Astec LifeSciences Limited

Basic Materials — Agricultural Inputs · NSE

₹707.50−₹19.00 (−2.62%)

DalalBaazaar Score

24 / 100

🔴 Weak

Verdict

HIGH RISK

Risk

Very High

Driven by moderate debt load, short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets, negative free cash flow.

In simple words: The company is currently losing money, but sales are shrinking. Cash generation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:57 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Astec LifeSciences Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells agrochemical active ingredients and pharmaceutical intermediates in India.

IndustryAgricultural Inputs

SectorBasic Materials

Employees471

Annual revenue₹446 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹446 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹-18 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹-0 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 471 employees supports ₹94.6 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹94.6 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are TATA STEEL LIMITED, JSW STEEL LIMITED, ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED, ASIAN PAINTS LIMITED. 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 -10.6% 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 ROE22.3%

What is the outlook?

2 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 32.4% and earnings to grow about 188.0% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+32.4%

Est. earnings growth+188.0%

Analysts2

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -29% while net margin moved -546% 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-29%

Margin effect-546%

DalalBaazaar Score

24/ 100

Weak

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 10.8% a year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

20/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

29/ 100

Expensive

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

Weak on business quality and not cheap enough to compensate.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Not enough peers with a usable P/E

vs. generic bands

N/A

No P/E — the company is lossmaking

EV/EBITDA

—

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well0

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

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 6.1% to -20.7% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 12.2% to -10.6% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

8 items require attention · 6 high · 2 watch

🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only -1.4x — little room if earnings dip.
🔴Free cash flow negative for 4 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.
🔴The company is lossmakingFinancial
Net profit of -₹81 Cr in the latest reported year.
🔴Significant margin compressionFinancial
EBITDA margin has fallen 14.5 points, from 14.2% to -0.3%.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 60% against revenue up -29% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Debt is increasingFinancial
Total debt is up 32% over 3 years.
🟡Short-term liquidity is tightFinancial
Current ratio of 0.89 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

No clear supporting case emerges from the available numbers.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Margins are being competed away
EBITDA margin has fallen from 14.2% to -0.3%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 60% against revenue up -29%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 6.1% to -20.7%. Each rupee of equity earns less than it did, so profit growth increasingly depends on raising more capital rather than on the existing base working harder.
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
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 -2%✓ -0.3%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹86 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
3Interest cover stays above 3x✗ -1.4x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4ROCE stays above 8%✗ -10.6%
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

1 good · 4 neutral · 6 weak

Market Cap

₹1,576 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

Not meaningful

Loss-making

Earnings are negative, so a P/E multiple can't be read here

P/B Ratio

4.04x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹-30.27

Loss-making

Negative earnings per share — the business is losing money

ROE

-20.7%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

-10.6%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

1.15x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-8.3%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

40.0%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

None

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹86 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

64.3x

Operating Margin

-14.0%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

-15.1%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

0.89

Adequate

Adequate, but no real cushion

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.15

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

45%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

726.5 / 660.8

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

43.5

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹628 Cr	₹458 Cr	₹378 Cr	₹446 Cr	-10.8%
EBITDA	₹89 Cr	-₹1 Cr	-₹64 Cr	-₹1 Cr	—
EBITDA Margin	14.2%	-0.1%	-16.8%	-0.3%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹26 Cr	-₹47 Cr	-₹135 Cr	-₹81 Cr	—
EPS	₹12.94	₹-23.75	₹-68.71	₹-37.79	—
ROE	6.1%	-12.7%	-57.4%	-20.7%	—
ROCE	12.2%	-6.4%	-20.3%	-10.6%	—
Total Debt	₹341 Cr	₹494 Cr	₹555 Cr	₹449 Cr	+9.6%
Free Cash Flow	-₹43 Cr	-₹125 Cr	-₹30 Cr	-₹86 Cr	—

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 10.8% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has turned negative, from ₹89 Cr to -₹1 Cr.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 14.2% to -0.3% over 3 years (-14.5 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has turned negative, from ₹26 Cr to -₹81 Cr.

🔴 EPS has turned negative, from ₹12.94 to ₹-37.79.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 6.1% to -20.7% over 3 years (-26.8 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 12.2% to -10.6% over 3 years (-22.8 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 9.6% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹942 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹551 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹10 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹81 Cr

Capex

-₹6 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

3.0%

Insider Holding

73.1%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

21 Jul 2023

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

1 Buy · 0 Hold · 1 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹670

-5.3% vs CMP

Target Range

₹600 – ₹740

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
TATA STEEL LIMITED	19.8x	10.8%
JSW STEEL LIMITED	12.0x	24.7%
ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED	37.6x	11.1%
ASIAN PAINTS LIMITED	46.9x	22.3%

Recent News

2 mixed4 general

ASTEC 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.

Astec Lifesciences share price skyrockets 17% despite weak sentiments on D-Street. Do you own?

Livemint, 09 Sept

Astec LifeSciences Share Price Forecast: 3 Year Outlook to 2030

Univest, 16 Jul

Shareholders in Astec LifeSciences (NSE:ASTEC) have lost 61%, as stock drops 11% this past week

Simply Wall Street, 11 Jan

Astec LifeSciences Share Price Surges Sharply

Kalkine India, 17 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.

Astec LifeSciences schedules 32nd AGM for July 31, 2026

scanx.trade, 09 Jul

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-8.3%) on the latest reported period — check if this is one-off or a trend.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

WeakBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Growth · Profitability · Valuation · Risk

Points for each in the Score ↑

Weak on the fundamentals

Poor scores on business quality without a price low enough to compensate. There is no obvious argument for owning this over a stronger company at a similar valuation. 6 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

3 of 4 tripwires tripped — Free cash flow remains positive; Interest cover stays above 3x; ROCE stays above 8% · see Key things to watch ↑