TCI Express is the guy who shows up at your house before you even finish typing the OTP — India’s B2B express cargo legend. They run 28 sorting centres, cover 60,000+ locations, and still claim “asset-light” like a start-up bragging about being “lean.” But here’s the punchline: revenue has flatlined, profits dipped, and yet, the stock still asks for 30x earnings. That’s like Zomato charging you restaurant prices but delivering samosa from the thela.
2. Introduction
In a country where traffic jams are longer than Netflix seasons, logistics is less about trucks and more about jugaad. TCI Express has built its empire by promising time-definite logistics — meaning, “we’ll tell you exactly when we’ll be late.”
From pharma cold chains to e-commerce to aerospace (yes, they claim even that), TCI wants to be the “Swiggy of B2B cargo.” But here’s the issue — while India’s e-commerce and SME boom should have been rocket fuel, the company’s last 3-year sales growth is barely 3–4% CAGR. That’s slower than Indian Railways tatkal refund.
To be fair, they’ve invested in AI-powered sorting centres in Pune and Gurugram, have 5,500 containerised trucks, 73 air gateways, and 125 rail routes. But profits dropped 28% last year, stock tanked 34%, and competition from Delhivery & Blue Dart is giving them stress wrinkles.
3. Business Model (WTF Do They Even Do?)
Simple pitch: they don’t own trucks; they rent them. Welcome to the asset-light model, where someone else sweats, and you skim margins.
Business buckets:
Surface Express (largest) – containerised trucks all over India.
Rail Express – cheaper, slower, but works for bulk.
Air Express (Domestic + International) – fast, but limited scale.
Cold Chain Pharma – carrying vaccines at correct temps (hopefully not like your home fridge).
E-commerce & C2C – niche play, though nowhere near Delhivery.
Customer split: SMEs (49%) + Corporates (51%). Basically, they’re the courier guy for factories, not your Amazon order.
4. Financials Overview
Quarterly Snapshot (Q1 FY26 vs YoY & QoQ):
Source table
Metric
Latest Qtr (Jun’25)
YoY Qtr (Jun’24)
Prev Qtr (Mar’25)
YoY %
QoQ %
Revenue
₹287 Cr
₹293 Cr
₹307 Cr
-2.1%
-6.5%
EBITDA
₹30 Cr
₹34 Cr
₹28 Cr
-11.8%
7.1%
PAT
₹21 Cr
₹23 Cr
₹21 Cr
-8.9%
0%
EPS (₹)
5.5
6.0
5.4
-8.9%
1.9%
Annualised EPS = ₹22. At CMP ₹697 → P/E ~32x. So still priced like a growth stock, while sales are declining.
👉 Question: If a logistics company can’t grow in India’s e-commerce boom, toh growth karega kab?
