Alpa Laboratories Limited

Healthcare — Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic · NSE

₹53.79−₹2.17 (−3.88%)

DalalBaazaar Score

48 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

High

Driven by moderate debt load, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity, falling profits.

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, though profits are falling even as sales grow. The direction of profits is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:59 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Alpa Laboratories Limited engages in the manufacture and sale of drugs and chemicals in India. It offers ethical, generic, and over the counter medicines.

IndustryDrug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic

SectorHealthcare

Employees457

Annual revenue₹105 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹105 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹14 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹7 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 457 employees supports ₹23.0 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹23.0 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are SUN PHARMACEUTICAL IND L, DR. REDDY S LABORATORIES, CIPLA LTD, DIVI S LABORATORIES 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 8.8% 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 ROE14.5%

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 +14% while net margin moved +5% 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+14%

Margin effect+5%

DalalBaazaar Score

48/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ ROE of 8.1% is weak

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

46/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

43/ 100

Expensive

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

32.0x

3Y Median

12.7x

40 monthly readings · mean 11.8x · range 5.0x–17.6x

Sector Median

33.3x

median of 4 sector peers

⚠️Current valuation is approximately 153% above its 3y median of 12.7x. Paying more than usual needs a reason — faster growth, a better balance sheet, or a re-rating you believe in.

🟡Against its sector it is priced broadly in line with the peer median of 33.3x.

vs. its own history

Expensive

12.7x median over 40 months · +153%

vs. sector peers

Fair

33.3x median of 4 peers · -4%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

15.3x

PEG

5.29

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well1

Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention1

Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 11.6% to 8.8% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

1 item require attention · 1 high

🔴Significant margin compressionFinancial
EBITDA margin has fallen 8.8 points, from 15.8% to 7.0%.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

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?

Margins are being competed away
EBITDA margin has fallen from 15.8% to 7.0%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
The price already assumes success
The stock trades 153% above its own median multiple. At this level the business has to deliver just to stand still, and a stumble is repriced twice — lower earnings on a lower multiple.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 4.3% 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
Micro 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.

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

1EBITDA margin holds above 5%✓ 7.0%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✓ 4.3% CAGR
Latest reported year was 25.2%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹6 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.3x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 8%✓ 8.8%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

5 / 11 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
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

4 good · 6 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹113 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

32.0x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

0.61x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹1.68

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

8.1%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

8.8%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

1.35x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

25.2%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-91.2%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

None

No dividend yield reported — usually means no payout, but verify if one was recently initiated

Free Cash Flow

₹6 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

10.2x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

-19.5%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

3.8%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

4.01

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.91

Market-like

Moves roughly in line with the market

52W Range Position

16%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

58.3 / 61.3

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

27.1

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹92 Cr	₹108 Cr	₹112 Cr	₹105 Cr	+4.3%
EBITDA	₹15 Cr	₹14 Cr	₹9 Cr	₹7 Cr	-20.5%
EBITDA Margin	15.8%	13.3%	8.1%	7.0%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹13 Cr	₹17 Cr	₹20 Cr	₹15 Cr	+6.1%
EPS	₹5.88	₹7.97	₹9.27	₹7.13	+6.7%
ROE	9.3%	11.0%	11.4%	8.1%	—
ROCE	11.6%	13.6%	14.6%	8.8%	—
Total Debt	₹2 Cr	₹5 Cr	₹0 Cr	₹3 Cr	+2.9%
Free Cash Flow	₹8 Cr	-₹3 Cr	₹7 Cr	₹6 Cr	-8.1%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 4.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 20.5% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 15.8% to 7.0% over 3 years (-8.8 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 6.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 6.7% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 9.3% to 8.1% over 3 years (-1.3 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 11.6% to 8.8% over 3 years (-2.8 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 2.9% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has shrunk at 8.1% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹242 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹56 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹3 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹9 Cr

Capex

-₹3 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

57.3%

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
SUN PHARMACEUTICAL IND L	34.9x	14.5%
DR. REDDY S LABORATORIES	31.0x	8.8%
CIPLA LTD	31.8x	9.8%
DIVI S LABORATORIES LTD	83.0x	17.5%

Recent News

1 mixed5 general

Alpa Laboratories Share Price Forecast: 3 Year Outlook to 2030

Univest, 15 Jul

Alpa Laboratories NSE:ALPA SEBI Depository Compliance Q2 FY27

Kalkine India, 14 OctResults

🟡Mixed / dependsA results event. The figures on this page update once the new statements reach the data feed, which usually lags the announcement.

Alpa Laboratories Ltd. Peer Comparison – Compare with Others

Value Research, 31 Aug

Alpa Laboratories Dips 1.63% to ₹62.73: Stock Consolidates Near Mid-Range on NSE - Sell Signal Alerts

https://www.siam.in/, 31 Aug

Alpa Laboratories sets Sept 30 record date for 38th AGM

scanx.trade, 07 Sept

Alpa Laboratories Ltd. Share Price: 19.52% Gain in One Day

Univest, 29 Jul

Watch Items

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

StrongFinancial Health

MiddlingValuation · Risk

WeakBusiness Quality · Growth · Profitability

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. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

All 5 tripwires holding · see Key things to watch ↑