Kajaria Ceramics 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.

Kajaria Ceramics Ltd trades at ₹1,198, in a confirmed uptrend and 10 weeks into that stage. That is +8.4% against its own 200-day average. It sits at 87% of a 52-week range of ₹885 to ₹1,244. On relative strength it has been ahead of the NIFTY 500 on a trailing-13-week view for 7 straight weeks.

Today the stock is in a confirmed uptrend — week 10 of stage 2, confirmed. At ₹1,198 it trades +8.4% versus its 200-day average and sits at 87% of its 52-week range (₹885–₹1,244).

Against the market, two honest reads. Cumulative: over the last 10.4 years the stock moved +158% 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 7 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.

Kajaria Ceramics Ltd trades at 32.7× P/E, near the bottom of its own range — cheaper only 15% of the time. Its long-run median P/E is 42.6×, 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 32.7× is near the bottom of its own range — cheaper only 15% of the time, against a long-run median of 42.6× 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 +64.9% against a +1.3% price move — earnings outran the price, pushing the multiple DOWN its own range.

The price move, decomposed: over 5y, of the +3.8%/yr price move, ~+13.3%/yr came from earnings growth and ~−9.5 pp from the multiple (compressing); over 10y, of the +6.6%/yr price move, ~+8.8%/yr came from earnings growth and ~−2.2 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 low against its own past, so the story rests on the earnings line underneath it, not the multiple.

Stage: Improving 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).

Kajaria Ceramics Ltd reads as improving on its fundamental arc. Improving — profit growth bottomed 4 quarters ago at −23.4% and has held its recovery at +72.3%, ROCE lifting at 21.9%. The read is built from 12 quarters across 4 curves, on full evidence.

Why it matters: a sustained climb off the trough is the setup this page is built to catch — the question moves to what you pay for it.

4-Factor Sector Score

69.6/100 — rank 1 of 6 in Ceramics/Tiles/Sanitaryware · 100% evidence confidence

Kajaria Ceramics Ltd scores 69.6 out of 100 against the 6 companies it is compared with in Ceramics/Tiles/Sanitaryware, 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: 28.8 + 19.8 + 9.7 + 11.3 = 69.6. 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.

Kajaria Ceramics Ltd reported ₹1,328 Cr of revenue in the Jun 26 quarter, +20.4% year on year. That is the 12th straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 10 years it has compounded at 7.2% a year. The last full year, FY26, came in at ₹4,830 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹5,055 Cr.

FY26 revenue came in at ₹4,830 Cr (+4.2% on the year), capping 10 years at 7.2% compound. The latest quarter (Jun 26) printed ₹1,328 Cr, +20.4% year on year — the 12th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.

Pace check: the last four quarters averaged +8.6% growth against the decade's 7.2% — the current year is running faster than its own long-run rate.

Acceleration check: trailing-twelve-month revenue grew +8.5% over the last 4 quarters against +5.1%/yr over the last 8 — accelerating; TTM profit +72.3% vs +14.9%/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.

Kajaria Ceramics Ltd's operating margin is 20.0% in the Jun 26 quarter, +3.0 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. Across 13 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 14.0% to 20.0%. The current quarter sits inside that band.

The latest quarter's operating margin is 20.0%, +3.0 pp against the same quarter a year ago. Across 13 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 14.0%–20.0%.

Why the margin moved: operating margin went +2.7 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.

Kajaria Ceramics Ltd earned ₹171 Cr of net profit in the Jun 26 quarter, +55.5% year on year. It is the 5th consecutive quarter of growth. Full-year FY26 profit was ₹487 Cr. The 10-year compound rate is 7.5%. That is 12.9% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier earned ₹110 Cr.

Jun 26 profit was ₹171 Cr, +55.5% year on year — the 5th consecutive quarter of growth. On the full year, FY26 printed ₹487 Cr (+62.3%), and the 10-year compound rate is 7.5%.

