Altman Z″
Needs current assets and current liabilities.
TATASTEEL · Metals & Mining · INE081A01020
Analyst mean 2.41 · 34 analysts · 76% bullishA plain-language read of the business, how it actually earns, where the edge is, and the economics of every reported segment — taken from the annual report and investor presentation, not a one-line industry label.
Numbered markers are corporate actions and, once the filings are read, capital and governance events. Prices are split-adjusted so the series is continuous.
The three to six things that actually matter about this company, each with the exact filing and note it came from — never a fact without the context that makes it meaningful.
What the numbers mean when read together — computed from the filings, not a score.
Operating cash is 322% of trailing profit — the earnings are converting to real cash, not just accruals.
Why this reading: A positive signal: cash conversion at or above ~0.9 means reported profit is showing up as actual cash.
Operating cash ₹35,064 cr against trailing net profit ₹10,886 cr. Consistent conversion near or above 1.0 is a hallmark of genuine earnings.
Both revenue and profit grew over the last year (10.5% and 164.3%) — growth is translating to the bottom line.
Why this reading: A positive signal in the numbers, shown for balance alongside the concerns.
Trailing revenue ₹239,755 cr, trailing profit ₹11,263 cr. Profit growing at least as fast as revenue indicates operating leverage or pricing power.
Free cash flow is positive and consistent — the business funds itself after capex.
Why this reading: A positive signal in the numbers, shown for balance alongside the concerns.
Latest free cash flow ₹21,906 cr. Negative in only 1 of 12 years. A self-funding business needs less external capital and dilutes less.
Every score below is calculated here from the reported numbers — none of it is asserted. Open the notebook at the foot of the section to see each formula with this company's figures in it.
Needs current assets and current liabilities.
Piotroski F-Score — fundamental momentum — Joseph Piotroski, University of Chicago, 2000, in a study of whether accounting signals could improve returns among cheap stocks.
Nine yes-or-no tests across profitability, leverage and operating efficiency. Each pass scores one. It asks a narrow question: is this business getting better or worse on its own terms, year over year?
How to read it7 or more suggests improving fundamentals; 3 or fewer suggests deterioration. It measures direction, not quality — a weak company improving can score higher than a strong one holding steady.
Where it failsA single year of comparison, so one unusual year distorts it. Says nothing about valuation, competitive position or management. Piotroski designed it to rank already-cheap stocks, not to judge a company in isolation.
Needs trade receivables, current assets, other expenses.
Accruals are -8.5% of assets. Free cash flow negative in 1 of 12 years.
DuPont decomposition — Devised inside the DuPont Corporation in the 1920s and still the standard way to read a return on equity.
Splits return on equity into its three sources, so the same headline number can be traced to very different businesses.
How to read itA 20% ROE built on margin and turnover is a different proposition from a 20% ROE built on 3× leverage. The first survives a downturn; the second amplifies it.
Where it failsA single year. Negative equity makes it meaningless. Leverage is structural for lenders, so the third term carries no signal there.
Capital and revenue are growing at broadly similar rates — the asset base is being used, not just added to.
cumulative operating cash flow ÷ cumulative net profit
₹276,581 cr ÷ ₹86,598 cr, over 12 years
3.19×
Above 1.0 means cash exceeds reported profit — the healthier reading.(net profit − operating cash flow) ÷ average total assets
(₹10,886 − ₹35,064) cr ÷ average assets
-8.5%
Negative means cash exceeded profit — the healthier reading. Positive above ~10% is where accruals start to dominate earnings.net margin × asset turnover × leverage
4.7% × 0.78 × 2.90
10.7%
Splits ROE into whether returns come from operations or from borrowing.EBIT ÷ finance cost
₹23,136 cr ÷ ₹7,167 cr
3.23×
How many times operating profit covers the interest bill.borrowings ÷ net worth
₹92,382 cr ÷ ₹102,167 cr
0.90×
Read against the sector — infrastructure carries more than software.growth in fixed assets + CWIP, against growth in revenue
capital +17% vs revenue +-5%, FY2023 to FY2026
22pp gap
Money going in far faster than revenue coming out. For an incubator this is expected — the test is whether it eventually converts.Needs more balance-sheet detail (only 3 of 6 flags testable).
NOPAT over equity plus debt less cash, at a notional 25% tax. Incremental ROIC is the return on money put in since then — the number that decides whether growth creates value or consumes it.
Return on invested capital, and incremental ROIC — Standard in corporate finance; the incremental form was popularised by Michael Mauboussin as the test of whether growth creates value.
ROIC measures what the business earns on all the capital it employs — equity plus debt, less cash. Incremental ROIC asks a sharper question: what has it earned on the money put in since a chosen year?
How to read itROIC comfortably above the cost of capital — call it 11–13% in India — means growth compounds. Below it, growth consumes. Incremental below headline means recent investment is earning less than the legacy business.
