NRB Bearings Ltd Q1 FY26 – 90% of Indian Roads Run on Their Bearings, but 65.9% of Promoter Shares Run on Pledge
1. At a Glance
NRB Bearings is that silent uncle in every Indian joint family—the one who never talks but quietly runs the whole house. More than 90% of Indian vehicles rely on NRB bearings to move, but ironically, 65.9% of promoter shares also rely on pledge to keep moving. Market cap at ₹2,762 crore, P/E at a modest 20.4, and dividend yield at 1.5%—basically, it’s a company that pays you pocket money but makes you sweat with governance alarms.
2. Introduction
If you’ve ever sat pillion on a Hero Splendor, zoomed on a Pulsar, or cursed your auto-rickshaw driver for jumping signals, congratulations—you’ve probably experienced NRB Bearings in action. This company, established in 1965, is like that Bollywood character actor—never the hero, never the villain, but always in every scene. Without them, the film doesn’t roll.
The bearings industry is not sexy. Nobody wakes up saying, “Bro, let’s invest in bearings, they’ll change the world.” But here’s the thing: no vehicle moves without them. Bearings are the “chappals” of the mobility industry—ignored, undervalued, but literally carrying the entire weight.
NRB has managed to corner 60% of the needle roller bearings market in India and supplies to everyone—from Bajaj and Hero to BMW and Daimler. They’re essentially the Ambanis of friction solutions—if you want motion, you pay them rent.
But not everything is smooth. Their sales growth over 5 years has been underwhelming at 9%. Promoter pledging at nearly 66% looks like a pawn shop on speed. And the stock has been more dramatic than a Zee TV serial: +31% in 5 years but -9% in the last one year.
So, are we looking at a hidden gem or just another “chalega” auto ancillaries story?
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Imagine every wheel, engine, and gear as a WhatsApp group. Bearings are the group admins—keeping the chaos smooth, reducing friction, and ensuring nobody leaves (except maybe your ex). NRB Bearings manufactures needle roller bearings, ball bearings, roller bearings, and automobile components. Their biggest cash cow? Needle roller bushes & cages, forming 66% of FY24 revenue, up from 56% in FY22. Basically, they know where the money rolls.
Product split looks like this:
Needle Roller Bushes & Cages: 66%
Ball and Roller Bearings: 23%
Auto Components: 11%
Customer split is even juicier:
Commercial Vehicles: 33%
Two-Wheelers: 28%
Passenger Vehicles: 16%
Aftermarket: 12%
Industrial/Aerospace/Defense: 11%
NRB’s business model is simple—make millions of tiny parts, sell them to every OEM in the country, and keep repeat business rolling because once your bearings are approved in an OEM’s supply chain, you’re practically married for life.
They also operate six manufacturing plants in India plus one in Thailand, because apparently desi jugaad wasn’t enough—they wanted some Thai efficiency too.
The real kicker? NRB spends 2% of its revenues on R&D. That may not sound like much, but for Indian manufacturing companies, that’s like seeing a rickshaw driver tipping a valet. Rare, but respectable.
4. Financials Overview
Here’s how the latest quarter stacked up against history:
Source table
Metric
Latest Qtr (Jun’25)
YoY Qtr (Jun’24)
Prev Qtr (Mar’25)
YoY %
QoQ %
Revenue (₹ Cr)
310
289
329
7.2%
-5.8%
EBITDA (₹ Cr)
51
42
60
21.4%
-15.0%
PAT (₹ Cr)
33
26
-1
26.9%
N/A
EPS (₹)
3.31
2.57
-0.21
28.8%
N/A
Commentary: Quarter looked decent YoY—7% revenue growth, 27% PAT growth. But QoQ, the fall from ₹329 crore sales and ₹60 crore EBITDA to ₹310/₹51 crore shows some brake pressure. EPS annualised at ₹13.2 implies a P/E of ~21.5 vs current P/E of 20.4. Not cheap, but not “Bharat Forge crazy” either.
5. Valuation Discussion – Fair Value Range Only
Let’s break it like a CA student cracking his 3rd attempt:
Method 1: P/E Multiple
EPS (TTM): ₹8.94
EPS (Annualised Jun’25): ₹13.2
Apply P/E range of 18–25 (industry median ~29 but we cut because of pledge drama).
