CarTrade Tech Limited

Consumer Cyclical — Auto & Truck Dealerships · NSE

₹3,014.80+₹50.80 (+1.71%)

DalalBaazaar Score

64 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings, a very high earnings multiple, which leaves little margin for disappointment.

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

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:47 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

CarTrade Tech Limited operates digital automotive marketplaces and related technology platforms in India and internationally. It operates through three segments: Consumer, Remarketing, and Classifieds.

IndustryAuto & Truck Dealerships

SectorConsumer Cyclical

Employees1,152

Annual revenue₹774 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹774 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹29 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹39 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 1,152 employees supports ₹67.2 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹67.2 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD., TITAN COMPANY LIMITED, TRENT LTD, AVENUE SUPERMARTS 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 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.

Peer median ROE25.9%

What is the outlook?

8 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 20.5% and earnings to grow about 28.8% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+20.5%

Est. earnings growth+28.8%

Analysts8

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +113% while net margin moved +208% 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+113%

Margin effect+208%

DalalBaazaar Score

64/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Beta of -0.04 — historically steadier than the index
✗ Small Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ High leverage magnifies any downturn in earnings
✗ Profits have swung sharply from year to year — earnings are hard to forecast

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

71/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

57/ 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

65.2x

3Y Median

108.7x

40 monthly readings · mean 223.5x · range 61.4x–778.1x

Sector Median

69.2x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 40% below its 3y median of 108.7x. 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 is priced broadly in line with the peer median of 69.2x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

108.7x median over 40 months · -40%

vs. sector peers

Fair

69.2x median of 4 peers · -6%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

EV/EBITDA

48.5x

PEG

0.75

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well5

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 14.2% to 39.3% over 3 years.
Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 460% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 1.7% to 9.0%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 3.1% 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

2 items require attention · 2 high

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 62% over 3 years, from ₹86 Cr to ₹140 Cr.
🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 5.36x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 14.2% to 39.3%. 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 40% 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?

Leverage amplifies any setback
Debt/Equity of 5.36x. Interest is payable whether or not the business has a good year.
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
Small 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.
Several serious flags at once
2 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

1Revenue growth stays above 22% a year✓ 28.7% CAGR
Latest reported year was 16.3%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 37%✓ 39.3%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹230 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.5x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
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

8 / 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

₹14,656 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

65.2x

Expensive

Expensive — verify against sector peers

P/B Ratio

5.81x

Rich

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

EPS (TTM)

₹46.26

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

9.0%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

11.0%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

5.36x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

16.3%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

22.4%

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

₹230 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

38.4x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

26.0%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

28.7%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

4.79

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

-0.04

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

84%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

2967.0 / 2956.4

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

50.4

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹363 Cr	₹490 Cr	₹641 Cr	₹774 Cr	+28.7%
EBITDA	₹52 Cr	₹102 Cr	₹187 Cr	₹305 Cr	+80.7%
EBITDA Margin	14.2%	20.8%	29.1%	39.3%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹34 Cr	₹14 Cr	₹135 Cr	₹223 Cr	+87.2%
EPS	₹6.71	₹2.81	₹26.42	₹44.6	+88.0%
ROE	1.7%	0.7%	6.1%	9.0%	—
ROCE	3.1%	4.7%	7.3%	11.0%	—
Total Debt	₹86 Cr	₹112 Cr	₹131 Cr	₹140 Cr	+17.6%
Free Cash Flow	₹41 Cr	₹13 Cr	₹166 Cr	₹230 Cr	+77.6%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 28.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 80.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 14.2% to 39.3% over 3 years (+25.1 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 87.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 88.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 1.7% to 9.0% over 3 years (+7.3 pts).

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

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 17.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 77.6% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹3,009 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹391 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹31 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹257 Cr

Capex

-₹27 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

63.2%

Insider Holding

6.4%

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

8 Buy · 0 Hold · 2 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹3,381.4

+12.2% vs CMP

Target Range

₹2,600 – ₹4,115

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD.	25.2x	13.4%
TITAN COMPANY LIMITED	68.5x	36.7%
TRENT LTD	87.2x	25.9%
AVENUE SUPERMARTS LIMITED	69.9x	12.7%

Recent News

2 mixed4 general

CarTrade Tech share price target: UBS bets on OLX India’s five-year growth, sees 34% upside - here's why

Livemint, 15 OctAnalyst view

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

UBS says CarTrade Tech’s OLX buy can deliver 5x revenue in five years. Here’s why

The Economic Times, 14 Oct

CarTrade zooms 70% since June, hits 6-month high; UBS sees more upside

Business Standard, 14 Jul

CarTrade Tech (NSEI:CARTRADE) Stock Sees Fair Value Lift As Growth Assumptions Improve

Yahoo Finance, 16 Jul

Institutional investors control 57% of CarTrade Tech Limited (NSE:CARTRADE) and were rewarded last week after stock increased 8.3%

Simply Wall Street, 01 Feb

CarTrade Tech Shares Soar 8% After Kotak Recommends ‘Buy’; Check the Details By Trade Brains

Investing.com India, 03 JunPrice 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.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongBusiness Quality · Growth · Profitability

MiddlingFinancial Health

WeakValuation · Risk

Points for each in the Score ↑

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

All 5 tripwires holding · see Key things to watch ↑