Marico Limited

Consumer Defensive — Household & Personal Products · NSE

₹785.00−₹3.25 (−0.41%)

DalalBaazaar Score

71 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Low

Driven by a very high earnings multiple, which leaves little margin for disappointment.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, with both sales and profits growing well. Valuation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:46 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Marico Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells branded consumer products in India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and internationally.

IndustryHousehold & Personal Products

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees1,983

Annual revenue₹13,548 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹13,548 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹13 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹17 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 1,983 employees supports ₹6.83 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹6.83 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD., DABUR INDIA LTD, ITC LTD, BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES 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?The numbers suggest a real one

ROCE has stayed above 15% in every year available and stands at 38.8%. Returns that high normally get competed away; when they persist, something is protecting them, and its ROE of 41.9% against a peer median of 27.4% is consistent with that. What that something is — brand, scale, switching costs, regulation — the accounts cannot tell you.

Peer median ROE27.4%

What is the outlook?

38 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 11.1% and earnings to grow about 14.7% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+11.1%

Est. earnings growth+14.7%

Analysts38

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 -3% 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-3%

DalalBaazaar Score

71/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ P/E of 53.9x is demanding — it needs sustained high growth to justify
• P/E is close to its own historical median of 57.8x
✗ P/B of 24.21x is a steep premium to book

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

76/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

32/ 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

53.9x

3Y Median

57.8x

40 monthly readings · mean 58.4x · range 49.5x–69.3x

Sector Median

38.6x

median of 4 sector peers

🟡Currently trading close to its 3y median of 57.8x — the market is paying about what it usually pays for this company.

⚠️Against its sector it trades 40% above the peer median of 38.6x.

vs. its own history

Fair

57.8x median over 40 months · -7%

vs. sector peers

Expensive

38.6x median of 4 peers · +40%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

EV/EBITDA

43.1x

PEG

5.08

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well5

Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 43% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 34.3% to 41.9%.
High return on capital employed
ROCE of 38.8% is the mark of a business that converts capital into profit efficiently.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.12x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention1

Margins are compressing
EBITDA margin has slipped from 19.1% to 17.5% over 3 years.

Red Flags

No automated checks triggered

None of the automated financial checks below were triggered on the years of data available. That is not the same as a clean bill of health — see what could not be checked.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 38.8% 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.
Self-funding with balance-sheet headroom
Positive free cash flow of ₹1,765 Cr alongside low debt means growth, buybacks or dividends need no outside money — and a downturn can be absorbed rather than refinanced.
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?

Margins are being competed away
EBITDA margin has fallen from 19.1% to 17.5%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
A premium to the sector to defend
It trades 40% above the peer median. That premium needs a reason that persists, or it closes.

🟡 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 21.4%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 15%✓ 17.5%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹1,765 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.2x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 36%✓ 38.8%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

10 / 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

8 good · 1 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹1.02 L Cr

Large Cap

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

P/E (Trailing)

53.9x

Expensive

Expensive — verify against sector peers

P/B Ratio

24.21x

Rich

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

EPS (TTM)

₹14.56

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

41.9%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

38.8%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.12x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

21.4%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

24.7%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.51%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹1,765 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

40.3x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

19.3%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

13.2%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.43

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.18

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

43%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

798.3 / 820.6

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

31.6

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹9,689 Cr	₹9,573 Cr	₹10,733 Cr	₹13,548 Cr	+11.8%
EBITDA	₹1,852 Cr	₹2,055 Cr	₹2,233 Cr	₹2,368 Cr	+8.5%
EBITDA Margin	19.1%	21.5%	20.8%	17.5%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹1,302 Cr	₹1,481 Cr	₹1,629 Cr	₹1,762 Cr	+10.6%
EPS	₹10.05	₹11.43	₹12.56	₹13.59	+10.6%
ROE	34.3%	38.6%	41.0%	41.9%	—
ROCE	39.3%	39.9%	36.6%	38.8%	—
Total Debt	₹608 Cr	₹528 Cr	₹554 Cr	₹557 Cr	-2.9%
Free Cash Flow	₹1,237 Cr	₹1,234 Cr	₹1,202 Cr	₹1,765 Cr	+12.6%

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

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 8.5% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 19.1% to 17.5% over 3 years (-1.6 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 10.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 10.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 34.3% to 41.9% over 3 years (+7.6 pts).

🟡 ROCE has held roughly flat at 38.8% over 3 years.

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 2.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 12.6% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹10,075 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹5,581 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹404 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹2,084 Cr

Capex

-₹319 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

25.8%

Insider Holding

58.9%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

02 Nov 2026

Dividend Rate

₹4

Ex-Dividend Date

30 Jul 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

32 Buy · 5 Hold · 2 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹956.58

+21.9% vs CMP

Target Range

₹703 – ₹1,050

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD.	42.5x	21.5%
DABUR INDIA LTD	34.7x	17.2%
ITC LTD	16.6x	27.4%
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD	44.1x	51.0%

Recent News

5 mixed1 general

MARICO Outlook for the Week

Equitypandit, 09 Oct

Marico Share Price Rise Today: Price Action and Fundamentals

Univest, 05 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.

Marico shares gain 4% as firm expects double-digit revenue growth in Q2; check all business updates

Upstox, 05 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.

Nestle vs ITC vs Britannia vs Marico: Which FMCG stock to buy before their Q2 results? Target price, earning expectation

Livemint, 12 OctAnalyst view

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

Inflation puts FMCG firms' margins at risk; analysts back Marico, Nestle

Business Standard, 15 OctAnalyst view

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

Marico Share Slips Over 1% After Giving Up Early Gains Despite Strong Q1 Business Update

HDFC Sky, 03 JulPrice 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.

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Growth · Profitability · Risk

WeakValuation

Points for each in the Score ↑

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.

All 5 tripwires holding · see Key things to watch ↑