SpiceJet Limited

Industrials — Airlines · BSE

₹8.57−₹0.04 (−0.46%)

DalalBaazaar Score

16 / 100

🔴 Poor

Verdict

HIGH RISK

Risk

Very High

Driven by negative shareholders' equity — the company owes more than it owns, short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets, negative free cash flow.

In simple words: The company owes more than it owns — years of losses have wiped out its net worth, with both sales and profits growing well. Solvency — whether it can keep funding itself at all — is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:02 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

SpiceJet Limited engages in the provision of air transportation services. The company operates through Air Transport, and Freighter and Logistics Services segments. It offers passengers and cargo air transportation services under the SpiceJet brand name.

IndustryAirlines

SectorIndustrials

Employees4,894

Annual revenue₹5,074 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹5,074 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹1 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹18 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 4,894 employees supports ₹1.04 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹1.04 Cr

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 the outlook?

2 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 8.6% and earnings to grow about 15.7% in the year to 2027. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+8.6%

Est. earnings growth+15.7%

Analysts2

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved -21% while net margin moved -105% 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-21%

Margin effect-105%

DalalBaazaar Score

16/ 100

Poor

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Shareholders' equity is negative — accumulated losses exceed the capital in the business

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

15/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

30/ 100

Expensive

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

Weak on business quality and not cheap enough to compensate.

vs. its own history

Not enough price and earnings history

vs. sector peers

Not enough peers with a usable P/E

vs. generic bands

N/A

Multiples unreliable — equity base is negative

EV/EBITDA

5.9x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from -11.8% to 18.2% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 49% over 3 years.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

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

Red Flags

6 items require attention · 3 high · 3 watch

🔴Negative shareholders' equityFinancial
Liabilities exceed assets — accumulated losses have wiped out the company's net worth.
🔴Thin interest coverageFinancial
Operating profit covers interest only 1.3x — little room if earnings dip.
🔴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.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹1,770 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Shareholders have been dilutedOwnership
Shares outstanding are up 135% over 3 years — each existing share owns a smaller slice of the company.
🟡Short-term liquidity is tightFinancial
Current ratio of 0.41 — 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 -11.8% to 18.2%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 49% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Solvency comes before everything else
Liabilities exceed assets. Until net worth is rebuilt, the equity is a claim on a business that owes more than it owns, and further losses or a funding squeeze can leave shareholders with nothing.
The debt load needs earnings to hold up
Debt is 4.6x EBITDA. At that level a downturn in earnings turns a manageable balance sheet into a refinancing problem, and lenders get paid before shareholders.
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.
Several serious flags at once
3 high-severity checks triggered. Individually each has an explanation; together they raise the chance that something structural is wrong rather than a one-off.

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

1EBITDA margin holds above 16%✓ 18.2%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x✗ 4.6x
Already stretched, so this is a reduction target rather than a level to hold. Around 3x is where lenders typically start attaching conditions.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹1,770 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Interest cover stays above 3x✗ 1.3x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.

Investment Checklist

4 / 10 checks passed

✗ Shareholders' equity is positive (assets exceed liabilities)
✗ Healthy net margin (≥ 10%)
✗ Generates positive free cash flow
✗ 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

2 good · 4 neutral · 5 weak

Market Cap

₹1,308 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

Not meaningful

Loss-making

Earnings are negative, so a P/E multiple can't be read here

P/B Ratio

Not available

No data

Source didn't return this field

EPS (TTM)

₹-4.34

Loss-making

Negative earnings per share — the business is losing money

ROE

Not meaningful

Negative equity

Return on equity can't be read when equity itself is negative

ROCE

Not available

No data

Source didn't return this field

Debt/Equity

Not meaningful

Negative equity

Shareholders' equity is negative, so this ratio can't be read

Revenue Growth (YoY)

13.8%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

114.8%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

None

No dividend yield reported — usually means no payout, but verify if one was recently initiated

Free Cash Flow

-₹1,770 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

-0.9x

Operating Margin

-19.5%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

-16.2%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

0.41

Tight

Tight short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.63

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

9.2 / 9.9

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

10.5

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹6,410 Cr	₹8,572 Cr	₹6,779 Cr	₹5,074 Cr	-7.5%
EBITDA	-₹758 Cr	-₹245 Cr	₹495 Cr	₹923 Cr	—
EBITDA Margin	-11.8%	-2.9%	7.3%	18.2%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹1,744 Cr	-₹1,513 Cr	-₹423 Cr	₹63 Cr	—
EPS	₹-29	₹-25.13	₹-6.37	₹0.6	—
Total Debt	₹8,332 Cr	₹7,349 Cr	₹5,379 Cr	₹4,218 Cr	-20.3%
Free Cash Flow	₹967 Cr	₹98 Cr	-₹654 Cr	-₹1,770 Cr	—

🔴 Revenue has shrunk at 7.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has turned positive, from -₹758 Cr to ₹923 Cr.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from -11.8% to 18.2% over 3 years (+30.0 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has turned positive, from -₹1,744 Cr to ₹63 Cr.

🟢 EPS has turned positive, from ₹-29 to ₹0.6.

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 20.3% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹967 Cr to -₹1,770 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2025

Total Assets

₹6,594 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹8,539 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹39 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹1,689 Cr

Capex

-₹81 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

3.3%

Insider Holding

27.0%

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

0 Buy · 1 Hold · 1 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹13.48

+57.2% vs CMP

Target Range

₹5.95 – ₹21

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

1 mixed5 general

SpiceJet Ltd. Shareholding Pattern – Promoters, FIIs & DIIs

Value Research, 04 Sept

IndiGo, SpiceJet shares drop amid ATF price hike; why aviation sector outlook looks cautious

Upstox, 01 SeptPrice 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.

SpiceJet Shares Trade Under Pressure as Flight Delays Worsen for May

HDFC Sky, 16 Jul

Government, DGCA closely monitoring SpiceJet’s finances, operations: Civil Aviation Minister Naidu

ET Infra, 11 Sept

SpiceJet shares hit 10% upper circuit on adding 3 Airbus A320 aircraft

Business Standard, 23 Jul

DGCA carrying out SpiceJet scrutiny amid flight delays, salary woes — ‘Don't want lapse in safety’

Livemint, 23 Sept

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.
2 metrics couldn't be retrieved for this stock — this is more common for smaller or thinly-covered listings.
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

WeakBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Growth · Profitability · Valuation · Risk

Points for each in the Score ↑

Avoid until solvency is resolved

SpiceJet Limited owes more than it owns. Whatever the operating numbers show, the equity is a residual claim on a business with negative net worth, and that question has to be settled before any of the rest is worth weighing. 3 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

3 of 4 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA falls below 3x; Free cash flow remains positive; Interest cover stays above 3x · see Key things to watch ↑