Cosmic CRF Limited

Industrials — Railroads · BSE

₹1,157.00−₹2.60 (−0.22%)

DalalBaazaar Score

60 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Moderate

Driven by negative free cash flow, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

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

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:08 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 Cosmic CRF Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Cosmic CRF Limited manufactures and supplies cold rolled stainless sections and other engineering products in India. The company offers railway wagon parts and components, sheet piles, and structures used in infrastructure.

IndustryRailroads

SectorIndustrials

Employees41

Annual revenue₹717 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹717 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹7 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹12 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 41 employees supports ₹17.48 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin11.7%

Net margin7.1%

Revenue / employee₹17.48 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD., SIEMENS LTD, ABB INDIA LIMITED. 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%

SIEMENS LTDP/E 88.8x · ROE 10.5%

ABB INDIA LIMITEDP/E 92.6x · ROE 19.1%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 14.3% 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.

ROCE14.3%

ROE11.5%

Peer median ROE15.2%

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 +490% while net margin moved +34% 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+490%

Margin effect+34%

DalalBaazaar Score

60/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

• Beta of 1.10 — moves roughly with the market
✗ Micro Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ Profits have swung sharply from year to year — earnings are hard to forecast
✗ Negative free cash flow means dependence on external funding

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

61/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

77/ 100

Cheap

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

21.0x

3Y Median

44.5x

40 monthly readings · mean 56.3x · range 16.0x–159.4x

Sector Median

88.8x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 53% below its 3y median of 44.5x. 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 trades 76% below the peer median of 88.8x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

44.5x median over 40 months · -53%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

88.8x median of 3 peers · -76%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

P/E (Trailing)

21.0x

P/B

2.39x

EV/EBITDA

14.6x

PEG

0.21

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well4

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 10.0% to 11.7% over 3 years.
Valuation below its historical average
At 21.0x the stock trades 53% below its own median of 44.5x.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.29x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention5

Debt is rising
Total debt is up 322% over 3 years — worth checking what it funded.
Free cash flow is negative
The business is not currently covering its capital spending from operations.
Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 39.4% to 11.3% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 26.1% to 14.3% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.
Receivables growing faster than sales
Receivables are up 3419% against revenue growth of 490% — customers are taking longer to pay.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 3 high · 1 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 322% over 3 years, from ₹32 Cr to ₹133 Cr.
🔴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.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 3419% against revenue up 490% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Shareholders have been dilutedOwnership
Shares outstanding are up 81% over 3 years — each existing share owns a smaller slice of the company.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 10.0% to 11.7%. 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 53% 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.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 76% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.
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?

Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 3419% against revenue up 490%. 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 39.4% to 11.3%. 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.
Several serious flags at once
3 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 61% a year✓ 80.7% CAGR
Latest reported year was 77.5%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 10%✓ 11.7%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹109 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 1.6x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 11%✓ 14.3%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

6 / 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

₹1,099 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

21.0x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.39x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹55.15

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

11.5%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

14.3%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.29x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

77.5%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

86.0%

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

-₹123 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹1,157

ROA

6.3%

Average

Average asset productivity

Operating Margin

8.6%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

7.1%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.70

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

1.10

Market-like

Moves roughly in line with the market

52W Range Position

63%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

1245.5 / 1281.1

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

27.1

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹121 Cr	₹253 Cr	₹402 Cr	₹717 Cr	+80.7%
EBITDA	₹12 Cr	₹22 Cr	₹45 Cr	₹84 Cr	+90.7%
EBITDA Margin	10.0%	8.6%	11.2%	11.7%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹6 Cr	₹13 Cr	₹29 Cr	₹51 Cr	+99.0%
EPS	₹12.57	₹19.35	₹35.15	—	—
ROE	39.4%	6.1%	7.2%	11.3%	—
ROCE	26.1%	8.3%	10.3%	14.3%	—
Total Debt	₹32 Cr	₹14 Cr	₹77 Cr	₹133 Cr	+61.7%
Free Cash Flow	-₹39 Cr	-₹47 Cr	-₹63 Cr	-₹109 Cr	—

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

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 90.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 10.0% to 11.7% over 3 years (+1.8 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 99.0% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 39.4% to 11.3% over 3 years (-28.0 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 26.1% to 14.3% over 3 years (-11.8 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 61.7% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹813 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹347 Cr

Total Debt

₹133 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹8 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹24 Cr

Capex

-₹133 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

66.7%

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.	30.1x	15.2%
SIEMENS LTD	88.8x	10.5%
ABB INDIA LIMITED	92.6x	19.1%

Recent News

1 mixed5 general

Cosmic CRF sets Sep 2 EOGM for engineering buyout and board migration

scanx.trade, 29 Jul

Compare with

Equitymaster, 07 Oct

Cosmic CRF Gets ₹6.51 Crore Steel Order; Shares At ₹1,265

HDFC Sky, 09 Sept

Ashish Kacholia sells 3.55% stake in Cosmic CRF, almost exits BEW Engineering

Moneycontrol.com, 18 Mar

Ashish Kacholia sells Cosmic CRF stake, exits BEW Engineering

CNBC TV18, 18 Mar

Cosmic CRF schedules post earnings call on May 26

scanx.trade, 21 MayResults

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

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

🔴Business QualityWeak7.5/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong13/20

🟢GrowthStrong18.5/20

🟡ProfitabilityModerate7.1/15

🟢ValuationAttractive10.7/15

🔴RiskHigh3.5/10

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

This thesis breaks if

✓Revenue growth stays above 61% a year80.7% CAGR
✓EBITDA margin holds above 10%11.7%
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹109 Cr
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x1.6x
✓ROCE stays above 11%14.3%