JSW Steel Limited

Basic Materials — Steel · NSE

₹1,216.30+₹15.90 (+1.32%)

DalalBaazaar Score

73 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Low

Driven by moderate debt load.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, with modest growth. Nothing obvious stands out as stretched — the usual checks on business quality and management still apply.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:07 pm

Constructive picture on fundamentals. Profitability, leverage and growth metrics are broadly healthy on this snapshot. That said, valuation should still be checked against direct sector peers (not just the generic P/E bands used here) before treating this as a buy signal.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

JSW Steel Limited manufactures and sells iron and steel products in India and internationally.

IndustrySteel

SectorBasic Materials

Employees16,083

Annual revenue₹1.82 L Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹1.82 L Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹12 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹16 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 16,083 employees supports ₹11.32 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin16.2%

Net margin12.3%

Revenue / employee₹11.32 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are TATA STEEL LIMITED, JINDAL STEEL LIMITED, STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIA. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

TATA STEEL LIMITEDP/E 19.8x · ROE 10.8%

JINDAL STEEL LIMITEDP/E 39.1x · ROE 5.3%

STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIAP/E 16.5x · ROE 7.1%

What is its competitive advantage?Some evidence

ROCE of 18.7% is above what capital typically costs, which suggests some pricing power, though not yet the sustained, wide gap that marks a durable advantage.

ROCE18.7%

ROE22.3%

Peer median ROE7.1%

What is the outlook?

31 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 35.4% and earnings to grow about 17.6% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+35.4%

Est. earnings growth+17.6%

Analysts31

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +11% while net margin moved +384% 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+11%

Margin effect+384%

DalalBaazaar Score

73/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 3.6% — barely ahead of inflation
✓ Profit CAGR of 75.3% is above 15%

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

73/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

81/ 100

Cheap

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

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework is built to look for.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

12.0x

3Y Median

46.7x

40 monthly readings · mean 49.3x · range 13.3x–89.2x

Sector Median

19.8x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 74% below its 3y median of 46.7x. 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 trades 39% below the peer median of 19.8x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

46.7x median over 40 months · -74%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

19.8x median of 3 peers · -39%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

P/E (Trailing)

12.0x

P/B

2.97x

EV/EBITDA

12.8x

PEG

0.16

Dividend Yield

0.58%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well6

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 11.4% to 16.2% over 3 years.
Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 23% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 6.3% to 22.3%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 8.4% to 18.7%.
Valuation below its historical average
At 12.0x the stock trades 74% below its own median of 46.7x.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention1

Receivables growing faster than sales
Receivables are up 58% against revenue growth of 11% — customers are taking longer to pay.

Red Flags

1 item require attention · 1 watch

🟡Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 58% against revenue up 11% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 18.7% means each rupee reinvested earns well above what capital costs. If the company can keep deploying at this rate, growth creates value rather than just consuming cash.
Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 11.4% to 16.2%. 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 74% 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 39% 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?

The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 4.0x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 58% against revenue up 11%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 3.6% 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.
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.

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

1EBITDA margin holds above 14%✓ 16.2%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 4.0x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
3Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 3.6% CAGR
Latest reported year was 9.8%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
4Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹10,498 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
5ROCE stays above 16%✓ 18.7%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

11 / 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

7 good · 4 neutral · 0 weak

Market Cap

₹2.97 L Cr

Large Cap

Large, widely-covered business — typically the steadiest of the bands

P/E (Trailing)

12.0x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.97x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹101.35

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

22.3%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

18.7%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.95x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

9.8%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

113.0%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.58%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹10,498 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹1,216.3

P/E (Forward)

16.7x

Flat

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

Operating Margin

15.3%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

13.1%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.49

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.63

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

52%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

1234.6 / 1271.1

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

36.7

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹1.64 L Cr	₹1.73 L Cr	₹1.67 L Cr	₹1.82 L Cr	+3.6%
EBITDA	₹18,718 Cr	₹28,634 Cr	₹22,823 Cr	₹29,527 Cr	+16.4%
EBITDA Margin	11.4%	16.6%	13.7%	16.2%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹4,144 Cr	₹8,812 Cr	₹3,504 Cr	₹22,316 Cr	+75.3%
EPS	₹17.14	₹36.17	₹14.32	₹91.25	+74.6%
ROE	6.3%	11.3%	4.4%	22.3%	—
ROCE	8.4%	13.0%	7.2%	18.7%	—
Total Debt	₹1.07 L Cr	₹1.06 L Cr	₹1.19 L Cr	₹1.19 L Cr	+3.8%
Free Cash Flow	₹8,539 Cr	-₹3,723 Cr	₹8,205 Cr	₹10,498 Cr	+7.1%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 3.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 16.4% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 11.4% to 16.2% over 3 years (+4.8 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 75.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 74.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 6.3% to 22.3% over 3 years (+16.0 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 8.4% to 18.7% over 3 years (+10.3 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 3.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 7.1% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹2.70 L Cr

Total Liabilities

₹1.64 L Cr

Total Debt

₹1.19 L Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹39,245 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹25,152 Cr

Capex

-₹14,654 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

17.4%

Insider Holding

63.6%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

23 Oct 2026

Dividend Rate

₹7.1

Ex-Dividend Date

07 Jul 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

21 Buy · 8 Hold · 6 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹1,383.57

+13.8% vs CMP

Target Range

₹1,100 – ₹1,650

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
TATA STEEL LIMITED	19.8x	10.8%
JINDAL STEEL LIMITED	39.1x	5.3%
STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIA	16.5x	7.1%

Recent News

1 mixed5 general

Tata Steel vs Hindalco vs JSW vs Nalco vs SAIL vs NMDC: Which Metal Stock To Gain From Aluminium Price Shock?

Goodreturns, 16 Oct

JSW Steel Share Price Rise Streak: second straight gain

Univest, 16 OctPrice 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.

Orissa High Court quashes ₹696 Cr demand against JSW Steel over iron ore block

scanx.trade, 18 Oct

JSW Steel says Orissa HC quashes ₹696 crore penalty, sets aside other ₹1,473 crore penalty for re-evaluatuion

CNBC TV18, 18 Oct

JSW Steel gets relief in ₹2,169 crore mining dispute: What was the case and what Orissa HC ruled

Livemint, 18 Oct

National Steel Policy Draft Pulls Nifty Metal, Steel Stocks In Green

Outlook Money, 12 Oct

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟢Business QualityStrong14.5/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong13.8/20

🟢GrowthStrong13.1/20

🟢ProfitabilityStrong12.9/15

🟢ValuationAttractive11.8/15

🟢RiskLow6.6/10

Attractive on both counts

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework exists to look for. The work left is qualitative: whether the advantage the numbers imply is one you can identify and expect to last.

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 14%16.2%
✗Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x4.0x
✗Revenue growth stays above 4% a year3.6% CAGR
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹10,498 Cr
✓ROCE stays above 16%18.7%