ACC Limited

Basic Materials — Building Materials · NSE

₹1,191.00+₹53.60 (+4.71%)

DalalBaazaar Score

62 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, negative free cash flow, small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings.

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, but sales are shrinking. Debt is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:07 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 ACC Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

ACC Limited engages in the manufacture and sale of cement and ready-mix concrete in India. It operates in Cement and ancilliary services and Ready Mix Concrete segments. The company provides range of cement; ready mixed concrete value-added products; and bulk cement.

IndustryBuilding Materials

SectorBasic Materials

Employees2,836

Annual revenue₹25,045 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹25,045 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹9 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹13 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 2,836 employees supports ₹8.83 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin13.3%

Net margin8.5%

Revenue / employee₹8.83 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED, GRASIM INDUSTRIES LTD, AMBUJA CEMENTS LTD, SHREE CEMENT LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITEDP/E 37.6x · ROE 11.1%

GRASIM INDUSTRIES LTDP/E 34.8x · ROE 5.5%

AMBUJA CEMENTS LTDP/E 20.4x · ROE 7.4%

SHREE CEMENT LIMITEDP/E 49.7x · ROE 7.0%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 10.4% 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.

ROCE10.4%

ROE10.4%

Peer median ROE7.4%

What is the outlook?

14 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 8.8% and earnings to grow about 55.4% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+8.8%

Est. earnings growth+55.4%

Analysts14

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +44% while net margin moved +129% 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+44%

Margin effect+129%

DalalBaazaar Score

62/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Beta of 0.34 — historically steadier than the index
✗ Small Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ High leverage magnifies any downturn in earnings
✗ Profits have swung sharply from year to year — earnings are hard to forecast
✗ Negative free cash flow means dependence on external funding

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

59/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

88/ 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

11.7x

4Y Median

16.2x

44 monthly readings · mean 32.2x · range 9.8x–76.2x

Sector Median

36.2x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 27% below its 4y median of 16.2x. 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 68% below the peer median of 36.2x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

16.2x median over 44 months · -27%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

36.2x median of 4 peers · -68%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

P/E (Trailing)

11.7x

P/B

1.09x

EV/EBITDA

6.7x

PEG

0.24

Dividend Yield

0.63%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well5

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 9.7% to 13.3% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 4.7% to 10.4%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 6.4% to 10.4%.
Valuation below its historical average
At 11.7x the stock trades 27% below its own median of 16.2x.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention3

Debt is rising
Total debt is up 310% over 3 years — worth checking what it funded.
Free cash flow is negative
The business is not currently covering its capital spending from operations.
Receivables growing faster than sales
Receivables are up 398% against revenue growth of 44% — customers are taking longer to pay.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 3 high · 1 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 310% over 3 years, from ₹132 Cr to ₹540 Cr.
🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 2.08x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 398% against revenue up 44% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹2,791 Cr in the latest year.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 9.7% to 13.3%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 27% 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 68% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.
Earnings have proved durable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years. Consistency lowers the risk that any single bad year is structural rather than cyclical.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Leverage amplifies any setback
Debt/Equity of 2.08x. Interest is payable whether or not the business has a good year.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 398% against revenue up 44%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Earnings are hard to forecast
Profit has swung sharply from year to year, so any single year — good or bad — is a weak guide to the next. Cyclical earnings deserve lower multiples for that reason.
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
3 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

1Revenue growth stays above 10% a year✓ 12.9% CAGR
Latest reported year was -3.8%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 11%✓ 13.3%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹2,791 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.2x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 8%✓ 10.4%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

4 / 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

3 good · 4 neutral · 4 weak

Market Cap

₹22,365 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

11.7x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.09x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹101.39

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

10.4%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

10.4%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

2.08x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-3.8%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

-60.6%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

0.63%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹2,791 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹1,191

P/E (Forward)

12.9x

Flat

At or above the trailing multiple — no earnings uplift is being priced in

Operating Margin

3.4%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

7.6%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.97

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.34

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

1189.7 / 1252.6

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

36.9

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY22	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹17,419 Cr	₹19,574 Cr	₹20,830 Cr	₹25,045 Cr	+12.9%
EBITDA	₹1,693 Cr	₹3,527 Cr	₹4,046 Cr	₹3,325 Cr	+25.2%
EBITDA Margin	9.7%	18.0%	19.4%	13.3%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹649 Cr	₹2,335 Cr	₹2,402 Cr	₹2,137 Cr	+48.7%
EPS	₹34.49	₹124.01	₹127.57	₹113.51	+48.7%
ROE	4.7%	14.3%	12.9%	10.4%	—
ROCE	6.4%	16.9%	16.4%	10.4%	—
Total Debt	₹132 Cr	₹355 Cr	₹541 Cr	₹540 Cr	+60.0%
Free Cash Flow	-₹3,609 Cr	₹1,600 Cr	-₹257 Cr	-₹2,791 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 12.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 25.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 9.7% to 13.3% over 3 years (+3.6 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 48.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 48.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 4.7% to 10.4% over 3 years (+5.7 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 6.4% to 10.4% over 3 years (+4.0 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 60.0% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹27,525 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹6,971 Cr

Total Debt

₹540 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹537 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹1,364 Cr

Capex

-₹1,427 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

22.9%

Insider Holding

57.5%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

30 Oct 2026

Dividend Rate

₹7.5

Ex-Dividend Date

12 Jun 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

9 Buy · 11 Hold · 5 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹1,470.79

+23.5% vs CMP

Target Range

₹1,150 – ₹2,198

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED	37.6x	11.1%
GRASIM INDUSTRIES LTD	34.8x	5.5%
AMBUJA CEMENTS LTD	20.4x	7.4%
SHREE CEMENT LIMITED	49.7x	7.0%

Recent News

3 mixed3 general

ACC (NSEI:ACC) - Stock Analysis

Simply Wall Street, 14 Oct

ACC Share Price Near 52-Week Low: Price, Valuation

Univest, 13 Oct

ACC 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.

Ambuja Cements Share Price - Live NSE: AMBUJACEM Stock Price & Chart

Upstox, 16 Oct

ACC Q2 2026 Earnings: EPS of ₹113.51 With 20.24% Revenue Growth Drives 4.38% Share Price Gain

www.siam.in, 17 OctPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move, which is not by itself a change in the business. Worth finding the cause before reading it as either good or bad.

ACC Share Price rise reflects current valuation metrics

Univest, 16 OctPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move, which is not by itself a change in the business. Worth finding the cause before reading it as either good or bad.

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-3.8%) on the latest reported period — check if this is one-off or a trend.
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.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟡Business QualityAdequate11.7/20

🟡Financial HealthAdequate9.9/20

🟢GrowthStrong13.3/20

🟡ProfitabilityModerate9.6/15

🟢ValuationAttractive13.2/15

🔴RiskHigh4.1/10

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. 3 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

This thesis breaks if

✓Revenue growth stays above 10% a year12.9% CAGR
✓EBITDA margin holds above 11%13.3%
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹2,791 Cr
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x0.2x
✓ROCE stays above 8%10.4%