Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands Limited

Consumer Cyclical — Apparel Retail · NSE

₹72.90+₹0.84 (+1.17%)

DalalBaazaar Score

51 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings, a very high earnings multiple, which leaves little margin for disappointment.

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, with both sales and profits growing well. Debt is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:09 pm

Caution warranted. Multiple fundamental metrics — flagged in red below — point to either valuation stretch, leverage risk, or weakening profitability. This doesn't mean avoid the stock outright, but it does mean the burden of proof is on the growth story to justify the current price.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

The 60-second version of Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands Limited engages in the retail of garments and accessories in India and the Middle East.

IndustryApparel Retail

SectorConsumer Cyclical

Employees20,789

Annual revenue₹8,340 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹8,340 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹2 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹17 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 20,789 employees supports ₹40.1 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

EBITDA margin17.0%

Net margin2.1%

Revenue / employee₹40.1 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are TRENT LTD, TITAN COMPANY LIMITED, AVENUE SUPERMARTS LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

TRENT LTDP/E 87.2x · ROE 25.9%

TITAN COMPANY LIMITEDP/E 68.5x · ROE 36.7%

AVENUE SUPERMARTS LIMITEDP/E 69.9x · ROE 12.7%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 13.2% are at or below what the capital likely costs. That is the financial pattern of a business competing largely on price, where advantage has to come from execution rather than position.

ROCE13.2%

ROE12.1%

Peer median ROE25.9%

What is the outlook?

9 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 11.1% and earnings to grow about 33.7% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+11.1%

Est. earnings growth+33.7%

Analysts9

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 1 years revenue moved +7% while net margin moved +169% relative to itself. What this cannot tell you is which products, customers or geographies did the work — that lives in the segment disclosures of the annual report.

Revenue effect+7%

Margin effect+169%

DalalBaazaar Score

51/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Small Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ High leverage magnifies any downturn in earnings

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

55/ 100

Average

How good the business is, ignoring the share price entirely.

Valuation

70/ 100

Cheap

What you are being asked to pay, ignoring how good the business is.

A reasonable business at a reasonable price — neither the quality nor the valuation stands out in either direction.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

50.6x

1.3Y Median

208.3x

16 monthly readings · mean 185.6x · range 51.6x–275.5x

Sector Median

69.9x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 76% below its 1.3y median of 208.3x. Cheaper than its own history, which is worth a reason too: the market may be pricing in something the backward-looking numbers do not show.

🟢Against its sector it trades 28% below the peer median of 69.9x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

208.3x median over 16 months · -76%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

69.9x median of 3 peers · -28%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

P/E (Trailing)

50.6x

P/B

6.30x

EV/EBITDA

8.3x

PEG

0.27

Dividend Yield

0.69%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 4.7% to 12.1%.
Valuation below its historical average
At 50.6x the stock trades 76% below its own median of 208.3x.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

Nothing stands out as clearly deteriorating on the years of data available.

Red Flags

2 items require attention · 2 high

🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 2.14x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.
🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 1.6x — little room if earnings dip.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Priced below its own history
The stock trades 76% below its own median multiple. If the business performs as it has and simply re-rates back to normal, that gap is return on its own.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 28% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Leverage amplifies any setback
Debt/Equity of 2.14x. Interest is payable whether or not the business has a good year.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 6.8% a year is close to the rate prices rise, so the business is gaining little ground in real terms. That leaves the share price dependent on a re-rating rather than on earnings growth.
Size brings its own risk
Small Cap businesses are thinly traded, so exits are harder in a falling market and single events move the price more than they would for a larger company.
Several serious flags at once
2 high-severity checks triggered. Individually each has an explanation; together they raise the chance that something structural is wrong rather than a one-off.

🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today

1EBITDA margin holds above 15%✓ 17.0%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✗ 2.1x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
3Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 1.6x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4Revenue growth stays above 5% a year✓ 6.8% CAGR
Latest reported year was 11.1%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
5Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹893 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.

