Whalesbook
Toh hua kya ki, Himadri Specialty Chemical ne FY26 ke Q4 mein 28.3% YoY ka gross profit badhaya. Haan, thoda forex loss (₹0.4 billion ka) impact kar gaya EBITDA ko, par company ki overall revenue bhi achhi rahi - quarter mein ₹12,877.6 million aur poore saal mein ₹46,607 million. Management ko lagta hai ki FY27 mein naye specialty carbon black plant ka full fayda milega. Aur bhi plans hain, FY27 ke Q3 mein naya chemical plant aur battery materials mein FY28 se entry ki tayyari hai. Financial side par bhi company strong hui hai, March 2026 tak ₹1.21 billion net cash ho gaya hai, future ke liye flexibility mil gayi.
Ab yahan aata hai twist. Itne acche numbers aur expansion plans ke baad bhi, analysts thoda cautious hain. Mostly 'HOLD' rating de rahe hain. ICICI Securities ne toh target ₹550 kar diya hai, jo pehle ₹470 tha. Lekin, baaki analysts ka consensus target lagbhag ₹470 ke aas-paas hai, matlab current market price se thoda niche. Company ka TTM P/E ratio 37x se bhi upar hai, jo Cabot Corporation (~13.25x) ya Reliance Industries (~22-24x) jaise competitors ke comparison mein kaafi high hai. Iska matlab hai ki future ka growth toh stock mein pehle se hi priced in hai, shayad zyada upside abhi na dikhe.
Aur kya risks hain? Dekho, operating profit margins thode kam hue hain Q4 mein (18.77% se gir kar 20.56% se). Interest ka kharcha bhi lagbhag double ho gaya hai (₹17.39 crore quarter mein), jisse interest coverage ratio par bhi asar pada hai. Analysts ko yeh bhi tension hai ki company apni ambitious expansion plans ke liye debt par rely kar rahi hai, agar profit kam hua toh yeh risk badh sakta hai. Aur upar se, global situation, jaise Middle East crisis, ne bhi uncertainty badha di hai. Naphtha, ethylene, benzene jaise raw materials ke daam badh gaye hain, aur freight/insurance bhi mehenga ho gaya hai. Forex loss (₹0.4 billion) toh iska tangible proof hai.
Par haan, ek taraf valuation aur risks hain, toh doosri taraf company ki position bhi strong hai specialty chemicals market mein, jo India mein badhne wala hai. Himadri apna specialty carbon black capacity 250,000 MTPA tak le ja raha hai, jo duniya ki sabse badi single-location facility banegi. Yeh battery, plastics, aur conductive materials ke liye hai. Battery materials mein bhi entry hai, anode production plant chal raha hai aur FY28 se LFP cathode material project plans mein hai. India mein coal tar pitch mein toh ye leader hain hi, naphthalene aur SNF mein bhi main player hain. Pichhle ek saal mein stock ne 26.21% ka return bhi diya hai. Toh growth prospects toh achhe hain, bas abhi analysts valuation ko lekar thoda soch-vichaar kar rahe hain.