Where it failsDistorted in the year of a large acquisition. Understated for companies mid-build, where capital is deployed but capacity has not yet been commissioned — an incubator will look poor until it does not.
Read downward. Cash can cover EBITDA and still not survive capex — the third rung is where a capital-hungry business shows itself.
The earnings quality ladder — Not a named model — the standard sequence an analyst walks when testing whether reported profit is real.
Three ratios read in order, each stricter than the last.
How to read itRead downward. Each rung failing where the one above passed tells you exactly where the cash is going.
Where it failsA single year of heavy capex depresses the third rung legitimately. Judge it across a cycle.
The growth rate that makes today's market value equal the discounted cash flows, at a 11.5% discount rate and 4.0% terminal growth. Not a forecast — the arithmetic of what is already in the price. Compare it with what the business has actually delivered.
Reverse DCF — the growth already in the price — A standard inversion of discounted cash flow, used to avoid the forecasting problem entirely.
Instead of forecasting cash flows and deriving a value, it takes today's market value as given and solves for the growth rate that would justify it. The output is not a view — it is the arithmetic of what the market is currently assuming.
How to read itCompare it with what the business has actually delivered. A price implying 30% a year against a decade of 15% is a demanding assumption; the reverse is a modest one.
Where it failsUseless when free cash flow is negative or unusually depressed, which is common mid-capex. Highly sensitive to the discount rate — a point either way moves the answer materially.
Against a policy rate near 6%, most sound Indian corporates borrow between 7% and 10%.
Cost of debt — Interest expense over average borrowings — the effective rate the company actually pays.
What the lenders charge, which is a market verdict on credit quality that no rating agency delay affects.
How to read itAgainst a policy rate near 6%, most sound Indian corporates borrow between 7% and 10%. Read the direction over years as much as the level.
Where it failsUnderstated where a large share of interest is capitalised into projects under construction. Not meaningful for lenders, where interest is cost of goods.
Some figures appear twice on this page with different values. That is not an error — they sit on different bases. The live feed reports a rolling twelve months; everything computed here comes from the last audited statements. Both are shown so you can see which is which.
Where the two disagree, every model, screen and ratio computed on this page uses the filed figure, because the rest of the page is on that basis.
Models that need these lines are withheld rather than estimated: net worth, current assets, current liabilities, trade receivables, inventory, net block. Nothing on this page is back-solved from a figure the company did not publish.
Each framework below is a set of stated, mechanical criteria from published work, run against this company's own filed numbers. Passing or failing a screen is not a verdict — different frameworks disagree by design, and that disagreement is itself informative.
Benjamin Graham's stated criteria for a defensive stock, applied to the filed numbers. A company failing several is not disqualified — Graham designed these to be deliberately strict.
Two ratios only: what the business earns on its capital, and what you pay for those earnings. Designed to be ranked across a universe rather than read in isolation.
The fundamental half of William O'Neil's framework. The market and leadership components are judgement calls and are not scored here.
The characteristics long-term holders commonly look for: cash-backed earnings, high returns on capital, and debt that never forces a decision.
Median of the companies we hold in the same sector (Metals & Mining). Every figure on both sides is the live feed's trailing twelve months, so the two are measured the same way whatever depth of extraction this company has had. A number only means something next to something else — expensive against the market and cheap against peers are different facts.
Bars are revenue; the line is net margin. Revenue rising while the line falls is the shape worth noticing.
Operating cash first, then what the business spent and raised.
One year is a snapshot. These are the two lines that matter across a cycle.
Rising debtor or inventory days against flat sales is the earliest visible sign of stress.
Set your own assumptions and watch the numbers move. A scenario calculator — the outputs are the arithmetic of your inputs.
One canonical set of figures — the same numbers used everywhere else on this page and on the screener.
How the register has moved over recent quarters — the direction matters more than the level.
Promoter trimmed from 33.19% to 32.94% across these quarters.
FII rose from 17.29% to 18.90% across these quarters.
MF rose from 14.37% to 14.71% across these quarters.
Other trimmed from 35.15% to 33.45% across these quarters.
Where cash gets stuck. A rising inventory or debtor line against flat sales is the earliest sign of trouble in the numbers.
| Measure | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debtor days
How long customers take to pay | 27 | 21 | 22 | 18 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 8 |
| Inventory days
How long stock sits before it sells | 190 | 197 | 215 | 213 | 175 | 176 | 171 | 184 |
| Payable days
How long the company takes to pay suppliers | 130 | 136 | 167 | 161 | 122 | 108 | 113 | 136 |
| Cash conversion cycle
Debtor + inventory − payable days | 87 | 82 | 69 | 71 | 66 | 78 | 67 | 56 |
| Working capital days | -18 | -38 | -55 | -34 | -42 | -59 | -50 | -56 |
| ROCE %
Return on capital employed | 14.0% | 6.0% | 12.0% | 31.0% | 13.0% | 7.0% | 9.0% | 13.0% |
What this sector is read on: Production, Sales volume, Realisation per tonne, EBITDA per tonne, Raw material cost per tonne, Net debt. These come from the filings, not the market feed, and appear here once a quarter is read.
