Max Financial Services Limited

Financial Services — Insurance - Life · NSE

₹1,294.90+₹17.90 (+1.40%)

DalalBaazaar Score

34 / 100

🔴 Weak

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Low

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

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, 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, 6:57 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Max Financial Services Limited, through its subsidiary, engages in life insurance business in India. It operates through Business Investments and Others, and Life Insurance segments.

IndustryInsurance - Life

SectorFinancial Services

Employees10

Annual revenue₹47,591 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹47,591 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹0 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹1 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 10 employees supports ₹4759.05 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹4759.05 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are HDFC LIFE INS CO LTD, SBI LIFE INSURANCE CO LTD, ICICI PRU LIFE INS CO LTD, ICICI LOMBARD GIC 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?Not assessable from these ratios

For a lender, returns on capital are shaped by leverage and funding cost rather than by pricing power, so the usual financial signature of an advantage does not apply. Judge this one on deposit franchise, cost of funds and asset quality — none of which are in this data.

Peer median ROE13.6%

What is the outlook?

10 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 54042.4% and earnings to grow about 8.8% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+54042.4%

Est. earnings growth+8.8%

Analysts10

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +52% while net margin moved -85% 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+52%

Margin effect-85%

DalalBaazaar Score

34/ 100

Weak

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Shareholders fund just 2.7% of the balance sheet — highly levered even by banking standards
• Capital adequacy, gross NPAs and provision coverage decide a lender's financial health, and none are available here — check the bank's own quarterly disclosure

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

31/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

23/ 100

Expensive

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

Weak on business quality and not cheap enough to compensate.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

409.8x

3Y Median

131.8x

40 monthly readings · mean 171.6x · range 81.2x–642.1x

Sector Median

47.6x

median of 4 sector peers

⚠️Current valuation is approximately 211% above its 3y median of 131.8x. 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 761% above the peer median of 47.6x.

vs. its own history

Expensive

131.8x median over 40 months · +211%

vs. sector peers

Expensive

47.6x median of 4 peers · +761%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

EV/EBITDA

90.8x

PEG

10.99

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well1

Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention1

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 10.8% to 1.6% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.

Red Flags

3 items require attention · 3 watch

🟡Interest coverage is deterioratingFinancial
Cover has fallen from 14.6x to 4.2x.
🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 78% over 3 years.
🟡Low reported insider holdingOwnership
Reported insider holding is 2.1%. For Indian companies this field is an unreliable proxy — check the official promoter shareholding in the exchange filing.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

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 price already assumes success
The stock trades 211% 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 10.8% to 1.6%. 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.

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

1Revenue growth stays above 11% a year✓ 15.0% CAGR
Latest reported year was 16.8%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above -1%✓ 1.0%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Return on equity stays above 8%✗ 1.6%
For a lender this is the cleanest single read on whether the book is being grown profitably.
4Interest cover stays above 4x✓ 4.2x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
5Valuation vs its own median of 131.8x✗ 409.8x today
A re-rating above its own history needs a reason; without one it is just a higher price.

Investment Checklist

6 / 10 checks passed

✗ Strong return on equity (ROE ≥ 15%)
✗ Healthy net margin (≥ 10%)
✓ Generates positive free cash flow
✓ Manageable leverage (Debt/Equity < 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

5 good · 3 neutral · 3 weak

Market Cap

₹44,689 Cr

Mid Cap

Mid-sized — more growth headroom, but sharper swings than large caps

P/E (Trailing)

409.8x

Expensive

Expensive — verify against sector peers

P/B Ratio

8.42x

Rich

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

EPS (TTM)

₹3.16

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

1.6%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

Not meaningful

N/A for lenders

Banks and NBFCs don't report capital employed the way other businesses do

Debt/Equity

0.36x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

16.8%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

37.3%

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

₹11,228 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

116.9x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

1.2%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

0.2%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.70

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

1394.4 / 1477.0

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

22.8

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹31,328 Cr	₹46,494 Cr	₹46,396 Cr	₹47,591 Cr	+15.0%
EBITDA	₹705 Cr	₹658 Cr	₹721 Cr	₹491 Cr	-11.3%
EBITDA Margin	2.3%	1.4%	1.6%	1.0%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹378 Cr	₹340 Cr	₹327 Cr	₹84 Cr	-39.5%
EPS	₹10.97	₹9.9	₹9.53	₹2.45	-39.3%
ROE	10.8%	8.8%	6.2%	1.6%	—
Total Debt	₹831 Cr	₹844 Cr	₹1,442 Cr	₹2,349 Cr	+41.4%
Free Cash Flow	₹9,748 Cr	₹5,882 Cr	₹8,134 Cr	₹11,228 Cr	+4.8%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 15.0% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 11.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 2.3% to 1.0% over 3 years (-1.2 pts).

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 39.5% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 39.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 10.8% to 1.6% over 3 years (-9.2 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 41.4% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 4.8% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹1.99 L Cr

Total Liabilities

₹1.93 L Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹2,403 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹11,473 Cr

Capex

-₹244 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

78.8%

Insider Holding

2.1%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

27 Oct 2026

Ex-Dividend Date

19 Sept 2016

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

25 Buy · 0 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹1,965.8

+51.8% vs CMP

Target Range

₹1,690 – ₹2,300

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
HDFC LIFE INS CO LTD	58.4x	11.3%
SBI LIFE INSURANCE CO LTD	63.9x	13.7%
ICICI PRU LIFE INS CO LTD	36.7x	12.9%
ICICI LOMBARD GIC LIMITED	33.0x	13.6%

Recent News

1 positive2 mixed3 general

MFSL Outlook for the Week

Equitypandit, 09 Oct

Max Financial Services (NSEI:MFSL) Stock Price

Simply Wall Street, 06 Oct

Insurance Stocks Crash: PB Fintech, HDFC Life, Max Financial Shares Fall as IRDAI Proposes Dark Pattern Ban

India Infoline, 24 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.

Max Financial Services Ltd Falls to 52-Week Low of Rs 1291 as Sell-Off Deepens

MarketsMojo, 14 Oct

Max Financial Services Q1 FY27 Results on August 13, 7 PM: Axis Max Life Growth, VNB Margins in Focus

NiftyTrader, 08 AugResults

🟡Mixed / dependsA results event. The figures on this page update once the new statements reach the data feed, which usually lags the announcement.

Max Financial Q1 Profit Jumps 37% to ₹118 Cr

HDFC Sky, 14 AugResults

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

Watch Items

Trading very close to its 52-week low — worth checking whether this reflects a temporary setback or a structural problem.
This is a financial-sector business: borrowing is its raw material, not leverage in the usual sense. Debt/Equity and ROCE here aren't comparable to a manufacturer's — read them alongside NIM, GNPA and capital adequacy from the company's own disclosures.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.
Reported insider holding is low — cross-check the official promoter shareholding % in the company's exchange filing.
RSI is in oversold territory — could mean either a bargain or a stock still falling for good reason. Check the 'why' before assuming reversal.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongRisk

WeakBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Growth · Profitability · Valuation

Points for each in the Score ↑

Weak on the fundamentals

Poor scores on business quality without a price low enough to compensate. There is no obvious argument for owning this over a stronger company at a similar valuation.

2 of 5 tripwires tripped — Return on equity stays above 8%; Valuation vs its own median of 131.8x · see Key things to watch ↑