Finolex Cables Limited

Industrials — Electrical Equipment & Parts · NSE

₹1,365.10−₹28.80 (−2.07%)

DalalBaazaar Score

64 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Moderate

Driven by negative free cash flow, small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings.

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, 7:00 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Finolex Cables Limited engages in the manufacture and sale of electrical and communication cables, and other electrical appliances in India and internationally. The company operates through Electrical Cables, Communication Cables, Copper Rods, and Others segments.

IndustryElectrical Equipment & Parts

SectorIndustrials

Employees1,610

Annual revenue₹6,170 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹6,170 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹12 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹14 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 1,610 employees supports ₹3.83 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹3.83 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are SIEMENS LTD, ABB INDIA LIMITED, HAVELLS INDIA 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 14.2% 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 ROE17.1%

What is the outlook?

5 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 22.6% and earnings to grow about 19.6% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+22.6%

Est. earnings growth+19.6%

Analysts5

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 +40% while net margin moved +1% 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+40%

Margin effect+1%

DalalBaazaar Score

64/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

• P/E of 26.1x already prices in growth
• P/E is close to its own historical median of 27.0x

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

67/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

59/ 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

26.1x

3Y Median

27.0x

40 monthly readings · mean 26.7x · range 15.8x–47.3x

Sector Median

88.8x

median of 3 sector peers

🟡Currently trading close to its 3y median of 27.0x — the market is paying about what it usually pays for this company.

🟢Against its sector it trades 71% below the peer median of 88.8x.

vs. its own history

Fair

27.0x median over 40 months · -3%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

88.8x median of 3 peers · -71%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

23.9x

PEG

2.13

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well1

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

4 items require attention · 1 high · 3 watch

🔴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.
🟡Debt is increasingFinancial
Total debt is up 41% over 3 years.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹105 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 70% against revenue up 40% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Cheaper than its peers
It trades 71% 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 70% against revenue up 40%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
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.

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

1Revenue growth stays above 9% a year✓ 11.8% CAGR
Latest reported year was 44.3%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 12%✓ 14.1%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹105 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.0x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 11%✓ 14.2%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

9 / 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 · 6 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹20,878 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

26.1x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

3.43x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹52.31

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

11.7%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

14.2%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.31x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

44.3%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

53.2%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.66%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹105 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

18.8x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

11.1%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

11.5%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

8.42

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.62

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

83%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

1439.0 / 1336.5

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

38.8

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹4,410 Cr	₹4,937 Cr	₹5,194 Cr	₹6,170 Cr	+11.8%
EBITDA	₹640 Cr	₹787 Cr	₹791 Cr	₹868 Cr	+10.7%
EBITDA Margin	14.5%	15.9%	15.2%	14.1%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹504 Cr	₹652 Cr	₹701 Cr	₹714 Cr	+12.3%
EPS	₹32.97	₹42.61	₹45.82	₹46.67	+12.3%
ROE	11.5%	13.2%	12.8%	11.7%	—
ROCE	14.0%	16.3%	15.6%	14.2%	—
Total Debt	₹14 Cr	₹18 Cr	₹20 Cr	₹19 Cr	+12.0%
Free Cash Flow	₹325 Cr	₹577 Cr	-₹29 Cr	-₹105 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 11.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 10.7% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 14.1% over 3 years.

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 12.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 12.3% a year over 3 years.

🟡 ROE has held roughly flat at 11.7% over 3 years.

🟡 ROCE has held roughly flat at 14.2% over 3 years.

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 12.0% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹325 Cr to -₹105 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹6,990 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹904 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹163 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹49 Cr

Capex

-₹154 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

22.5%

Insider Holding

58.6%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

13 Nov 2026

Dividend Rate

₹9

Ex-Dividend Date

04 Sept 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

6 Buy · 0 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹1,440.17

+5.5% vs CMP

Target Range

₹1,008 – ₹1,640

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
SIEMENS LTD	88.8x	10.5%
ABB INDIA LIMITED	92.6x	19.1%
HAVELLS INDIA LIMITED	43.5x	17.1%

Recent News

3 mixed3 general

Finolex Cables - 10 smallcap stocks surge up to 65% in 3 months despite market weakness

The Economic Times, 17 Oct

Finolex Cables zooms 30% in 2 days, stock hits 52-week high; here's why

Business Standard, 12 Aug

Finolex Cables (NSEI:FINCABLES) Stock Forecast & Analyst Predictions

Simply Wall Street, 08 SeptAnalyst view

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

Finolex Cables (FINCABLES) Share Price Fall Streak: Second Straight Session After 4.10% Drop

Univest, 15 OctPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move rather than a change in the business. If the figures on this page have not moved, the fall is either an opportunity or news they have yet to catch up with.

FINCABLES 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.

Finolex Cables shares hit 52-week high for the second straight session; here is what's driving the rally

Upstox, 12 Aug

Watch Items

Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongFinancial Health · Growth · Profitability

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Valuation · 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. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

1 of 5 tripwires tripped — Free cash flow remains positive · see Key things to watch ↑