Read using the Metals and mining framework (from the listed sector). Primary valuation lens: EV/EBITDA on mid-cycle earnings.
Read more closely in this sector: Capacity announced against commissioned · Inventory gains in margin.
The shape of the business over time (annual) — read the direction, not the single print.
| Line | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue from operations | 156,477 | 243,959 | 243,353 | 229,171 | 218,543 | 232,140 |
| Other income | 180 | 1,300 | 1,569 | -6,005 | 877 | 738 |
| Depreciation | 9,234 | 9,101 | 9,335 | 9,882 | 10,421 | 11,955 |
| Finance cost | 7,607 | 5,462 | 6,299 | 7,508 | 7,341 | 7,167 |
| Profit before tax | 13,844 | 50,227 | 18,235 | -1,147 | 8,413 | 15,969 |
| Net profit (owners) | 8,190 | 41,749 | 8,075 | -4,910 | 3,174 | 10,886 |
| EPS (₹) | 6.26 | 32.88 | 7.17 | -3.55 | 2.74 | 8.65 |
Exceptional items, total income and EBITDA are read from the filed statements.
| Metric | Sep 2023 | Dec 2023 | Mar 2024 | Jun 2024 | Sep 2024 | Dec 2024 | Mar 2025 | Jun 2025 | Sep 2025 | Dec 2025 | Mar 2026 | Jun 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 55,682 | 55,312 | 58,687 | 54,771 | 53,905 | 53,648 | 56,218 | 53,178 | 58,689 | 57,002 | 63,270 | 60,794 |
| Other Income | -6,568 | -33 | -382 | -6 | 617 | 142 | 149 | 236 | -6 | 465 | 42 | -17 |
| Expenses | 51,414 | 49,048 | 52,087 | 48,077 | 47,789 | 47,745 | 49,659 | 45,751 | 49,793 | 48,803 | 53,441 | 51,530 |
| Depreciation | 2,480 | 2,422 | 2,568 | 2,535 | 2,597 | 2,569 | 2,720 | 2,744 | 2,893 | 3,049 | 3,268 | 3,640 |
| Finance cost | 1,959 | 1,881 | 1,842 | 1,777 | 1,971 | 1,804 | 1,789 | 1,852 | 1,775 | 1,747 | 1,792 | 1,771 |
| Profit before tax | -6,739 | 1,928 | 1,809 | 2,377 | 2,164 | 1,672 | 2,200 | 3,067 | 4,222 | 3,869 | 4,810 | 3,838 |
| Net Profit | -6,511 | 522 | 555 | 919 | 759 | 295 | 1,201 | 2,007 | 3,183 | 2,730 | 2,965 | 2,385 |
| EPS | -5.07 | 0.42 | 0.49 | 0.77 | 0.67 | 0.26 | 1.04 | 1.66 | 2.48 | 2.15 | 2.34 | 1.86 |
| Item | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equity Capital | 1,198 | 1,221 | 1,221 | 1,247 | 1,247 | 1,247 |
| Reserves | 73,041 | 113,222 | 101,861 | 90,788 | 89,922 | 100,920 |
| Borrowings | 88,501 | 75,561 | 84,893 | 87,082 | 94,801 | 92,382 |
| Net block | 135,775 | 133,288 | 146,621 | 148,814 | 150,914 | 179,908 |
| CWIP | 19,007 | 22,046 | 31,213 | 34,356 | 41,622 | 28,497 |
| Investments | 10,682 | 13,140 | 8,410 | 6,258 | 6,194 | 7,089 |
| Total Assets | 243,909 | 282,422 | 285,396 | 269,312 | 275,459 | 296,515 |
| Line | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash from operations | 44,327 | 44,381 | 21,683 | 20,301 | 23,138 | 35,064 |
| Cash from investing | -9,437 | -10,905 | -18,179 | -14,253 | -13,611 | -14,397 |
| Cash from financing | -37,090 | -23,401 | -6,981 | -11,097 | -7,002 | -21,387 |
| Free cash flow | 37,793 | 34,428 | 7,868 | 2,569 | 8,731 | 21,906 |
| Net change in cash | -2,200 | 10,075 | -3,477 | -5,049 | 2,524 | -720 |
Cash from operations is the number profit has to answer to. Free cash flow is what remains after the business pays for its own growth.
The part no one reads: the auditor's opinion, the contingent liabilities buried in the notes, the covenants, and the claims in the deck placed beside the figures that test them.
