KSB Limited

Industrials — Specialty Industrial Machinery · NSE

₹779.00+₹10.90 (+1.42%)

DalalBaazaar Score

60 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

High

Driven by negative free cash flow, small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings, a very high earnings multiple, which leaves little margin for disappointment.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, 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, 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 KSB Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

KSB Limited manufactures and sells power-driven pumps and industrial valves in India and internationally. It operates through Pumps and Valves segments.

IndustrySpecialty Industrial Machinery

SectorIndustrials

Employees2,194

Annual revenue₹2,680 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹2,680 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹10 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹17 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 2,194 employees supports ₹1.22 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin16.7%

Net margin10.1%

Revenue / employee₹1.22 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are SIEMENS LTD, ABB INDIA LIMITED, LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD., HAVELLS INDIA LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

SIEMENS LTDP/E 88.8x · ROE 10.5%

ABB INDIA LIMITEDP/E 92.6x · ROE 19.1%

LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.P/E 30.1x · ROE 15.2%

HAVELLS INDIA LIMITEDP/E 43.5x · ROE 17.1%

What is its competitive advantage?The numbers suggest a real one

ROCE has stayed above 15% in every year available and stands at 20.6%. Returns that high normally get competed away; when they persist, something is protecting them, and its ROE of 15.2% against a peer median of 17.1% is consistent with that. What that something is — brand, scale, switching costs, regulation — the accounts cannot tell you.

ROCE20.6%

ROE15.2%

Peer median ROE17.1%

What is the outlook?

2 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 14.2% and earnings to grow about 24.1% in the year to 2027. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+14.2%

Est. earnings growth+24.1%

Analysts2

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 +48% while net margin moved -0% 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+48%

Margin effect-0%

DalalBaazaar Score

60/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ P/E of 55.2x is demanding — it needs sustained high growth to justify
• P/E is close to its own historical median of 58.1x
✗ P/B of 7.98x is a steep premium to book

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

65/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

40/ 100

Expensive

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

A good business, but the price already reflects that. The quality is real; the question is whether you are overpaying for it today.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

55.2x

4Y Median

58.1x

44 monthly readings · mean 59.5x · range 40.1x–80.2x

Sector Median

66.2x

median of 4 sector peers

🟡Currently trading close to its 4y median of 58.1x — the market is paying about what it usually pays for this company.

🟢Against its sector it trades 17% below the peer median of 66.2x.

vs. its own history

Fair

58.1x median over 44 months · -5%

vs. sector peers

Fair

66.2x median of 4 peers · -17%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

P/E (Trailing)

55.2x

P/B

7.98x

EV/EBITDA

30.0x

PEG

3.96

Dividend Yield

0.56%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

High return on capital employed
ROCE of 20.6% is the mark of a business that converts capital into profit efficiently.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention3

Debt is rising
Total debt is up 81% over 3 years — worth checking what it funded.
Free cash flow is negative
The business is not currently covering its capital spending from operations.
Receivables growing faster than sales
Receivables are up 115% against revenue growth of 48% — customers are taking longer to pay.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 3 high · 1 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 81% over 3 years, from ₹3 Cr to ₹5 Cr.
🔴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.
🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 115% against revenue up 48% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹1 Cr in the latest year.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 20.6% 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.
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 115% against revenue up 48%. 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.
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 11% a year✓ 14.0% CAGR
Latest reported year was 3.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 15%✓ 16.7%
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.
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 18%✓ 20.6%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

8 / 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 · 3 neutral · 4 weak

Market Cap

₹13,558 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

55.2x

Expensive

Expensive — verify against sector peers

P/B Ratio

7.98x

Rich

Steep premium to book — needs high, durable returns to justify

EPS (TTM)

₹14.1

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

15.2%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

20.6%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.37x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

3.6%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-18.6%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

0.56%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹127 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹779

P/E (Forward)

38.8x

Improving

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

ROA

7.0%

Average

Average asset productivity

Operating Margin

9.7%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

9.0%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

2.04

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

-0.17

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

31%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

801.7 / 800.6

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

40.9

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹1,808 Cr	₹2,232 Cr	₹2,520 Cr	₹2,680 Cr	+14.0%
EBITDA	₹296 Cr	₹335 Cr	₹387 Cr	₹447 Cr	+14.8%
EBITDA Margin	16.3%	15.0%	15.4%	16.7%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹183 Cr	₹209 Cr	₹247 Cr	₹270 Cr	+14.0%
EPS	₹10.5	₹11.99	₹14.22	₹15.54	+14.0%
ROE	16.0%	16.0%	16.7%	16.1%	—
ROCE	21.1%	21.2%	21.6%	20.6%	—
Total Debt	₹3 Cr	₹3 Cr	₹3 Cr	₹5 Cr	+21.8%
Free Cash Flow	-₹69 Cr	₹48 Cr	₹87 Cr	-₹1 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 14.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 14.8% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 16.7% over 3 years.

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 14.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 14.0% a year over 3 years.

🟡 ROE has held roughly flat at 16.1% over 3 years.

🟡 ROCE has held roughly flat at 20.6% over 3 years.

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 21.8% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2025

Total Assets

₹2,793 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹1,114 Cr

Total Debt

₹5 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹167 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹93 Cr

Capex

-₹94 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

13.9%

Insider Holding

70.0%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹4.4

Ex-Dividend Date

08 May 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

1 Buy · 0 Hold · 1 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹869

+11.6% vs CMP

Target Range

₹745 – ₹993

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
SIEMENS LTD	88.8x	10.5%
ABB INDIA LIMITED	92.6x	19.1%
LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.	30.1x	15.2%
HAVELLS INDIA LIMITED	43.5x	17.1%

Recent News

1 positive3 mixed1 negative1 general

Ksb (KSB) Share/Stock Price Live, NSE

TechGraph, 07 Oct

KSB Share Price Surges Over 8% After Company Receives Export Order

NDTV Profit, 30 SeptOrder win

🟢Potentially positiveAn order or contract win, which adds to future revenue. How much depends on its size against annual sales and on when it is executed.

KSB 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.

Up 254% in 5 years! KSB share price jumps 10% after ₹118 crore international order - Check details, share performance

Livemint, 30 SeptPrice 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.

KSB shares rally 7% after securing Rs 118 crore export order for boiler feed pumps

The Economic Times, 30 SeptPrice 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.

KSB net profit falls 18% in Q1FY27 as margins compress

scanx.trade, 04 AugResults

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

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟢Business QualityStrong14.1/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong13/20

🟡GrowthModest11.5/20

🟢ProfitabilityStrong10.2/15

🔴ValuationDemanding5.3/15

🟡RiskModerate5.8/10

Good business, demanding price

The quality is real and the price already reflects it. Buying here is a bet that the business keeps compounding for long enough to grow into the multiple — which good businesses often do, but it removes the margin for error that a lower price would have given you. 3 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

This thesis breaks if

✓Revenue growth stays above 11% a year14.0% CAGR
✓EBITDA margin holds above 15%16.7%
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹1 Cr
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x0.0x
✓ROCE stays above 18%20.6%