Reliance Industries Limited

Energy — Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing · NSE

₹1,211.20−₹3.80 (−0.31%)

DalalBaazaar Score

57 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Low

Driven by falling profits.

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, though profits are falling even as sales grow. The direction of profits is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:00 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Reliance Industries Limited engages in hydrocarbon exploration and production, petroleum refining and marketing, petrochemicals, advanced materials and composites, renewable, financial services, retail, and digital services worldwide.

IndustryOil & Gas Refining & Marketing

SectorEnergy

Employees4,19,911

Annual revenue₹10.57 L Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹10.57 L Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹8 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹19 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 4,19,911 employees supports ₹2.52 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹2.52 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are OIL AND NATURAL GAS CORP., BHARAT PETROLEUM CORP LT, INDIAN OIL CORP 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 9.0% 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 ROE15.4%

What is the outlook?

26 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 93.7% and earnings to grow about 11.2% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+93.7%

Est. earnings growth+11.2%

Analysts26

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 +20% while net margin moved +1% 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+20%

Margin effect+1%

DalalBaazaar Score

57/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 6.4% — barely ahead of inflation
✗ Profit CAGR of only 6.6%
✗ Profit fell 22.4% in the latest year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

52/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

45/ 100

Fair

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

21.9x

3Y Median

26.5x

40 monthly readings · mean 26.4x · range 19.9x–31.8x

Sector Median

6.4x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 17% below its 3y median of 26.5x. 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 242% above the peer median of 6.4x.

vs. its own history

Fair

26.5x median over 40 months · -17%

vs. sector peers

Expensive

6.4x median of 3 peers · +242%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

9.4x

PEG

3.33

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Cash flow has turned positive
Free cash flow moved from negative to positive 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

1 item require attention · 1 high

🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 106% against revenue up 20% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Self-funding with balance-sheet headroom
Positive free cash flow of ₹69,197 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?

Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 106% against revenue up 20%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
A premium to the sector to defend
It trades 242% above the peer median. That premium needs a reason that persists, or it closes.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 6.4% 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 17%✓ 19.1%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Revenue growth stays above 5% a year✓ 6.4% CAGR
Latest reported year was 29.7%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹69,197 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 2.0x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 8%✓ 9.0%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

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

5 good · 5 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹16.39 L Cr

Large Cap

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

P/E (Trailing)

21.9x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.81x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹55.22

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

8.9%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

9.0%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.46x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

29.7%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-22.4%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

0.50%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹69,197 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

17.0x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

12.3%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

6.6%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.10

Adequate

Adequate, but no real cushion

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.19

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

13%

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

1201.4 / 1260.5

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

46.9

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹8.78 L Cr	₹9.01 L Cr	₹9.65 L Cr	₹10.57 L Cr	+6.4%
EBITDA	₹1.55 L Cr	₹1.75 L Cr	₹1.80 L Cr	₹2.02 L Cr	+9.3%
EBITDA Margin	17.6%	19.5%	18.6%	19.1%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹66,702 Cr	₹69,621 Cr	₹69,648 Cr	₹80,775 Cr	+6.6%
EPS	₹49.3	₹51.45	₹51.47	₹59.69	+6.6%
ROE	9.3%	8.8%	8.3%	8.9%	—
ROCE	9.3%	9.3%	8.6%	9.0%	—
Total Debt	₹3.34 L Cr	₹3.46 L Cr	₹3.70 L Cr	₹3.98 L Cr	+6.0%
Free Cash Flow	-₹25,956 Cr	₹5,905 Cr	₹38,736 Cr	₹69,197 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 6.4% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 9.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 17.6% to 19.1% over 3 years (+1.5 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 6.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 6.6% a year over 3 years.

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

🟡 ROCE has held roughly flat at 9.0% over 3 years.

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 6.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has turned positive, from -₹25,956 Cr to ₹69,197 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹21.78 L Cr

Total Liabilities

₹10.92 L Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹1.37 L Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹1.92 L Cr

Capex

-₹1.23 L Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

28.2%

Insider Holding

51.8%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

21 Oct 2026

Dividend Rate

₹6

Ex-Dividend Date

05 Jun 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

24 Buy · 0 Hold · 1 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹1,666

+37.5% vs CMP

Target Range

₹1,350 – ₹1,890

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
OIL AND NATURAL GAS CORP.	6.4x	11.7%
BHARAT PETROLEUM CORP LT	7.3x	17.1%
INDIAN OIL CORP LTD	5.3x	15.4%

Recent News

3 mixed3 general

India's Reliance, Airtel rally as Jio Platforms IPO recasts valuations

Reuters, 15 Oct

Jio IPO impact bubble over? Reliance shares down 2.5% after rising 5% in 3 days; should you buy Mukesh Ambani stock?

Livemint, 16 OctPrice 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.

Reliance Industries shares rally 3% as Jio IPO details emerge: What is value unlocking and how will investors benefit?

Upstox, 15 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.

Jio listing could trigger 47% upside in Reliance Industries stock, says Religare

Moneycontrol.com, 14 Oct

Reliance Industries Share Price Falls 2.5% Before Jio Issue

Univest, 16 OctPrice 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.

Reliance Industries shares climb 3% as Jio Platforms sets IPO price band

BusinessLine, 16 Oct

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongFinancial Health · Risk

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Valuation

WeakGrowth · Profitability

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 ↑