Adani Enterprises Limited

Energy — Thermal Coal · NSE

₹2,692.00−₹8.00 (−0.30%)

DalalBaazaar Score

53 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Moderate

Driven by moderate debt load, negative free cash flow.

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

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:00 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Adani Enterprises Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates in the new energy ecosystem, data center, airports, roads, copper and PVC, and other sectors in India and internationally.

IndustryThermal Coal

SectorEnergy

Employees10,463

Annual revenue₹1.00 L Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹1.00 L Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹9 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹17 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 10,463 employees supports ₹9.58 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹9.58 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LTD, OIL AND NATURAL GAS CORP., BHARAT PETROLEUM CORP LT, INDIAN OIL CORP LTD. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

Compared side by side in Peers ↓

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 9.8% 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.

Peer median ROE15.4%

What is the outlook?

4 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 8.6% and earnings to grow about 37.0% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+8.6%

Est. earnings growth+37.0%

Analysts4

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -21% while net margin moved +382% 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-21%

Margin effect+382%

DalalBaazaar Score

53/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Debt/Equity of 1.20x is on the heavy side
• Current ratio of 1.04 covers short-term liabilities, without much slack
✗ Free cash flow is negative — growth is being funded by borrowing or fresh equity
• Interest cover of 3.1x is adequate
✗ Debt has grown 26.2% a year — worth checking what it bought

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

52/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

52/ 100

Fair

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

43.4x

3Y Median

92.0x

40 monthly readings · mean 86.4x · range 29.9x–161.6x

Sector Median

6.9x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 53% below its 3y median of 92.0x. 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 532% above the peer median of 6.9x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

92.0x median over 40 months · -53%

vs. sector peers

Expensive

6.9x median of 4 peers · +532%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

EV/EBITDA

27.7x

PEG

0.78

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well4

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 7.1% to 16.7% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 7.5% to 11.5%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 6.5% to 9.8%.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

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

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 4 high

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 101% over 3 years, from ₹53,013 Cr to ₹1.07 L Cr.
🔴Free cash flow negative for 3 yearsFinancial
The business has not covered its capital spending from operations for several years running, which has to be funded externally.
🔴Profit up while operating cash flow fallsFinancial
Reported profit rose but cash generated by operations declined — worth checking whether earnings are being supported by non-cash items or working capital.
🔴Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 170% against revenue up -21% — stock may not be moving.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 7.1% to 16.7%. 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 53% 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.
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?

The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 6.4x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
A premium to the sector to defend
It trades 532% above the peer median. That premium needs a reason that persists, or it closes.
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.
Several serious flags at once
4 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%✓ 16.7%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 6.4x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹31,012 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Interest cover stays above 3x✓ 3.1x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
5ROCE stays above 8%✓ 9.8%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

5 / 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 · 5 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹3.64 L Cr

Large Cap

Large, widely-covered business — typically the steadiest of the bands

P/E (Trailing)

43.4x

Expensive

Expensive — verify against sector peers

P/B Ratio

4.30x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹62.05

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

11.5%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

9.8%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

1.20x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

49.9%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

31.6%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.05%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹31,012 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

44.9x

Flat

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

Operating Margin

9.4%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

6.5%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.04

Adequate

Adequate, but no real cushion

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.78

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

63%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

2822.6 / 2928.2

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

37.0

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹1.27 L Cr	₹96,316 Cr	₹97,711 Cr	₹1.00 L Cr	-7.7%
EBITDA	₹9,098 Cr	₹12,298 Cr	₹15,208 Cr	₹16,784 Cr	+22.6%
EBITDA Margin	7.1%	12.8%	15.6%	16.7%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹2,464 Cr	₹3,241 Cr	₹7,099 Cr	₹9,339 Cr	+55.9%
EPS	₹21.12	₹26.41	₹58.79	₹73.59	+51.6%
ROE	7.5%	8.3%	14.1%	11.5%	—
ROCE	6.5%	7.4%	10.2%	9.8%	—
Total Debt	₹53,013 Cr	₹65,310 Cr	₹91,473 Cr	₹1.07 L Cr	+26.2%
Free Cash Flow	₹2,902 Cr	-₹12,054 Cr	-₹25,366 Cr	-₹31,012 Cr	—

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 7.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 22.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 7.1% to 16.7% over 3 years (+9.6 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 55.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 51.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 7.5% to 11.5% over 3 years (+4.1 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 6.5% to 9.8% over 3 years (+3.4 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 26.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹2,902 Cr to -₹31,012 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹2.62 L Cr

Total Liabilities

₹1.72 L Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹6,267 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹2,357 Cr

Capex

-₹33,369 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

19.4%

Insider Holding

75.0%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

28 Oct 2026

Dividend Rate

₹1.3

Ex-Dividend Date

12 Jun 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

4 Buy · 0 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹3,684

+36.8% vs CMP

Target Range

₹3,282 – ₹3,880

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LTD	21.9x	8.3%
OIL AND NATURAL GAS CORP.	6.4x	11.7%
BHARAT PETROLEUM CORP LT	7.3x	17.1%
INDIAN OIL CORP LTD	5.3x	15.4%

Recent News

2 mixed4 general

Adani group stocks under pressure; Enterprises, Green Energy tank up to 7%

Business Standard, 08 Oct

Adani Enterprises' FPO To Remain On Schedule At Planned Price Band

NDTV Profit, 17 Oct

Top stocks to watch today: BHEL, Adani Enterprises, Bharat Electronics shares in focus on Wednesday, 14 Oct | Full list

Livemint, 14 Oct

Adani Enterprises shares rise after ₹2,498 crore block deal; what investors should know

Upstox, 25 SeptPrice 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.

Adani Enterprises Share Price Lower; Valuation in Focus

Univest, 07 OctPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move rather than a change in the business. If the figures on this page have not moved, the fall is either an opportunity or news they have yet to catch up with.

Why Adani Group Stocks are falling today?

India Infoline, 21 Sept

Watch Items

Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Growth · Profitability · Valuation · Risk

WeakFinancial Health

Points for each in the Score ↑

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

2 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x; Free cash flow remains positive · see Key things to watch ↑