JSW Cement Limited

Basic Materials — Building Materials · NSE

₹115.36+₹2.14 (+1.89%)

DalalBaazaar Score

46 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

High

Driven by short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets, negative free cash flow, small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings.

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, though profits are falling even as sales grow. Cash generation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:45 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

JSW Cement Limited manufactures and sells cement under the JSW Cement brand in India. The company offers Portland slag, ordinary Portland, composite, and Portland pozzolana cement products.

IndustryBuilding Materials

SectorBasic Materials

Employees1,848

Annual revenue₹6,512 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹6,512 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹-12 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹21 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 1,848 employees supports ₹3.52 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹3.52 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED, GRASIM INDUSTRIES LTD, AMBUJA CEMENTS LTD, SHREE CEMENT 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 -4.1% 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 ROE7.4%

What is the outlook?

17 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 15.8% and earnings to grow about 32.1% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+15.8%

Est. earnings growth+32.1%

Analysts17

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +15% while net margin moved -582% 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+15%

Margin effect-582%

DalalBaazaar Score

46/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Small 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

43/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

75/ 100

Cheap

What you are being asked to pay, ignoring how good the business is.

Optically cheap, but the underlying business scores poorly. Cheap-and-weak is what a value trap looks like from the outside — the low price may be deserved.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

20.2x

1.3Y Median

185.4x

16 monthly readings · mean 184.8x · range 163.3x–220.0x

Sector Median

36.2x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 89% below its 1.3y median of 185.4x. 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 44% below the peer median of 36.2x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

185.4x median over 16 months · -89%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

36.2x median of 4 peers · -44%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

14.7x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 14.8% to 20.5% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 21% over 3 years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 6.0% to -11.5% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 5.6% to -4.1% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

5 items require attention · 2 high · 3 watch

🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only -1.2x — little room if earnings dip.
🔴The company is lossmakingFinancial
Net profit of -₹756 Cr in the latest reported year.
🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 0.9x to -1.2x.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹791 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Short-term liquidity is tightFinancial
Current ratio of 0.72 — 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 14.8% to 20.5%. 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 21% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 89% 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 44% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 3.3x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 4.7% a year is close to the rate prices rise, so the business is gaining little ground in real terms. That leaves the share price dependent on a re-rating rather than on earnings growth.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 6.0% to -11.5%. 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
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

1EBITDA margin holds above 19%✓ 20.5%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 3.3x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹791 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Interest cover stays above 3x✗ -1.2x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
5Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✓ 4.7% CAGR
Latest reported year was 19.9%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.

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

2 good · 5 neutral · 4 weak

Market Cap

₹15,578 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

20.2x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.36x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹5.71

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

-11.5%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

-4.1%

Weak

Low return on total capital employed

Debt/Equity

0.68x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

19.9%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-563.0%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

0.43%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹791 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

20.4x

Flat

At or above the trailing multiple — no earnings uplift is being priced in

Operating Margin

10.6%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

10.9%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

0.72

Tight

Tight short-term liquidity

52W Range Position

24%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

114.0 / 120.7

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

47.7

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹5,680 Cr	₹5,839 Cr	₹5,813 Cr	₹6,512 Cr	+4.7%
EBITDA	₹841 Cr	₹1,070 Cr	₹837 Cr	₹1,335 Cr	+16.7%
EBITDA Margin	14.8%	18.3%	14.4%	20.5%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹137 Cr	₹90 Cr	-₹114 Cr	-₹756 Cr	—
EPS	₹1.03	₹0.67	₹-0.84	₹-6.19	—
ROE	6.0%	3.6%	-4.8%	-11.5%	—
ROCE	5.6%	8.6%	4.6%	-4.1%	—
Total Debt	₹5,641 Cr	₹6,254 Cr	₹6,563 Cr	₹4,464 Cr	-7.5%
Free Cash Flow	-₹981 Cr	₹476 Cr	-₹415 Cr	-₹791 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 4.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 16.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 14.8% to 20.5% over 3 years (+5.7 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has turned negative, from ₹137 Cr to -₹756 Cr.

🔴 EPS has turned negative, from ₹1.03 to ₹-6.19.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 6.0% to -11.5% over 3 years (-17.5 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 5.6% to -4.1% over 3 years (-9.7 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 7.5% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹14,535 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹8,008 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹447 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹1,170 Cr

Capex

-₹1,962 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

18.7%

Insider Holding

76.1%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹0.5

Ex-Dividend Date

10 Jul 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

16 Buy · 0 Hold · 1 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹147.71

+28.0% vs CMP

Target Range

₹132 – ₹180

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED	37.6x	11.1%
GRASIM INDUSTRIES LTD	34.8x	5.5%
AMBUJA CEMENTS LTD	20.4x	7.4%
SHREE CEMENT LIMITED	49.7x	7.0%

Recent News

2 positive3 mixed1 general

JSW Cement (NSEI:JSWCEMENT) Stock Forecast & Analyst Predictions

Simply Wall Street, 14 OctAnalyst view

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

JSW Cement Has Jefferies Positive Despite Weaker Q1 Margins; Citi Lowers Price Target

NDTV Profit, 17 AugAnalyst view

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

JSW Cement shares gain 2% after Motilal Oswal upgrades stock to Buy. Check target price

The Economic Times, 21 SeptAnalyst view

🟢Potentially positiveAn analyst opinion changing, which moves the price without changing the business.

JSW Cement receives ₹230 crore GST demand notice over alleged incorrect classification

CNBC TV18, 24 Sept

JSW Cement Share Price GST Notice: Stock Dips as ₹230 crore Demand Rattles Investors

Alice Blue, 25 SeptPrice 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.

Buzzing Stocks: ESDS Software slips 5% despite 14% profit jump; JSW Cement falls on ₹230 crore GST...

Moneycontrol.com, 25 SeptResults

🟢Potentially positiveReported improvement. Check whether it came from volume, price or a one-off item before treating it as a trend.

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongValuation

MiddlingBusiness Quality

WeakFinancial Health · Growth · Profitability · Risk

Points for each in the Score ↑

Cheap, but for a reason

The low price is the whole case here, and the business underneath scores poorly. Cheap-and-weak is what a value trap looks like from the outside — it needs a specific reason the numbers are about to improve, not just the observation that they are low. 2 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

3 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x; Free cash flow remains positive; Interest cover stays above 3x · see Key things to watch ↑