Investment Checklist

6 / 12 checks passed

✗ Strong return on equity (ROE ≥ 15%)
✗ Strong return on capital employed (ROCE ≥ 15%)
✗ Healthy net margin (≥ 10%)
✓ Generates positive free cash flow
✗ Manageable leverage (Debt/Equity < 1.0)
✓ Adequate short-term liquidity (Current Ratio ≥ 1.0)
✓ Revenue growing year-over-year
✓ Profit growing year-over-year
✗ Not trading at an extreme valuation (P/E < 40x)
✓ Not buying right at the 52-week high
✓ Analyst consensus isn't majority-sell
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

4 good · 4 neutral · 3 weak

Market Cap

₹8,855 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

50.6x

Expensive

Expensive — verify against sector peers

P/B Ratio

6.30x

Rich

Steep premium to book — needs high, durable returns to justify

EPS (TTM)

₹1.44

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

12.1%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

13.2%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

2.14x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

11.1%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

20.0%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.69%

Modest

Small cash return — most of the return has to come from the price

Free Cash Flow

₹893 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹72.9

P/E (Forward)

23.9x

Improving

Below the trailing multiple — the street expects earnings to grow into the price

Operating Margin

5.1%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

2.0%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

1.07

Adequate

Adequate, but no real cushion

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

75.7 / 82.3

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

26.2

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (2-Year)

Metric	FY25	FY26	1Y CAGR
Revenue	₹7,809 Cr	₹8,340 Cr	+6.8%
EBITDA	₹1,346 Cr	₹1,418 Cr	+5.3%
EBITDA Margin	17.2%	17.0%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹60 Cr	₹171 Cr	+187.0%
EPS	₹0.49	₹1.41	+187.7%
ROE	4.7%	12.1%	—
ROCE	12.5%	13.2%	—
Total Debt	₹2,932 Cr	₹3,018 Cr	+2.9%
Free Cash Flow	₹898 Cr	₹893 Cr	-0.5%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 6.8% a year over 1 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 5.3% a year over 1 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 17.0% over 1 years.

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 187.0% a year over 1 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 187.7% a year over 1 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 4.7% to 12.1% over 1 years (+7.4 pts).

🟡 ROCE has held roughly flat at 13.2% over 1 years.

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 2.9% a year over 1 years.

🟡 Free Cash Flow has been broadly flat over 1 years (-0.5% a year).

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹8,720 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹7,308 Cr

Total Debt

₹3,018 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹91 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹1,219 Cr

Capex

-₹326 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

22.4%

Insider Holding

57.2%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹0.5

Ex-Dividend Date

07 Aug 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

8 Buy · 2 Hold · 1 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹133.2

+82.7% vs CMP

Target Range

₹85 – ₹170

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
TRENT LTD	87.2x	25.9%
TITAN COMPANY LIMITED	68.5x	36.7%
AVENUE SUPERMARTS LIMITED	69.9x	12.7%

Recent News

2 mixed4 general

ABLBL Forecast — Price Target — Prediction for 2027

TradingView, 25 JunAnalyst view

🟡Mixed / dependsBroker commentary — an opinion about the price rather than new information about the business.

Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands Ltd. Peer Comparison – Compare with Others

Value Research, 30 Aug

Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands posts 11% revenue growth in Q1FY27

scanx.trade, 01 Aug

Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands Share Price Target 2027 to 2030: An

Univest, 17 AugAnalyst view

🟡Mixed / dependsBroker commentary — an opinion about the price rather than new information about the business.

Does This Valuation Of Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands Limited (NSE:ABLBL) Imply Investors Are Overpaying?

Simply Wall Street, 20 Jan

Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands: बड्या फंड हाऊसची मोठी गुंतवणूक, हिस्सा **५%** च्या वर

Whalesbook, 09 Oct

Watch Items

Trading very close to its 52-week low — worth checking whether this reflects a temporary setback or a structural problem.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.
RSI is in oversold territory — could mean either a bargain or a stock still falling for good reason. Check the 'why' before assuming reversal.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟡Business QualityAdequate10.5/20

🟡Financial HealthAdequate9/20

🟢GrowthStrong13.1/20

🟡ProfitabilityModerate8.5/15

🔴ValuationDemanding6.7/15

🔴RiskHigh3/10

Unremarkable in both directions

A reasonable business at a reasonable price. Nothing here is alarming and nothing is compelling, which usually means the decision rests on things this data cannot see — the industry's direction, management's intent, and what else is available to you. 2 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 15%17.0%
✗Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x2.1x
✗Interest cover stays above 3x1.6x
✓Revenue growth stays above 5% a year6.8% CAGR
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹893 Cr