Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited

Industrials — Marine Shipping · NSE

₹1,750.80+₹7.60 (+0.44%)

DalalBaazaar Score

76 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Low

No individual risk factor stands out on this snapshot.

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, with modest growth. Nothing on this snapshot stands out as an immediate concern — the usual checks on business quality and management still apply.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:09 pm

Mixed / neutral. No major red flags jump out, but nothing here screams "obviously cheap" either. This is a name that needs a peer comparison and a view on near-term earnings triggers before sizing a position.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and maintains port infrastructure in India and internationally.

IndustryMarine Shipping

SectorIndustrials

Employees3,372

Annual revenue₹38,736 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹38,736 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹33 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹65 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 3,372 employees supports ₹11.49 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin64.8%

Net margin33.1%

Revenue / employee₹11.49 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.P/E 30.1x · ROE 15.2%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 11.0% 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.

ROCE11.0%

ROE13.3%

Peer median ROE15.2%

What is the outlook?

20 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 15.6% and earnings to grow about 22.7% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+15.6%

Est. earnings growth+22.7%

Analysts20

What has been driving growth?

Growth has come mainly from selling more, rather than from keeping more of each sale. Over 3 years revenue moved +86% while net margin moved +30% 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+86%

Margin effect+30%

DalalBaazaar Score

76/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

• P/E of 29.9x already prices in growth
• P/E is close to its own historical median of 32.8x

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

79/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

60/ 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

29.9x

3Y Median

32.8x

40 monthly readings · mean 36.4x · range 25.6x–63.9x

🟡Currently trading close to its 3y median of 32.8x — the market is paying about what it usually pays for this company.

vs. its own history

Fair

32.8x median over 40 months · -9%

vs. sector peers

Not enough peers with a usable P/E

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

P/E (Trailing)

29.9x

P/B

4.20x

EV/EBITDA

18.4x

PEG

0.88

Dividend Yield

0.43%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well4

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 59.6% to 64.8% over 3 years.
Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 83% over 3 years.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 7.9% to 11.0%.
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

No automated checks triggered

None of the automated financial checks below were triggered on the years of data available. That is not the same as a clean bill of health — see what could not be checked.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 59.6% to 64.8%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
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?

No clear risk case emerges from the available numbers — which is not the same as there being none.

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

1Revenue growth stays above 17% a year✓ 22.9% CAGR
Latest reported year was 18.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 63%✓ 64.8%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✗ 2.5x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
4Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹5,036 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5ROCE stays above 8%✓ 11.0%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

10 / 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 · 7 neutral · 0 weak

Market Cap

₹4.03 L Cr

Large Cap

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

P/E (Trailing)

29.9x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

4.20x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹58.59

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

13.3%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

11.0%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.64x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

18.6%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

2.4%

Modest

Slow profit growth

Dividend Yield

0.43%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹5,036 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹1,750.8

P/E (Forward)

22.4x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

44.6%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

32.4%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.39

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.48

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

77%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

1771.2 / 1726.8

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

45.6

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹20,852 Cr	₹26,711 Cr	₹30,475 Cr	₹38,736 Cr	+22.9%
EBITDA	₹12,432 Cr	₹16,982 Cr	₹19,464 Cr	₹25,115 Cr	+26.4%
EBITDA Margin	59.6%	63.6%	63.9%	64.8%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹5,309 Cr	₹8,111 Cr	₹11,092 Cr	₹12,806 Cr	+34.1%
EPS	₹24.58	₹37.55	₹51.35	₹58.23	+33.3%
ROE	11.7%	15.3%	17.8%	13.3%	—
ROCE	7.9%	12.5%	13.7%	11.0%	—
Total Debt	₹52,443 Cr	₹49,167 Cr	₹51,305 Cr	₹63,236 Cr	+6.4%
Free Cash Flow	₹2,758 Cr	₹7,601 Cr	₹9,177 Cr	₹5,036 Cr	+22.2%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 22.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 26.4% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 59.6% to 64.8% over 3 years (+5.2 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 34.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 33.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 11.7% to 13.3% over 3 years (+1.7 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 7.9% to 11.0% over 3 years (+3.1 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 6.4% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 22.2% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹1.85 L Cr

Total Liabilities

₹86,333 Cr

Total Debt

₹63,236 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹5,162 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹20,356 Cr

Capex

-₹15,320 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

22.2%

Insider Holding

66.1%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

28 Oct 2026

Dividend Rate

₹7.5

Ex-Dividend Date

12 Jun 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

22 Buy · 1 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹2,069.87

+18.2% vs CMP

Target Range

₹1,900 – ₹2,243

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.	30.1x	15.2%

Recent News

4 mixed2 general

Adani Ports Promoters Declare No Encumbrance On Shares For FY26

scanx.trade, 15 Oct

Adani Ports Share Price drops in second straight session

Univest, 08 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.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone shares rise 2.06% in today's session

Moneycontrol.com, 14 AugPrice 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.

Analysts Have Made A Financial Statement On Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited's (NSE:ADANIPORTS) First-Quarter Report

Simply Wall Street, 01 AugAnalyst view

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

Adani Group's most valuable company sets new record; shares major business update

Livemint, 02 Oct

APSEZ and MSC Group deepen long-term partnership; MSC’s terminal arm, TiL, to invest in 49% share in Vizhinjam port in total deal value of USD 2.85bn

Adani, 30 JunPartnership

🟡Mixed / dependsA partnership, whose value depends entirely on terms that a headline will not carry. Worth reading the filing before assuming either way.

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟢Business QualityStrong15.8/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong13.8/20

🟢GrowthStrong18.5/20

🟢ProfitabilityStrong10.9/15

🟡ValuationFair8.1/15

🟢RiskLow8.5/10

Good business at a fair price

A sound business at a reasonable valuation. Suitable for a long-term holding, with the valuation and the direction of margins worth watching rather than the business itself.

This thesis breaks if

✓Revenue growth stays above 17% a year22.9% CAGR
✓EBITDA margin holds above 63%64.8%
✗Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x2.5x
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹5,036 Cr
✓ROCE stays above 8%11.0%