Quess Corp Limited

Industrials — Staffing & Employment Services · NSE

₹334.30−₹0.25 (−0.07%)

DalalBaazaar Score

55 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

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. Thin profit margins are 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 Quess Corp Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Quess Corp Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides staffing and workforce solutions in India and internationally. It operates through four segments: General Staffing, Professional Staffing, Overseas Staffing, and Digital Platforms.

IndustryStaffing & Employment Services

SectorIndustrials

Employees4,28,977

Annual revenue₹15,305 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹15,305 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹1 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹2 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 4,28,977 employees supports ₹3.6 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹3.6 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD., SIEMENS LTD, ABB INDIA 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?Some evidence

ROCE of 17.5% 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 ROE15.2%

What is the outlook?

8 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 11.0% and earnings to grow about 9.6% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+11.0%

Est. earnings growth+9.6%

Analysts8

What has been driving growth?

Sales and margins have both contributed to where profit is now. Over 3 years revenue moved -11% while net margin moved +11% 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-11%

Margin effect+11%

DalalBaazaar Score

55/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue has contracted at 3.7% a year
✗ Profit has declined at 0.4% a year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

54/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

75/ 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

19.8x

3Y Median

37.7x

40 monthly readings · mean 44.4x · range 15.8x–108.3x

Sector Median

88.8x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 47% below its 3y median of 37.7x. 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 78% below the peer median of 88.8x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

37.7x median over 40 months · -47%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

88.8x median of 3 peers · -78%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

14.3x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well5

Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 88% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 8.7% to 19.0%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 11.6% to 17.5%.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.11x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
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

1 item require attention · 1 high

🔴Profit up while operating cash flow fallsFinancial
Reported profit rose but cash generated by operations declined — worth checking whether earnings are being supported by non-cash items or working capital.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 88% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 47% 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 78% 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 ₹221 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?

Earnings are hard to forecast
Profit has swung sharply from year to year, so any single year — good or bad — is a weak guide to the next. Cyclical earnings deserve lower multiples for that reason.
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

1EBITDA margin holds above 0%✓ 2.2%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹221 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
3Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.4x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
4ROCE stays above 14%✓ 17.5%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.
5Interest cover stays above 4x✓ 5.7x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.

Investment Checklist

10 / 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 · 4 neutral · 0 weak

Market Cap

₹4,934 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

19.8x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

4.27x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹16.87

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

19.0%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

17.5%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.11x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

14.5%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

59.8%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

1.79%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹221 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

16.6x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

1.8%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

1.6%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

1.38

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.06

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

76%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

340.4 / 344.0

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

45.0

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹17,158 Cr	₹13,695 Cr	₹14,967 Cr	₹15,305 Cr	-3.7%
EBITDA	₹608 Cr	₹487 Cr	₹317 Cr	₹341 Cr	-17.5%
EBITDA Margin	3.5%	3.6%	2.1%	2.2%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹224 Cr	₹278 Cr	₹46 Cr	₹222 Cr	-0.4%
EPS	₹15.04	₹18.61	₹3.07	₹14.85	-0.4%
ROE	8.7%	9.9%	4.2%	19.0%	—
ROCE	11.6%	5.2%	5.7%	17.5%	—
Total Debt	₹1,011 Cr	₹838 Cr	₹113 Cr	₹124 Cr	-50.3%
Free Cash Flow	₹362 Cr	₹426 Cr	₹379 Cr	₹221 Cr	-15.1%

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 3.7% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA has shrunk at 17.5% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EBITDA Margin has fallen from 3.5% to 2.2% over 3 years (-1.3 pts).

🟡 PAT (Net Profit) has been broadly flat over 3 years (-0.4% a year).

🟡 EPS has been broadly flat over 3 years (-0.4% a year).

🟢 ROE has risen from 8.7% to 19.0% over 3 years (+10.3 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 11.6% to 17.5% over 3 years (+5.9 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 50.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has shrunk at 15.1% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹3,039 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹1,871 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹178 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹230 Cr

Capex

-₹9 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

13.3%

Insider Holding

68.3%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

28 Oct 2026

Dividend Rate

₹6

Ex-Dividend Date

07 Aug 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

7 Buy · 1 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹344.88

+3.2% vs CMP

Target Range

₹230 – ₹384

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.	30.1x	15.2%
SIEMENS LTD	88.8x	10.5%
ABB INDIA LIMITED	92.6x	19.1%

Recent News

2 positive1 mixed3 general

Quess Corp Q1 revenue jumps 15%

Staffing Industry Analysts, 30 JulResults

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

Quess Corp approves ₹11 dividend, outlines Quess 2.0 strategy at AGM

scanx.trade, 25 AugCapital return

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

Quess Corp Ltd. Share Price With Price and Market Cap View

Univest, 17 Aug

Earnings Release: Here's Why Analysts Cut Their Quess Corp Limited (NSE:QUESS) Price Target To ₹272

Simply Wall Street, 07 MayAnalyst view

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

Quess Corp (QUESS.NS) Steadies Near ₹340 as Stock Consolidates Below Key Resistance - Dark Pool Sentiment

https://www.siam.in/, 29 Sept

Stocks to buy for short term: Grasim, Quess Corp among 6 stocks experts recommend buying today for next 1-2 weeks

Livemint, 18 Aug

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongFinancial Health · Profitability · Valuation

MiddlingBusiness Quality

WeakGrowth · Risk

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. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

All 5 tripwires holding · see Key things to watch ↑