Toh, JK Lakshmi Cement ne Q3FY26 mein ₹870 ke aas paas trading karte hue 6.1% ka standalone revenue growth dikhaya hai, jo ki kaafi achha hai. Iska main reason hai sales volume mein 8.2% ki tezi, jisne volume ko 3.3 million tonnes tak pahuncha diya. Yeh sabse bada driver hai, matlab market mein demand toh hai.
Par, yeh achhi khabar sirf yahan tak thi. Company ki per tonne realization 2% gir gayi. Iska main reason management ne bataya hai ki non-trade sales ka share badh gaya hai. Ab 51% sales non-trade channel se ho rahe hain, jo pehle 47% the. Matlab, company market share ke liye price kam karne ko taiyar hai.
Achi baat yeh hai ki operational efficiencies ne thoda support kiya hai. Total cost per tonne 4.3% kam ho gaya hai, kyunki employee expenses, power & fuel, aur transport mein savings hui hain.
Ab baat karte hain bade plans ki. Company FY28 tak apni capacity ko 18 mtpa se badhakar 22.6 mtpa karne wali hai. Is bade expansion ke liye lagbhag ₹3,000 crore lagane honge. Aur iska 70% funding toh debt se hone wala hai. Analysts ka kehna hai ki yeh debt-funded expansion future mein thoda pressure bana sakta hai agar earnings mein thoda dip aaya toh.
Analysts ka mood abhi bhi positive lag raha hai. Unhone 'Buy' rating maintain ki hai aur target price ₹930 set kiya hai. Stock abhi ₹15,000 crore ke market cap par hai. Valuation ki baat karein toh FY26 estimates ke liye EV/EBITDA 7.6x chal raha hai. Competitors ko dekhein toh Ambuja Cement ka P/E ~25x, UltraTech Cement ka ~30x, aur Shree Cement ka ~28x hai. Sector overall infrastructure aur housing demand se chal raha hai, lekin pricing power regions ke hisab se change hoti rehti hai.