Esha Media Research Limited

Communication Services — Broadcasting · BSE

₹41.80+₹0.79 (+1.93%)

DalalBaazaar Score

27 / 100

🔴 Weak

Verdict

HIGH RISK

Risk

Very High

Driven by negative shareholders' equity — the company owes more than it owns, short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets, negative free cash flow.

In simple words: The company owes more than it owns — years of losses have wiped out its net worth, but sales are shrinking. Solvency — whether it can keep funding itself at all — is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:08 pm

Caution warranted. Multiple fundamental metrics — flagged in red below — point to either valuation stretch, leverage risk, or weakening profitability. This doesn't mean avoid the stock outright, but it does mean the burden of proof is on the growth story to justify the current price.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Esha Media Research Limited provides media monitoring, social listening, and consumer intelligence solutions in India.

IndustryBroadcasting

SectorCommunication Services

Annual revenue₹2 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹2 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹21 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹-122 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation.

EBITDA margin-122.0%

Net margin20.5%

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITED, VODAFONE IDEA LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITEDP/E 39.8x · ROE 20.2%

VODAFONE IDEA LIMITEDP/E 3.6x · ROE —

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 +2848% while net margin moved -109% 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+2848%

Margin effect-109%

DalalBaazaar Score

27/ 100

Weak

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Shareholders' equity is negative — accumulated losses exceed the capital in the business

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

29/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

30/ 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.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

139.3x

Sector Median

21.7x

median of 2 sector peers

⚠️Against its sector it trades 541% above the peer median of 21.7x.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Expensive

21.7x median of 2 peers · +541%

vs. generic bands

N/A

Multiples unreliable — equity base is negative

P/E (Trailing)

139.3x

P/B

—

EV/EBITDA

—

PEG

—

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from -205.3% to -122.0% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 17% over 3 years.

🔴 What Needs Attention3

Free cash flow is negative
The business is not currently covering its capital spending from operations.
Negative shareholders' equity
Liabilities exceed assets — this is a solvency question that sits above every other consideration here.
Short-term liquidity is tight
Current ratio of 0.04 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 3 high · 1 watch

🔴Negative shareholders' equityFinancial
Liabilities exceed assets — accumulated losses have wiped out the company's net worth.
🔴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.
🟡Short-term liquidity is tightFinancial
Current ratio of 0.04 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from -205.3% to -122.0%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 17% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Solvency comes before everything else
Liabilities exceed assets. Until net worth is rebuilt, the equity is a claim on a business that owes more than it owns, and further losses or a funding squeeze can leave shareholders with nothing.
A premium to the sector to defend
It trades 541% above the peer median. That premium needs a reason that persists, or it closes.
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 157% a year✓ 208.9% CAGR
Latest reported year was -9.7%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above -124%✓ -122.0%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹1 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Interest cover stays above 3x✓ 3.5x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.

Investment Checklist

3 / 9 checks passed

✗ Shareholders' equity is positive (assets exceed liabilities)
✓ Healthy net margin (≥ 10%)
✗ Generates positive free cash flow
✗ 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

2 good · 4 neutral · 5 weak

Market Cap

₹33 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

139.3x

Expensive

Expensive — verify against sector peers

P/B Ratio

Not available

No data

Source didn't return this field

EPS (TTM)

₹0.3

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

Not meaningful

Negative equity

Return on equity can't be read when equity itself is negative

ROCE

Not available

No data

Source didn't return this field

Debt/Equity

Not meaningful

Negative equity

Shareholders' equity is negative, so this ratio can't be read

Revenue Growth (YoY)

-9.7%

Shrinking

Sales are contracting

Profit Growth (YoY)

113.1%

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

-₹1 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹41.8

Operating Margin

-101.4%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

10.2%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

0.04

Tight

Tight short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.14

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

47%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

38.4 / 42.3

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

55.0

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹0 Cr	₹0 Cr	₹3 Cr	₹2 Cr	+208.9%
EBITDA	-₹0 Cr	-₹0 Cr	-₹0 Cr	-₹3 Cr	—
EBITDA Margin	-205.3%	-56.4%	-13.9%	-122.0%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹0 Cr	-₹0 Cr	-₹4 Cr	₹0 Cr	—
EPS	₹-0.23	₹-0.11	₹-4.65	₹0.62	—
ROCE	-31.9%	-17.2%	—	—	—
Total Debt	₹8 Cr	₹8 Cr	₹9 Cr	₹6 Cr	-6.2%
Free Cash Flow	-₹0 Cr	-₹0 Cr	-₹0 Cr	-₹1 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 208.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from -205.3% to -122.0% over 3 years (+83.3 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has turned positive, from -₹0 Cr to ₹0 Cr.

🟢 EPS has turned positive, from ₹-0.23 to ₹0.62.

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 6.2% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹1 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹12 Cr

Total Debt

₹6 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹0 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹1 Cr

Capex

-₹0 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

71.0%

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITED	39.8x	20.2%
VODAFONE IDEA LIMITED	3.6x	—

Recent News

1 negative5 general

Esha Media Research Ltd. Peer Comparison – Compare with Others

Value Research, 03 Sept

ROBOKIDZ EDUVENTURES LTD. Stock/Share price , NSE/BSE Forecast News and Live Quotes

Equitymaster, 14 Oct

Esha Media Key Ratios

Value Research, 02 Sept

Advertising Marketing Agencies Penny Stocks 2027: 5 Picks

Univest, 17 Sept

Blue Star consolidated net profit declines 15.26% in the June 2026 quarter

Business Standard, 06 AugResults

🔴Potentially negativeReported deterioration, which feeds the growth and margin inputs on this page directly.

Esha Media Research Ltd. Shareholding Pattern – Promoters, FIIs & DIIs

Value Research, 02 Sept

Watch Items

Revenue growth is negative (-9.7%) 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.
2 metrics couldn't be retrieved for this stock — this is more common for smaller or thinly-covered listings.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🔴Business QualityWeak6/20

🔴Financial HealthStretched1/20

🟢GrowthStrong13/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak1.5/15

🔴ValuationDemanding4.5/15

🔴RiskHigh0.5/10

Avoid until solvency is resolved

Esha Media Research Limited owes more than it owns. Whatever the operating numbers show, the equity is a residual claim on a business with negative net worth, and that question has to be settled before any of the rest is worth weighing. 3 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

This thesis breaks if

✓Revenue growth stays above 157% a year208.9% CAGR
✓EBITDA margin holds above -124%-122.0%
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹1 Cr
✓Interest cover stays above 3x3.5x