NCC Limited

Industrials — Engineering & Construction · NSE

₹125.70+₹1.92 (+1.55%)

DalalBaazaar Score

51 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Moderate

Driven by negative free cash flow, small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings.

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, 6:07 pm

Mixed / neutral. No major red flags jump out, but nothing here screams "obviously cheap" either. This is a name that needs a peer comparison and a view on near-term earnings triggers before sizing a position.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

NCC Limited operates in the construction business in India and internationally. It operates through the Construction, Real Estate, and Others segments.

IndustryEngineering & Construction

SectorIndustrials

Employees7,692

Annual revenue₹20,767 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹20,767 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹3 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹8 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 7,692 employees supports ₹2.70 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin8.4%

Net margin3.3%

Revenue / employee₹2.70 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD., ADANI PORT & SEZ LTD, SIEMENS LTD. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

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

ADANI PORT & SEZ LTDP/E 29.9x · ROE 14.1%

SIEMENS LTDP/E 88.8x · ROE 10.5%

What is its competitive advantage?Some evidence

ROCE of 15.3% is above what capital typically costs, which suggests some pricing power, though not yet the sustained, wide gap that marks a durable advantage.

ROCE15.3%

ROE8.6%

Peer median ROE14.1%

What is the outlook?

10 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 14.9% and earnings to grow about 29.2% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+14.9%

Est. earnings growth+29.2%

Analysts10

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 +35% while net margin moved -18% 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+35%

Margin effect-18%

DalalBaazaar Score

51/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ ROE of 8.6% is weak

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

43/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

77/ 100

Cheap

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

Optically cheap, but the underlying business scores poorly. Cheap-and-weak is what a value trap looks like from the outside — the low price may be deserved.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

11.3x

3Y Median

17.1x

40 monthly readings · mean 18.6x · range 10.0x–36.6x

Sector Median

30.1x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 34% below its 3y median of 17.1x. 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 62% below the peer median of 30.1x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

17.1x median over 40 months · -34%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

30.1x median of 3 peers · -62%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

P/E (Trailing)

11.3x

P/B

1.00x

EV/EBITDA

6.1x

PEG

3.23

Dividend Yield

1.75%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Valuation below its historical average
At 11.3x the stock trades 34% below its own median of 17.1x.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention4

Debt is rising
Total debt is up 250% over 3 years — worth checking what it funded.
Free cash flow is negative
The business is not currently covering its capital spending from operations.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 18.4% to 15.3% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.
Inventory building faster than sales
Inventory is up 78% against revenue growth of 35% — stock may not be moving.

Red Flags

3 items require attention · 1 high · 2 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 250% over 3 years, from ₹974 Cr to ₹3,407 Cr.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹1,414 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 78% against revenue up 35% — stock may not be moving.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Priced below its own history
The stock trades 34% 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 62% 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?

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.

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

1Revenue growth stays above 8% a year✓ 10.5% CAGR
Latest reported year was 12.2%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 6%✓ 8.4%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹1,414 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 2.8x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
5Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 2.0x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.

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

7 good · 3 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹7,892 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

11.3x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.00x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹11.14

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

8.6%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

15.3%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.57x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

12.2%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

12.7%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

1.75%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹1,414 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

CMP

₹125.7

P/E (Forward)

9.3x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

8.2%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

3.3%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.36

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.58

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

128.9 / 138.2

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

37.6

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹15,390 Cr	₹20,704 Cr	₹21,999 Cr	₹20,767 Cr	+10.5%
EBITDA	₹1,397 Cr	₹1,697 Cr	₹1,812 Cr	₹1,742 Cr	+7.6%
EBITDA Margin	9.1%	8.2%	8.2%	8.4%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹609 Cr	₹711 Cr	₹820 Cr	₹675 Cr	+3.5%
EPS	₹9.77	₹11.32	₹13.06	₹10.76	+3.3%
ROE	9.9%	10.7%	11.2%	8.6%	—
ROCE	18.4%	20.7%	20.6%	15.3%	—
Total Debt	₹974 Cr	₹980 Cr	₹1,594 Cr	₹3,407 Cr	+51.8%
Free Cash Flow	₹753 Cr	₹1,074 Cr	₹422 Cr	-₹1,414 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 10.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 7.6% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 8.4% over 3 years.

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 3.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 3.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 9.9% to 8.6% over 3 years (-1.3 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 18.4% to 15.3% over 3 years (-3.1 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 51.8% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹753 Cr to -₹1,414 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹26,006 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹17,977 Cr

Total Debt

₹3,407 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹642 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹459 Cr

Capex

-₹955 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

23.4%

Insider Holding

35.8%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

05 Nov 2026

Dividend Rate

₹2.2

Ex-Dividend Date

14 Aug 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

6 Buy · 3 Hold · 1 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹188.7

+50.1% vs CMP

Target Range

₹156 – ₹239

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.	30.1x	15.2%
ADANI PORT & SEZ LTD	29.9x	14.1%
SIEMENS LTD	88.8x	10.5%

Recent News

1 positive3 mixed2 general

Where Will NCC Share Price be in the Next 3 Years?

Equitymaster, 22 Aug

NCC (NCC) Share/Stock Price Live, NSE

TechGraph, 12 Oct

NCC shares in focus after Q1 profit rises 13%, margin improves

Moneycontrol.com, 07 AugResults

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

NCC shares jump 5% on Rs 1,286 crore Telangana road project order

The Economic Times, 09 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.

NCC shares rise 5% on securing ₹1,286 crore road project order in Telangana

Business Standard, 09 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.

NCC Ltd shares soar 6.5% on securing order worth ₹1,286 crore from HGCL; check details

Upstox, 08 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.

Watch Items

Trading very close to its 52-week low — worth checking whether this reflects a temporary setback or a structural problem.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🔴Business QualityWeak8.8/20

🟡Financial HealthAdequate9.8/20

🟡GrowthModest9.3/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak4.5/15

🟢ValuationAttractive13.2/15

🟡RiskModerate5.8/10

Cheap, but for a reason

The low price is the whole case here, and the business underneath scores poorly. Cheap-and-weak is what a value trap looks like from the outside — it needs a specific reason the numbers are about to improve, not just the observation that they are low. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

This thesis breaks if

✓Revenue growth stays above 8% a year10.5% CAGR
✓EBITDA margin holds above 6%8.4%
✗Free cash flow remains positive-₹1,414 Cr
✗Interest cover stays above 3x2.8x
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x2.0x