Star Imaging and Path Lab Limited

Healthcare — Diagnostics & Research · BSE

₹78.00+₹0.34 (+0.44%)

DalalBaazaar Score

78 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

ATTRACTIVE

Risk

Low

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

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, 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, 6:08 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 Star Imaging and Path Lab Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Star Imaging and Path Lab Limited operate as a diagnostic testing network and provides diagnostic imaging services and clinical laboratory tests in India.

IndustryDiagnostics & Research

SectorHealthcare

Employees236

Annual revenue₹89 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹89 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹22 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹39 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 236 employees supports ₹37.5 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

EBITDA margin38.6%

Net margin21.8%

Revenue / employee₹37.5 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are SUN PHARMACEUTICAL IND L, CIPLA LTD, DR. REDDY S LABORATORIES, APOLLO HOSPITALS ENTER. L. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

SUN PHARMACEUTICAL IND LP/E 34.9x · ROE 14.5%

CIPLA LTDP/E 31.8x · ROE 9.8%

DR. REDDY S LABORATORIESP/E 31.0x · ROE 8.8%

APOLLO HOSPITALS ENTER. LP/E 54.3x · ROE 22.0%

What is its competitive advantage?Some evidence

ROCE of 22.6% is above what capital typically costs, which suggests some pricing power, though not yet the sustained, wide gap that marks a durable advantage.

ROCE22.6%

ROE23.5%

Peer median ROE14.5%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +51% while net margin moved +2108% 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+51%

Margin effect+2108%

DalalBaazaar Score

78/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Micro Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ Profits have swung sharply from year to year — earnings are hard to forecast

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

83/ 100

Excellent

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 good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework is built to look for.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

7.1x

1.3Y Median

9.3x

16 monthly readings · mean 10.1x · range 5.1x–15.8x

Sector Median

33.3x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 24% below its 1.3y median of 9.3x. 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 79% below the peer median of 33.3x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

9.3x median over 16 months · -24%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

33.3x median of 4 peers · -79%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

P/E (Trailing)

7.1x

P/B

1.17x

EV/EBITDA

3.1x

PEG

0.03

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well9

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 10.2% to 38.6% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 22% over 3 years.
Cash flow has turned positive
Free cash flow moved from negative to positive over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 3.1% to 16.6%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 7.4% to 22.6%.
High return on capital employed
ROCE of 22.6% is the mark of a business that converts capital into profit efficiently.
Valuation below its historical average
At 7.1x the stock trades 24% below its own median of 9.3x.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.18x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention1

Receivables growing faster than sales
Receivables are up 184% against revenue growth of 51% — customers are taking longer to pay.

Red Flags

1 item require attention · 1 high

🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 184% against revenue up 51% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 22.6% 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.
Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 10.2% to 38.6%. 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 22% 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 24% 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 79% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 184% against revenue up 51%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
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

1Revenue growth stays above 11% a year✓ 14.7% CAGR
Latest reported year was 5.9%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 37%✓ 38.6%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹13 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.6x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 20%✓ 22.6%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

10 / 11 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
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

8 good · 3 neutral · 0 weak

Market Cap

₹136 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

7.1x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.17x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹11.05

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

23.5%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

22.6%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.18x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

5.9%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

82.5%

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

₹9 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹78

ROA

13.5%

Good

Assets are working hard

Operating Margin

29.6%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

21.8%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

4.00

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

52W Range Position

30%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

76.3 / 83.0

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

51.1

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹59 Cr	₹80 Cr	₹84 Cr	₹89 Cr	+14.7%
EBITDA	₹6 Cr	₹23 Cr	₹29 Cr	₹34 Cr	+78.9%
EBITDA Margin	10.2%	28.2%	34.6%	38.6%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹1 Cr	₹12 Cr	₹16 Cr	₹19 Cr	+221.7%
EPS	₹0.33	₹7.13	₹9.14	—	—
ROE	3.1%	39.6%	33.8%	16.6%	—
ROCE	7.4%	37.4%	37.4%	22.6%	—
Total Debt	₹27 Cr	₹31 Cr	₹33 Cr	₹21 Cr	-8.0%
Free Cash Flow	-₹2 Cr	₹10 Cr	-₹7 Cr	₹13 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 14.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 78.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 10.2% to 38.6% over 3 years (+28.4 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 221.7% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 3.1% to 16.6% over 3 years (+13.5 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 7.4% to 22.6% over 3 years (+15.2 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 8.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has turned positive, from -₹2 Cr to ₹13 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹154 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹37 Cr

Total Debt

₹21 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹52 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹23 Cr

Capex

-₹10 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

3.8%

Insider Holding

76.5%

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
SUN PHARMACEUTICAL IND L	34.9x	14.5%
CIPLA LTD	31.8x	9.8%
DR. REDDY S LABORATORIES	31.0x	8.8%
APOLLO HOSPITALS ENTER. L	54.3x	22.0%

Recent News

1 mixed5 general

Star Imaging and Path Lab secures MCD empanelment for diagnostics

scanx.trade, 12 Oct

Star Imaging and Path Lab (STARIMAGIN) Share Price Falls 8.40% Today

Univest, 17 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.

Star Imaging and Path Lab Ltd Peer Comparison – Compare with Others

Value Research, 01 Sept

HANNAH JOSEPH HOSPITAL LTD. Stock/Share price , NSE/BSE Forecast News and Live Quotes

Equitymaster, 16 Oct

STAR IMAGING AND PATH LAB LIMI Share Price

Upstox, 05 May

Star Imaging and Path Lab Ltd Key Financial Ratios – Valuation, Profitability & More

Value Research, 04 Sept

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟢Business QualityStrong17.9/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong17.6/20

🟢GrowthStrong13.3/20

🟢ProfitabilityStrong13.5/15

🟢ValuationAttractive13.2/15

🔴RiskHigh2.3/10

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.

This thesis breaks if

✓Revenue growth stays above 11% a year14.7% CAGR
✓EBITDA margin holds above 37%38.6%
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹13 Cr
✓Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x0.6x
✓ROCE stays above 20%22.6%