Aster DM Quality Care Limited

Healthcare — Medical Care Facilities · NSE

₹675.00−₹7.65 (−1.12%)

DalalBaazaar Score

54 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Moderate

Driven by a very high earnings multiple, which leaves little margin for disappointment, falling profits.

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

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:50 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Aster DM Quality Care Limited operates as an integrated healthcare provider in India. The company operates through Hospitals & Clinics, Labs, Wholesale Pharmacies, and Others segments.

IndustryMedical Care Facilities

SectorHealthcare

Employees15,773

Annual revenue₹4,578 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹4,578 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹8 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹22 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 15,773 employees supports ₹29.0 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹29.0 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are APOLLO HOSPITALS ENTER. L, SUN PHARMACEUTICAL IND L, CIPLA 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 9.4% 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.

Peer median ROE14.5%

What is the outlook?

11 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 29.3% and earnings to grow about 40.1% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+29.3%

Est. earnings growth+40.1%

Analysts11

What has been driving growth?

Sales and margins have both contributed to where profit is now. Over 3 years revenue moved +55% while net margin moved -41% 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+55%

Margin effect-41%

DalalBaazaar Score

54/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ P/E of 109.4x is demanding — it needs sustained high growth to justify
✗ P/E is 128% above its own historical median of 48.0x — expensive by its own standards
✗ P/B of 7.60x is a steep premium to book

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

60/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

23/ 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

109.4x

3Y Median

48.0x

40 monthly readings · mean 81.4x · range 5.1x–232.7x

Sector Median

34.9x

median of 3 sector peers

⚠️Current valuation is approximately 128% above its 3y median of 48.0x. Paying more than usual needs a reason — faster growth, a better balance sheet, or a re-rating you believe in.

⚠️Against its sector it trades 213% above the peer median of 34.9x.

vs. its own history

Expensive

48.0x median over 40 months · +128%

vs. sector peers

Expensive

34.9x median of 3 peers · +213%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

EV/EBITDA

61.5x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 61% over 3 years.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 2.7% to 9.4%.
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

1 item require attention · 1 high

🔴Significant margin compressionFinancial
EBITDA margin has fallen 14.3 points, from 35.9% to 21.6%.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 61% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.
Self-funding with balance-sheet headroom
Positive free cash flow of ₹178 Cr alongside low debt means growth, buybacks or dividends need no outside money — and a downturn can be absorbed rather than refinanced.
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 35.9% to 21.6%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
The price already assumes success
The stock trades 128% 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.
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.

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

1Revenue growth stays above 12% a year✓ 15.7% CAGR
Latest reported year was 21.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 20%✓ 21.6%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✗ 2.2x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
4Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹178 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5ROCE stays above 8%✓ 9.4%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

6 / 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 · 4 neutral · 3 weak

Market Cap

₹58,838 Cr

Mid Cap

Mid-sized — more growth headroom, but sharper swings than large caps

P/E (Trailing)

109.4x

Expensive

Expensive — verify against sector peers

P/B Ratio

7.60x

Rich

Steep premium to book — needs high, durable returns to justify

EPS (TTM)

₹6.17

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

8.5%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

9.4%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.46x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

21.6%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-81.4%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

0.44%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹178 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

33.9x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

14.9%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

6.5%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.99

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

-0.08

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

42%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

713.6 / 758.3

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

27.6

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹2,952 Cr	₹3,638 Cr	₹4,084 Cr	₹4,578 Cr	+15.7%
EBITDA	₹1,061 Cr	₹1,355 Cr	₹876 Cr	₹989 Cr	-2.3%
EBITDA Margin	35.9%	37.2%	21.5%	21.6%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹425 Cr	₹129 Cr	₹5,378 Cr	₹388 Cr	-3.0%
EPS	₹8.53	₹2.6	₹107.85	₹7.52	-4.1%
ROE	9.6%	2.8%	156.9%	8.5%	—
ROCE	2.7%	5.5%	10.1%	9.4%	—
Total Debt	₹5,700 Cr	₹1,384 Cr	₹2,018 Cr	₹2,220 Cr	-27.0%
Free Cash Flow	₹986 Cr	-₹648 Cr	₹68 Cr	₹178 Cr	-43.4%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 15.7% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 2.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 35.9% to 21.6% over 3 years (-14.3 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 3.0% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 4.1% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 9.6% to 8.5% over 3 years (-1.1 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 2.7% to 9.4% over 3 years (+6.6 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 27.0% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has shrunk at 43.4% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹8,112 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹3,278 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹228 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹656 Cr

Capex

-₹478 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

21.2%

Insider Holding

64.3%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹3

Ex-Dividend Date

02 Apr 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

11 Buy · 1 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹918.08

+36.0% vs CMP

Target Range

₹855 – ₹1,070

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
APOLLO HOSPITALS ENTER. L	54.3x	22.0%
SUN PHARMACEUTICAL IND L	34.9x	14.5%
CIPLA LTD	31.8x	9.8%

Recent News

1 mixed5 general

Aster DM Healthcare Ltd Share/Stock Price Live Today | The HinduBusinessLine

BusinessLine, 16 Oct

ASTER DM QUALITY CARE SHARE PRICE

ICICI Direct, 31 Jul

Aster DM Quality Care: मर्जरनंतर उत्पन्नात १२% वाढ; १५,००० बेडचे टार्गेट आणि भविष्यातील रणनीती

Whalesbook, 14 Oct

Aster DM Quality Care Share Price Tanks Nearly 4% In Trade. Here's Why

NDTV Profit, 20 Aug

Aster DM Quality Care promoter buys Rs 350 crore worth shares from TPG-Backed Centella Mauritius

Moneycontrol.com, 03 Sept

Aster DM block deal: 65.6mn shares change hands; stock up 8% from day's low

Business Standard, 19 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.

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

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Growth · Risk

WeakProfitability · Valuation

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.

1 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x · see Key things to watch ↑