter of growth. On the full year, FY24 printed ₹363 Cr (+122.7%), and the 10-year compound rate is 11.6%.

Why profit moved: revenue contributed +15.9% and the margin +12.0 pp — the quarter was margin-led: most of the profit growth came from keeping more of each sale.

Pace comparison, last four quarters: profit +33.1% vs revenue +24.0%. 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 80% of Just Dial Ltd's reported profit arrived as operating cash — the cash follows the profit. In FY24 that was ₹259 Cr of operating cash against ₹363 Cr of profit. After ₹11.0 Cr of capital spending, ₹248 Cr was left as free cash.

FY24: operating cash of ₹259 Cr against reported profit of ₹363 Cr, leaving free cash of ₹248 Cr after ₹11.0 Cr of capital spending. Across the last 3 fiscal years the conversion rate is 80% 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 80%: the cash cycle held roughly steady between FY19 and FY24 — 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).

Just Dial Ltd's cash conversion cycle runs 0 days in FY24, down from 0 days in FY19. Capital spending ran ₹117 Cr over the last 3 years. At FY24 sales of ₹1,043 Cr each day of that cycle holds about ₹2.9 Cr, so roughly ₹0.0 Cr sits inside the business at any moment.

FY24: debtors at 0 days (an asset-light business — no inventory to speak of) — for a full cycle of 0 days, tighter than FY19's 0.

In money terms: at FY24 sales of ₹1,043 Cr, each day of the cycle holds about ₹2.9 Cr — so the 0-day loop keeps roughly ₹0.0 Cr sitting inside the business at any moment.

On the investment side: capital spending of ₹117 Cr over the last 3 fiscal years against ₹108 Cr of depreciation — building somewhat ahead of wear-and-tear. Capital work-in-progress stands at ₹0.0 Cr (FY24) — 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.

Just Dial Ltd earns a ROCE of 5% in FY24. That is up from a trough of 0% in FY22. Return on invested capital clears the cost of that capital by −8.0 percentage points, so growth here is not yet paying for the capital it uses. The wiring behind it is 34.8% net margin on 0.21× asset turns.

FY24 ROCE is 5%, recovered from a FY22 trough of 0% — the full ladder below shows the fall and the climb, undoctored.

🚨 Why the return is what it is — the wiring (FY24): 34.8% net margin × 0.21× asset turns × 1.21× balance-sheet leverage ≈ 8.8% 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: 4.0% − 12.0% = a −8.0 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. 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.

Just Dial Ltd carries total debt of ₹85.0 Cr against shareholder equity of ₹5,106 Cr as of Jun 26, a debt-to-equity of 0.02 — effectively unlevered. On the annual view that ratio went from 0.02 in FY22 to 0.02 in FY26. The returns elsewhere on this page are therefore earned rather than borrowed.

Jun 26: total debt of ₹85.0 Cr against shareholder equity of ₹5,106 Cr — a debt-to-equity of 0.02. On the annual view, debt-to-equity went from 0.02 (FY22) to 0.02 (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 3.7 points of Just Dial Ltd over 8 quarters, the biggest move on the register. That takes foreign institutions to 3.2% of the company. Domestic institutions moved +1.0 points over the same window, to 9.9%. The register is read on the four disclosed classes only; nothing is inferred between filings.

The register over the last two years — Foreign institutions: −3.7 points over 8 quarters to 3.2%; Domestic institutions: +1.0 points over 8 quarters to 9.9%; Promoters: +0.0 points over 8 quarters to 74.1%.

🚨 Why the register moved: foreign institutions drove it (−3.7 points), absorbed on the other side by domestic institutions (+1.0 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.

Just Dial 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.

Frequently asked questions