Worth Peripherals Limited

Consumer Cyclical — Packaging & Containers · NSE

₹169.00+₹15.97 (+10.44%)

DalalBaazaar Score

44 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

Moderate

Driven by negative free cash flow, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, with modest growth. Cash generation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:01 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Worth Peripherals Limited manufactures and sells corrugated boxes in India. The company provides regular slotted containers; die cut corrugated boxes/trays; multi-color corrugated boxes; and Z sleeve and I/honeycomb partitions.

IndustryPackaging & Containers

SectorConsumer Cyclical

Employees146

Annual revenue₹302 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹302 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹5 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹12 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 146 employees supports ₹2.07 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹2.07 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD., TITAN COMPANY LIMITED, TRENT LTD, AVENUE SUPERMARTS 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?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 12.0% 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 ROE25.9%

What has been driving growth?

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

Margin effect-21%

DalalBaazaar Score

44/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 0.9% — barely ahead of inflation
✗ Profit has declined at 6.8% a year

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

40/ 100

Weak

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

Valuation

64/ 100

Fair

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

Weak on business quality and not cheap enough to compensate.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

17.3x

3Y Median

14.0x

40 monthly readings · mean 13.4x · range 8.8x–18.2x

Sector Median

69.2x

median of 4 sector peers

⚠️Current valuation is approximately 24% above its 3y median of 14.0x. Paying more than usual needs a reason — faster growth, a better balance sheet, or a re-rating you believe in.

🟢Against its sector it trades 75% below the peer median of 69.2x.

vs. its own history

Expensive

14.0x median over 40 months · +24%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

69.2x median of 4 peers · -75%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

8.4x

PEG

0.80

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.20x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 12.6% to 7.8% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 18.0% to 12.0% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

2 items require attention · 1 high · 1 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 1062% over 3 years, from ₹4 Cr to ₹42 Cr.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹52 Cr in the latest year.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Cheaper than its peers
It trades 75% 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?

The price already assumes success
The stock trades 24% above its own median multiple. At this level the business has to deliver just to stand still, and a stumble is repriced twice — lower earnings on a lower multiple.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 0.9% 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 12.6% to 7.8%. 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 10%✓ 12.0%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹52 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
3Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 0.9% CAGR
Latest reported year was 7.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 1.1x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 9%✓ 12.0%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

5 / 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

4 good · 5 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹266 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

17.3x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.41x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹9.76

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

7.8%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

12.0%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.20x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

7.6%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

21.6%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.59%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹52 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

Operating Margin

9.8%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

4.9%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

2.84

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.07

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

91%

Near high

Near its 52-week high

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

148.9 / 151.9

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

69.0

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹295 Cr	₹237 Cr	₹274 Cr	₹302 Cr	+0.9%
EBITDA	₹36 Cr	₹30 Cr	₹32 Cr	₹36 Cr	-0.1%
EBITDA Margin	12.3%	12.5%	11.9%	12.0%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹18 Cr	₹16 Cr	₹15 Cr	₹15 Cr	-6.8%
EPS	₹11.47	₹10.08	₹9.8	₹9.29	-6.8%
ROE	12.6%	10.0%	8.9%	7.8%	—
ROCE	18.0%	12.3%	12.6%	12.0%	—
Total Debt	₹4 Cr	₹10 Cr	₹20 Cr	₹42 Cr	+126.5%
Free Cash Flow	₹26 Cr	-₹3 Cr	₹16 Cr	-₹52 Cr	—

🟡 Revenue has been broadly flat over 3 years (0.9% a year).

🟡 EBITDA has been broadly flat over 3 years (-0.1% a year).

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 12.0% over 3 years.

🔴 PAT (Net Profit) has shrunk at 6.8% a year over 3 years.

🔴 EPS has shrunk at 6.8% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 12.6% to 7.8% over 3 years (-4.8 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 18.0% to 12.0% over 3 years (-6.0 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 126.5% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹26 Cr to -₹52 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹278 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹73 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹3 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹30 Cr

Capex

-₹82 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

1.3%

Insider Holding

73.2%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹1

Ex-Dividend Date

09 Sept 2026

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD.	25.2x	13.4%
TITAN COMPANY LIMITED	68.5x	36.7%
TRENT LTD	87.2x	25.9%
AVENUE SUPERMARTS LIMITED	69.9x	12.7%

Recent News

1 positive1 mixed4 general

Worth Peripherals vs Nifty 50: 1Y Return -2.84% vs -11.35%

Univest, 13 Oct

Worth Peripherals (WORTHPERI) Share/Stock Price Live, NSE

TechGraph, 08 Oct

Compare SUPERIOR VAN with

Equitymaster, 08 Oct

Worth Peripherals publishes Q1FY27 results in newspapers

scanx.trade, 04 AugResults

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

Worth Peripherals Ltd. Key Financial Ratios – Valuation, Profitability & More

Value Research, 01 Sept

Worth Peripherals recommends ₹1 per share final dividend for FY26

scanx.trade, 20 AugCapital return

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

Watch Items

Trading very close to its 52-week high — momentum-driven entries here carry more mean-reversion risk.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongFinancial Health

MiddlingValuation · Risk

WeakBusiness Quality · Growth · Profitability

Points for each in the Score ↑

Weak on the fundamentals

Poor scores on business quality without a price low enough to compensate. There is no obvious argument for owning this over a stronger company at a similar valuation. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

2 of 5 tripwires tripped — Free cash flow remains positive; Revenue growth stays above 4% a year · see Key things to watch ↑