NIIT Learning Systems Limited

Consumer Defensive — Education & Training Services · NSE

₹199.01−₹0.27 (−0.14%)

DalalBaazaar Score

68 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Low

Driven by micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, with both sales and profits growing well. Nothing obvious stands out as stretched — the usual checks on business quality and management still apply.

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 NIIT Learning Systems Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

NIIT Learning Systems Limited provides managed training services in India, the United States, Europe, and internationally.

IndustryEducation & Training Services

SectorConsumer Defensive

Employees2,546

Annual revenue₹1,952 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹1,952 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹13 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹20 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 2,546 employees supports ₹76.7 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹76.7 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD., ITC LTD, NESTLE INDIA LIMITED, 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?Some evidence

ROCE of 17.4% 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 ROE51.0%

What is the outlook?

2 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 8.5% and earnings to grow about 17.1% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+8.5%

Est. earnings growth+17.1%

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 +43% while net margin moved -10% 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+43%

Margin effect-10%

DalalBaazaar Score

68/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ ROCE of 17.4% is comfortably above a typical cost of capital
✗ ROCE has fallen by 4.2 points — returns are eroding
• EBITDA margin of 19.9% is respectable
• Net margin of 12.4% is reasonable
• Revenue has compounded at 12.8% a year, which is the base these returns are earned on

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

67/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

82/ 100

Cheap

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

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework is built to look for.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

10.9x

3Y Median

26.7x

40 monthly readings · mean 24.6x · range 11.3x–36.4x

Sector Median

43.3x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 59% below its 3y median of 26.7x. 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 75% below the peer median of 43.3x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

26.7x median over 40 months · -59%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

43.3x median of 4 peers · -75%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

6.9x

PEG

1.24

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 117% over 3 years.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.21x 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 25.0% to 16.1% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 21.5% to 17.4% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

3 items require attention · 1 high · 2 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 147% over 3 years, from ₹129 Cr to ₹318 Cr.
🟡Margins are compressingFinancial
EBITDA margin is down 2.3 points over 3 years.
🟡Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 75% against revenue up 43% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Priced below its own history
The stock trades 59% 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 75% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.
Self-funding with balance-sheet headroom
Positive free cash flow of ₹244 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 22.1% to 19.9%. If the trend continues, profit falls even on flat sales — and margin decline rarely reverses quickly.
Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 75% against revenue up 43%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 25.0% to 16.1%. 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.

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

1Revenue growth stays above 10% a year✓ 12.8% CAGR
Latest reported year was 25.2%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 18%✓ 19.9%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹244 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.8x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 14%✓ 17.4%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

11 / 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 · 3 neutral · 0 weak

Market Cap

₹2,750 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

10.9x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.77x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹18.21

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

16.1%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

17.4%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.21x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

25.2%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

16.8%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

1.63%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹244 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

9.2x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

12.7%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

12.4%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.73

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.25

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

205.4 / 221.4

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

37.8

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹1,362 Cr	₹1,554 Cr	₹1,653 Cr	₹1,952 Cr	+12.8%
EBITDA	₹301 Cr	₹374 Cr	₹383 Cr	₹388 Cr	+8.8%
EBITDA Margin	22.1%	24.1%	23.1%	19.9%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹192 Cr	₹213 Cr	₹228 Cr	₹248 Cr	+8.8%
EPS	₹14.28	₹15.22	₹16.15	₹17.66	+7.3%
ROE	25.0%	21.8%	18.8%	16.1%	—
ROCE	21.5%	25.0%	22.6%	17.4%	—
Total Debt	₹129 Cr	₹132 Cr	₹103 Cr	₹318 Cr	+35.1%
Free Cash Flow	₹112 Cr	₹231 Cr	₹199 Cr	₹244 Cr	+29.5%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 12.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 8.8% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 22.1% to 19.9% over 3 years (-2.3 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 8.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 7.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 25.0% to 16.1% over 3 years (-8.9 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 21.5% to 17.4% over 3 years (-4.2 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 35.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 29.5% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹3,060 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹1,518 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹394 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹288 Cr

Capex

-₹45 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

22.8%

Insider Holding

47.2%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹3.25

Ex-Dividend Date

20 Aug 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

2 Buy · 0 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹320

+60.8% vs CMP

Target Range

₹310 – ₹330

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD.	42.5x	21.5%
ITC LTD	16.6x	27.4%
NESTLE INDIA LIMITED	59.8x	79.9%
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD	44.1x	51.0%

Recent News

1 positive2 mixed3 general

NIIT Learning Systems (NSEI:NIITMTS) - Stock Analysis

Simply Wall Street, 16 Oct

NIIT Learning Systems Q1 Consolidated Net Profit Reaches 574M Rupees, Up YoY

Sahi, 23 JulResults

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

Why Is NIIT Learning Systems Share Price Falling Key Reasons 2026

Univest, 17 JunPrice 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.

NIIT Learning Systems to host virtual investor meet on Sep 29, 2026

scanx.trade, 29 Sept

NIIT Learning Q1 profit rises 16%, revenue jumps 25% as AI-led services gain traction

CNBC TV18, 23 JulResults

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

NIIT Learning Systems Ltd leads losers in 'A' group

Business Standard, 13 May

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

StrongFinancial Health · Growth · Valuation

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Profitability · Risk

Points for each in the Score ↑

Attractive on both counts

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework exists to look for. The work left is qualitative: whether the advantage the numbers imply is one you can identify and expect to last. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

All 5 tripwires holding · see Key things to watch ↑