Pricol Limited

Consumer Cyclical — Auto Parts · NSE

₹673.00+₹6.10 (+0.91%)

DalalBaazaar Score

68 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

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, 6:59 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Pricol Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells instrument clusters and other allied automobile components to original equipment manufacturers and replacement markets in India and internationally.

IndustryAuto Parts

SectorConsumer Cyclical

Employees1,758

Annual revenue₹3,964 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹3,964 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹6 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹12 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 1,758 employees supports ₹2.25 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹2.25 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are BOSCH LIMITED, MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD., TVS MOTOR COMPANY LTD, EICHER MOTORS 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 25.7%. Returns that high normally get competed away; when they persist, something is protecting them, and its ROE of 20.0% against a peer median of 23.0% is consistent with that. What that something is — brand, scale, switching costs, regulation — the accounts cannot tell you.

Peer median ROE23.0%

What is the outlook?

2 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 17.5% and earnings to grow about 26.2% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+17.5%

Est. earnings growth+26.2%

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 +108% 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+108%

Margin effect-3%

DalalBaazaar Score

68/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Beta of -0.10 — historically steadier than the index
✗ Small Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ Negative free cash flow means dependence on external funding

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

73/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

68/ 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

30.6x

3Y Median

39.4x

40 monthly readings · mean 40.0x · range 32.1x–50.9x

Sector Median

45.7x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 22% below its 3y median of 39.4x. 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 33% below the peer median of 45.7x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

39.4x median over 40 months · -22%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

45.7x median of 4 peers · -33%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

17.7x

PEG

1.17

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 20.5% to 25.7%.
High return on capital employed
ROCE of 25.7% is the mark of a business that converts capital into profit efficiently.
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 · 1 high · 1 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 244% over 3 years, from ₹110 Cr to ₹379 Cr.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹42 Cr in the latest year.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 25.7% 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.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 22% 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 33% 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 21% a year✓ 27.7% CAGR
Latest reported year was 23.5%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 10%✓ 12.1%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹42 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 23%✓ 25.7%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

9 / 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 · 3 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹8,203 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

30.6x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

6.54x

Rich

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

EPS (TTM)

₹21.97

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

20.0%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

25.7%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.30x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

23.5%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

34.5%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.59%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹42 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

22.3x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

8.4%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

6.3%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.21

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

-0.10

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

52%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

713.7 / 748.6

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

20.2

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹1,903 Cr	₹2,208 Cr	₹2,621 Cr	₹3,964 Cr	+27.7%
EBITDA	₹234 Cr	₹291 Cr	₹327 Cr	₹479 Cr	+27.0%
EBITDA Margin	12.3%	13.2%	12.5%	12.1%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹125 Cr	₹141 Cr	₹167 Cr	₹251 Cr	+26.2%
EPS	₹10.23	₹11.54	₹13.7	₹20.57	+26.2%
ROE	17.7%	16.6%	16.4%	20.0%	—
ROCE	20.5%	22.4%	21.0%	25.7%	—
Total Debt	₹110 Cr	₹61 Cr	₹279 Cr	₹379 Cr	+50.9%
Free Cash Flow	₹78 Cr	₹111 Cr	₹7 Cr	-₹42 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 27.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 27.0% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 12.1% over 3 years.

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 26.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 26.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 17.7% to 20.0% over 3 years (+2.3 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 20.5% to 25.7% over 3 years (+5.2 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 50.9% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹78 Cr to -₹42 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹2,475 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹1,220 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹118 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹281 Cr

Capex

-₹323 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

24.0%

Insider Holding

39.6%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹4

Ex-Dividend Date

14 Nov 2025

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

2 Buy · 0 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹820

+21.8% vs CMP

Target Range

₹800 – ₹840

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
BOSCH LIMITED	56.9x	15.9%
MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD.	25.2x	13.4%
TVS MOTOR COMPANY LTD	56.8x	35.8%
EICHER MOTORS LTD	34.7x	23.0%

Recent News

1 positive2 mixed3 general

Stocks to Buy: Expert Picks That Could Deliver Returns of Up to 27%; Pricol, Redington and More | Target Price

Goodreturns, 13 OctAnalyst view

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

Earnings Update: Here's Why Analysts Just Lifted Their Pricol Limited (NSE:PRICOLLTD) Price Target To ₹835

Simply Wall Street, 03 AugAnalyst view

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

Pricol Ltd. Share Price Hits New 52-Week High: Analysis

Univest, 18 Aug

Pricol demerger: Board approves plan to carve out key business into Pricol Autotech; here's what investors will get

Upstox, 28 Jun

Axis Direct initiates coverage on Pricol with Buy rating. Check target price

The Economic Times, 07 SeptAnalyst view

🟢Potentially positiveAn analyst opinion changing, which moves the price without changing the business.

Pricol Ltd. Shareholding Pattern – Promoters, FIIs & DIIs

Value Research, 31 Aug

Watch Items

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

StrongBusiness Quality · Growth · Profitability

MiddlingFinancial Health · Valuation · 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.

1 of 5 tripwires tripped — Free cash flow remains positive · see Key things to watch ↑