Where analysts pressed management on the earnings call, and exactly how management answered — the questions that were hardest to answer are usually the ones that matter.
These are coverage counts, not ratings. Each one asks a fixed set of questions of the filings and reports how many the company answered. A company that discloses nothing counts nothing here — that is a statement about the disclosure, not about the business.
The same read, applied to the companies this one competes with.
Tata Steel Ltd. reported revenue of ₹60,794 cr for April to June 2026, +14.3% on the year and −3.9% on the quarter. That is faster than this quarter has grown in recent years (−5.4% on average), so the year-on-year number is not just the season. Over the last four quarters revenue comes to ₹2.40 lakh cr, +10.5% on the four before.
Operating profit (EBITDA) was ₹9,264 cr, a margin of 15.2%, +127 bps on the year and −30 bps on the quarter. Over the last 8 quarters the margin has ranged from 11.0% to 15.5%, averaging 13.5%. Operating costs grew +12.6% against revenue growth of +14.3%, so more of each rupee of sales reached operating profit.
Net profit was ₹2,385 cr, +18.8% on the year and −19.6% on the quarter, with earnings per share of ₹1.86. Profit before other income, one-offs and tax grew faster, at +36.2%; other income, one-offs or tax held the headline back. The tax rate of 38% is in line with its recent average. Profit over the last four quarters totals ₹11,263 cr, +164.3% on the four before.
Metal margins move with the spread between product prices and coal and ore costs, so large quarterly swings are normal here and say more about prices than about the business. The quarterly statements do not carry volumes, realisation per tonne and the cost of coal and ore; those come with the filing read.
On earnings per share of ₹8.83 over the last four quarters, the stock at ₹175.05 trades at 19.8 times trailing earnings.
Written from the quarterly statements. The filing read adds the balance sheet and cash flow, the auditor's review, segment results, one-off items line by line and what management said on the call.
No check fired. That is a statement about the checks below, not a verdict on the company.
Core profit grew faster than reported profit: one-offs held the headline down.
Reported profit +18.8% on the year; profit before other income, exceptional items and tax +36.2%.
Source: Quarterly statements
Could not run on this quarter: Exceptional items that recur, Cash behind the profit, Receivables against sales, Inventory against sales, Borrowing while holding cash, Auditor's review or audit report, IPO money used as stated, Related-party transactions, Exits, postponements, restatements, Promoter pledges and allotments, Earlier promises against delivery, When the results were filed. Most need the filing read (balance sheet, cash flow, auditor, disclosures).
Net profit a year ago, each driver's change, and net profit now. Blue added profit, red took it away.
| Q2 FY24 | Q3 FY24 | Q4 FY24 | Q1 FY25 | Q2 FY25 | Q3 FY25 | Q4 FY25 | Q1 FY26 | Q2 FY26 | Q3 FY26 | Q4 FY26 | Q1 FY27 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ₹55,682 cr | ₹55,312 cr | ₹58,687 cr | ₹54,771 cr | ₹53,905 cr | ₹53,648 cr | ₹56,218 cr | ₹53,178 cr | ₹58,689 cr | ₹57,002 cr | ₹63,270 cr | ₹60,794 cr |
| YoY | — | — | — | −8% | −3% | −3% | −4% | −3% | +9% | +6% | +13% | +14% |
| EBITDA margin | 7.7% | 11.3% | 11.2% | 12.2% | 11.3% | 11.0% | 11.7% | 14.0% | 15.2% | 14.4% | 15.5% | 15.2% |
| Other income, % of PBT | — | −2% | −21% | −0% | 29% | 8% | 7% | 8% | −0% | 12% | 1% | −0% |
| Exceptional items | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tax rate | — | 73% | 69% | 61% | 65% | — | 45% | 35% | 25% | 29% | 38% | 38% |
| Net profit | −₹6,511 cr | ₹522 cr | ₹555 cr | ₹919 cr | ₹759 cr | ₹295 cr | ₹1,201 cr | ₹2,007 cr | ₹3,183 cr | ₹2,730 cr | ₹2,965 cr | ₹2,385 cr |
| YoY | — | — | — | +75% | — | −43% | +116% | +118% | +319% | +825% | +147% | +19% |
| Core profit YoY | — | — | — | +258% | — | −22% | −6% | +19% | +173% | +122% | +132% | +36% |
| EPS | −₹5.07 | ₹0.42 | ₹0.49 | ₹0.77 | ₹0.67 | ₹0.26 | ₹1.04 | ₹1.66 | ₹2.48 | ₹2.15 | ₹2.34 | ₹1.86 |
| Flags | · | · | · | 1 | ✓ | ✓ | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ✓ | ✓ |
Each quarter is read with the same rules. Balance-sheet and cash checks run on half-year and annual quarters; filing-read checks run where a read exists.