Kross Limited

Consumer Cyclical — Auto Parts · NSE

₹272.00+₹1.00 (+0.37%)

DalalBaazaar Score

61 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Moderate

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

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, 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, 8:28 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Kross Limited engages in the manufacture and supply of trailer axles, suspension, and automotive components in India and internationally.

IndustryAuto Parts

SectorConsumer Cyclical

Employees566

Annual revenue₹662 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹662 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹8 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹14 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 566 employees supports ₹1.17 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹1.17 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are BOSCH LIMITED, MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD., TVS MOTOR COMPANY LTD, EICHER MOTORS LTD. 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?Some evidence

ROCE of 15.4% is above what capital typically costs, which suggests some pricing power, though not yet the sustained, wide gap that marks a durable advantage.

Peer median ROE23.0%

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 +44% while net margin moved +24% 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+44%

Margin effect+24%

DalalBaazaar Score

61/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

• P/E of 30.4x already prices in growth
✗ P/E is 26% above its own historical median of 24.2x — expensive by its own standards

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

67/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

54/ 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

30.4x

2Y Median

24.2x

27 monthly readings · mean 25.5x · range 19.7x–32.5x

Sector Median

45.7x

median of 4 sector peers

⚠️Current valuation is approximately 26% above its 2y median of 24.2x. Paying more than usual needs a reason — faster growth, a better balance sheet, or a re-rating you believe in.

🟢Against its sector it trades 34% below the peer median of 45.7x.

vs. its own history

Expensive

24.2x median over 27 months · +26%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

45.7x median of 4 peers · -34%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

19.7x

PEG

1.42

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 39% over 3 years.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.23x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 30.3% to 11.3% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 38.1% to 15.4% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

3 items require attention · 2 high · 1 watch

🔴Free cash flow negative for 3 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 281% against revenue up 44% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 70% against revenue up 44% — stock may not be moving.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 39% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 34% 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 281% against revenue up 44%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
The price already assumes success
The stock trades 26% above its own median multiple. At this level the business has to deliver just to stand still, and a stumble is repriced twice — lower earnings on a lower multiple.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 30.3% 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.
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
2 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 10% a year✓ 12.9% CAGR
Latest reported year was 81.2%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 12%✓ 13.8%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹72 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.6x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 12%✓ 15.4%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

7 / 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

5 good · 5 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹1,755 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

30.4x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

3.32x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹8.96

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

14.3%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

15.4%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.23x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

81.2%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

146.4%

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

-₹94 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

ROA

9.3%

Good

Assets are working hard

Operating Margin

12.5%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

8.5%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

3.42

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

52W Range Position

92%

Near high

Near its 52-week high

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

258.5 / 230.9

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

52.3

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹460 Cr	₹604 Cr	₹609 Cr	₹662 Cr	+12.9%
EBITDA	₹57 Cr	₹81 Cr	₹86 Cr	₹92 Cr	+16.8%
EBITDA Margin	12.5%	13.4%	14.1%	13.8%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹31 Cr	₹45 Cr	₹48 Cr	₹55 Cr	+21.3%
EPS	₹4.79	₹6.96	₹8.04	₹8.56	+21.3%
ROE	30.3%	30.6%	11.1%	11.3%	—
ROCE	38.1%	41.6%	17.4%	15.4%	—
Total Debt	₹88 Cr	₹118 Cr	₹34 Cr	₹54 Cr	-15.3%
Free Cash Flow	₹23 Cr	-₹19 Cr	-₹20 Cr	-₹72 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 12.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 16.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 12.5% to 13.8% over 3 years (+1.3 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 21.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 21.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 30.3% to 11.3% over 3 years (-19.0 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 38.1% to 15.4% over 3 years (-22.7 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 15.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹23 Cr to -₹72 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹638 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹149 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹4 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹28 Cr

Capex

-₹100 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

4.9%

Insider Holding

68.6%

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
BOSCH LIMITED	56.9x	15.9%
MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD.	25.2x	13.4%
TVS MOTOR COMPANY LTD	56.8x	35.8%
EICHER MOTORS LTD	34.7x	23.0%

Recent News

2 mixed4 general

KROSS LIMITED Share Price

Upstox, 16 Oct

Kross (KROSS) Share/Stock Price Live, NSE

TechGraph, 10 Oct

Kross Share Price jumps 12.13%: price action and metrics

Univest, 14 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.

If EPS Growth Is Important To You, Kross (NSE:KROSS) Presents An Opportunity

Simply Wall Street, 13 Sept

Kross Limited Promoter Anita Rai Acquires 30,000 Equity Shares Through Open Market

scanx.trade, 27 Mar

Kross Sets Q1 Earnings Call For July 27 At 10 AM

Sahi, 20 JulResults

🟡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

Trading very close to its 52-week high — momentum-driven entries here carry more mean-reversion risk.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongFinancial Health · Growth

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Profitability

WeakValuation · 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. 2 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

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