Route Mobile Limited

Communication Services — Telecom Services · NSE

₹446.00+₹8.05 (+1.84%)

DalalBaazaar Score

55 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Moderate

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

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, with modest growth. 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, 6:09 pm

Constructive picture on fundamentals. Profitability, leverage and growth metrics are broadly healthy on this snapshot. That said, valuation should still be checked against direct sector peers (not just the generic P/E bands used here) before treating this as a buy signal.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Route Mobile Limited provides cloud-communication platform solutions to enterprises, over-the-top service providers, and mobile network operators in India and internationally.

IndustryTelecom Services

SectorCommunication Services

Employees497

Annual revenue₹4,408 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹4,408 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹5 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹14 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 497 employees supports ₹8.87 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin13.6%

Net margin5.4%

Revenue / employee₹8.87 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITED, VODAFONE IDEA LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITEDP/E 39.8x · ROE 20.2%

VODAFONE IDEA LIMITEDP/E 3.6x · ROE —

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 12.5% 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.

ROCE12.5%

ROE8.6%

Peer median ROE20.2%

What is the outlook?

3 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 6.3% and earnings to grow about 21.7% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+6.3%

Est. earnings growth+21.7%

Analysts3

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +24% while net margin moved -41% 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+24%

Margin effect-41%

DalalBaazaar Score

55/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 7.3% — barely ahead of inflation
✗ Profit has declined at 9.9% a year
✗ Profit is compounding slower than revenue — margins are being squeezed as the business grows

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

48/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

88/ 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

11.3x

3Y Median

16.7x

40 monthly readings · mean 20.1x · range 8.2x–34.9x

Sector Median

21.7x

median of 2 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 32% below its 3y median of 16.7x. 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 48% below the peer median of 21.7x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

16.7x median over 40 months · -32%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

21.7x median of 2 peers · -48%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

P/E (Trailing)

11.3x

P/B

1.01x

EV/EBITDA

3.3x

PEG

0.64

Dividend Yield

1.79%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well4

Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 70% over 3 years.
Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 1478% over 3 years.
Valuation below its historical average
At 11.3x the stock trades 32% below its own median of 16.7x.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 18.0% to 8.6% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 19.0% to 12.5% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

1 item require attention · 1 watch

🟡Profit is decliningFinancial
Net profit is down 27% over 3 years.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 70% 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 32% 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 48% 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?

Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 7.3% 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.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 18.0% to 8.6%. 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

1EBITDA margin holds above 12%✓ 13.6%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Revenue growth stays above 5% a year✓ 7.3% CAGR
Latest reported year was 9.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹555 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.1x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 10%✓ 12.5%
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 · 6 neutral · 0 weak

Market Cap

₹2,810 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

11.3x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.01x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹39.43

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

8.6%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

12.5%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

1.49x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

9.6%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

17.6%

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

₹555 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹446

P/E (Forward)

7.4x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

7.0%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

5.5%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

3.85

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.39

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

10%

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

444.3 / 481.7

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

42.8

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹3,569 Cr	₹4,023 Cr	₹4,576 Cr	₹4,408 Cr	+7.3%
EBITDA	₹496 Cr	₹544 Cr	₹535 Cr	₹598 Cr	+6.5%
EBITDA Margin	13.9%	13.5%	11.7%	13.6%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹327 Cr	₹375 Cr	₹319 Cr	₹239 Cr	-9.9%
EPS	₹52.29	₹59.07	₹50.69	₹37.94	-10.1%
ROE	18.0%	17.4%	13.1%	8.6%	—
ROCE	19.0%	19.8%	18.4%	12.5%	—
Total Debt	₹140 Cr	₹378 Cr	₹468 Cr	₹42 Cr	-33.1%
Free Cash Flow	₹35 Cr	-₹133 Cr	₹581 Cr	₹555 Cr	+150.8%

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

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 6.5% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 13.6% over 3 years.

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 9.9% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 10.1% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 18.0% to 8.6% over 3 years (-9.3 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 19.0% to 12.5% over 3 years (-6.5 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 33.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 150.8% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹3,556 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹735 Cr

Total Debt

₹42 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹880 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹581 Cr

Capex

-₹26 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

3.5%

Insider Holding

74.9%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹8

Ex-Dividend Date

18 Aug 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

3 Buy · 1 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹656.67

+47.2% vs CMP

Target Range

₹585 – ₹775

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITED	39.8x	20.2%
VODAFONE IDEA LIMITED	3.6x	—

Recent News

3 mixed3 general

Route Mobile Share Price near 52-week low: price, valuation

Univest, 12 Oct

Route Mobile Ltd. Key Financial Ratios – Valuation, Profitability & More

Value Research, 31 Aug

ROUTE Forecast — Price Target — Prediction for 2027

TradingView, 25 JunAnalyst view

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

Route Mobile slips after Q1 PAT slides 40% to Rs 69 crore

Business Standard, 24 JulResults

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

Compare with

Equitymaster, 17 Oct

Route Mobile's (NSE:ROUTE) Soft Earnings Don't Show The Whole Picture

Simply Wall Street, 15 MayResults

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

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

🟡Business QualityAdequate9/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong15.5/20

🔴GrowthWeak5.7/20

🔴ProfitabilityWeak5.8/15

🟢ValuationAttractive13.2/15

🟡RiskModerate6.2/10

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.

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 12%13.6%
✓Revenue growth stays above 5% a year7.3% CAGR
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹555 Cr
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x0.1x
✓ROCE stays above 10%12.5%