Why profit moved: revenue contributed +20.4% and the margin +3.0 pp — the quarter was margin-led: most of the profit growth came from keeping more of each sale.

Pace comparison, last four quarters: profit +96.3% vs revenue +8.6%. 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 145% of Kajaria Ceramics Ltd's reported profit arrived as operating cash — the cash follows the profit. In FY26 that was ₹664 Cr of operating cash against ₹487 Cr of profit. After ₹137 Cr of capital spending, ₹527 Cr was left as free cash.

FY26: operating cash of ₹664 Cr against reported profit of ₹487 Cr, leaving free cash of ₹527 Cr after ₹137 Cr of capital spending. Across the last 3 fiscal years the conversion rate is 145% 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 145%: the cash cycle tightened 22 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 1.5× 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).

Kajaria Ceramics Ltd's cash conversion cycle runs 88 days in FY26, down from 110 days in FY21. Capital spending ran ₹747 Cr over the last 3 years. At FY26 sales of ₹4,830 Cr each day of that cycle holds about ₹13.2 Cr, so roughly ₹1,164 Cr sits inside the business at any moment.

FY26: debtors at 47 days, inventory at 97 days — roughly 3.2 months of stock waiting to sell; that is where the cash sits while it waits — for a full cycle of 88 days, tighter than FY21's 110.

The full loop: cash goes out to suppliers and production on day 0; stock waits 97 days to sell; customers pay about 47 days after that; and suppliers themselves are paid at 56 days — netting out to the 88-day cycle.

In money terms: at FY26 sales of ₹4,830 Cr, each day of the cycle holds about ₹13.2 Cr — so the 88-day loop keeps roughly ₹1,164 Cr sitting inside the business at any moment.

On the investment side: capital spending of ₹747 Cr over the last 3 fiscal years against ₹482 Cr of depreciation — the company is building well ahead of wear-and-tear. Capital work-in-progress stands at ₹119 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.

Kajaria Ceramics Ltd earns a ROCE of 23% in FY26. That is up from a trough of 17% in FY25. Return on invested capital clears the cost of that capital by +9.3 percentage points, so growth here adds value rather than only size. The wiring behind it is 10.1% net margin on 1.20× asset turns.

FY26 ROCE is 23%, recovered from a FY25 trough of 17% — the full ladder below shows the fall and the climb, undoctored.

Why the return is what it is — the wiring (FY26): 10.1% net margin × 1.20× asset turns × 1.31× balance-sheet leverage ≈ 15.9% on equity. Margin does its share; leverage is modest — this is an earned return, not a borrowed one.

The capstone test — ROIC − WACC: 21.3% − 12.0% = a +9.3 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. A spread this wide means every rupee reinvested creates more than a rupee of value — the engine compounds.

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.

Kajaria Ceramics Ltd carries total debt of ₹229 Cr against shareholder equity of ₹3,130 Cr as of Mar 26, a debt-to-equity of 0.07 — effectively unlevered. On the annual view that ratio went from 0.08 in FY22 to 0.07 in FY26. The returns elsewhere on this page are therefore earned rather than borrowed.

Mar 26: total debt of ₹229 Cr against shareholder equity of ₹3,130 Cr — a debt-to-equity of 0.07. On the annual view, debt-to-equity went from 0.08 (FY22) to 0.07 (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 4.6 points of Kajaria Ceramics Ltd over 8 quarters, the biggest move on the register. That takes foreign institutions to 11.6% of the company. Domestic institutions moved −1.6 points over the same window, to 26.2%. The register is read on the four disclosed classes only; nothing is inferred between filings.

The register over the last two years — Foreign institutions: −4.6 points over 8 quarters to 11.6%; Domestic institutions: −1.6 points over 8 quarters to 26.2%; Promoters: +0.2 points over 8 quarters to 47.7%.

🚨 Why the register moved: foreign institutions drove it (−4.6 points), alongside domestic institutions (−1.6 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.

Kajaria Ceramics 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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