NTPC Limited

Utilities — Utilities - Regulated Electric · NSE

₹315.15+₹0.50 (+0.16%)

DalalBaazaar Score

66 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Moderate

Driven by moderate debt load, short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets.

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, with modest growth. Short-term liquidity is 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 NTPC Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

NTPC Limited operates as an integrated power company in India and Mauritius. It operates through two segments: Generation and Others. The company generates power from fossil fuels, hydro, solar, wind, nuclear, and renewable energy sources.

IndustryUtilities - Regulated Electric

SectorUtilities

Employees16,785

Annual revenue₹1.84 L Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹1.84 L Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹15 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹33 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 16,785 employees supports ₹10.96 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹10.96 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are POWER GRID CORP. LTD., TATA POWER CO LTD, ADANI POWER 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?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 8.9% are at or below what the capital likely costs. That is the financial pattern of a business competing largely on price, where advantage has to come from execution rather than position.

Peer median ROE15.8%

What is the outlook?

20 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 6.8% and earnings to grow about 7.9% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+6.8%

Est. earnings growth+7.9%

Analysts20

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +6% while net margin moved +51% 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+6%

Margin effect+51%

DalalBaazaar Score

66/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Debt/Equity of 1.28x is on the heavy side
✗ Current ratio of 0.81 — short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets
✓ Free cash flow is positive — the business funds its own capex
• Interest cover of 3.2x is adequate

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

61/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

81/ 100

Cheap

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

A reasonable business at a reasonable price — neither the quality nor the valuation stands out in either direction.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

11.0x

3Y Median

15.6x

40 monthly readings · mean 16.0x · range 11.3x–23.9x

Sector Median

26.5x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 29% below its 3y median of 15.6x. 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 58% below the peer median of 26.5x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

15.6x median over 40 months · -29%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

26.5x median of 3 peers · -58%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

9.3x

PEG

0.65

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 29.1% to 33.5% over 3 years.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

Nothing stands out as clearly deteriorating on the years of data available.

Red Flags

2 items require attention · 2 watch

🟡Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 31% against revenue up 6% — stock may not be moving.
🟡Short-term liquidity is tightFinancial
Current ratio of 0.81 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 29.1% to 33.5%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 29% 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 58% 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?

The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 4.4x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 1.9% a year is close to the rate prices rise, so the business is gaining little ground in real terms. That leaves the share price dependent on a re-rating rather than on earnings growth.

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

1EBITDA margin holds above 31%✓ 33.5%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 4.4x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
3Interest cover stays above 3x✓ 3.2x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 1.9% CAGR
Latest reported year was 7.8%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
5Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹6,852 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.

Investment Checklist

7 / 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

6 good · 5 neutral · 0 weak

Market Cap

₹3.06 L Cr

Large Cap

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

P/E (Trailing)

11.0x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.50x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹28.63

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

13.3%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

8.9%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

1.28x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

7.8%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

11.8%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

3.92%

Healthy

Meaningful cash return while you hold the stock

Free Cash Flow

₹6,852 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

11.3x

Flat

At or above the trailing multiple — no earnings uplift is being priced in

Operating Margin

21.7%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

14.5%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

0.81

Adequate

Adequate, but no real cushion

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.35

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

319.3 / 328.8

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

37.1

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹1.74 L Cr	₹1.77 L Cr	₹1.86 L Cr	₹1.84 L Cr	+1.9%
EBITDA	₹50,686 Cr	₹55,809 Cr	₹60,216 Cr	₹61,605 Cr	+6.7%
EBITDA Margin	29.1%	31.6%	32.3%	33.5%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹16,913 Cr	₹20,812 Cr	₹23,422 Cr	₹27,053 Cr	+16.9%
EPS	₹17.44	₹21.46	₹24.16	₹27.9	+17.0%
ROE	11.5%	13.0%	12.7%	13.3%	—
ROCE	9.8%	10.4%	9.8%	8.9%	—
Total Debt	₹2.23 L Cr	₹2.37 L Cr	₹2.50 L Cr	₹2.71 L Cr	+6.7%
Free Cash Flow	₹22,333 Cr	₹9,283 Cr	₹9,153 Cr	₹6,852 Cr	-32.6%

🟡 Revenue has been broadly flat over 3 years (1.9% a year).

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 6.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 29.1% to 33.5% over 3 years (+4.4 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 16.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 17.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 11.5% to 13.3% over 3 years (+1.8 pts).

🟡 ROCE has held roughly flat at 8.9% over 3 years.

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 6.7% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has shrunk at 32.6% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹5.59 L Cr

Total Liabilities

₹3.47 L Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹3,422 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹50,902 Cr

Capex

-₹44,050 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

34.9%

Insider Holding

54.0%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

29 Oct 2026

Dividend Rate

₹12.35

Ex-Dividend Date

02 Sept 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

27 Buy · 1 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹425.82

+35.1% vs CMP

Target Range

₹355 – ₹485

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
POWER GRID CORP. LTD.	14.6x	15.8%
TATA POWER CO LTD	29.3x	9.8%
ADANI POWER LTD	26.5x	21.9%

Recent News

2 positive1 mixed3 general

Energy stocks dividend leaderboard: Power Grid, NTPC, SJVN, NHPC or IREDA - Which power stock beats the rest on yield?

Livemint, 18 OctCapital return

🟢Potentially positiveCash or shares returned to holders. A buyback is only good value if the shares were cheap when bought.

NTPC Share Price Weakens | Sector Comparison and Ratios

Univest, 12 Oct

Suzlon Energy vs Inox Wind vs NTPC vs CESC vs Tata Power: Best Expert Pick In Power Utility Segment Revealed!

Goodreturns, 15 Oct

NTPC Green Energy share price target Oct 12: Key Stocks Eye Bullish Move

Alice Blue, 12 OctAnalyst view

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

NTPC Share Price Near 52-Week Low; Sector and Peer View

Univest, 13 Oct

NTPC dividend 2026: Last day to buy alert! Check amount per share and payment date

Livemint, 01 SeptCapital return

🟢Potentially positiveCash or shares returned to holders. A buyback is only good value if the shares were cheap when bought.

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

StrongGrowth · Profitability · Valuation · Risk

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Financial Health

Points for each in the Score ↑

Unremarkable in both directions

A reasonable business at a reasonable price. Nothing here is alarming and nothing is compelling, which usually means the decision rests on things this data cannot see — the industry's direction, management's intent, and what else is available to you.

2 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x; Revenue growth stays above 4% a year · see Key things to watch ↑