1. At a Glance – Blink and You’ll Miss the Cash Machine
Affle 3i Ltd is what happens when advertising stops being about “brand recall” and starts behaving like a spreadsheet with teeth. Q3 FY26 revenue clocked in at ₹717.5 Cr, up 19.2% YoY, while PAT rose 19.1% to ₹119.3 Cr. EBITDA margin? A smug 23%, casually expanding quarter after quarter like it owns the place. Market cap stands tall at ₹21,766 Cr, yet the stock is still nursing bruises with ~20% correction over 6 months, proving once again that Dalal Street loves growth—but only at a discount.
At 49.6× P/E, Affle is priced like a startup with profits and behaves like an enterprise with startup energy. Debt? Practically nonexistent at ₹38 Cr. ROCE at 16.8%, ROE 14%, and interest coverage so high (80×) that lenders probably feel ignored. This is not a “hope and prayer” tech story—this is cold, algorithmic monetisation of human attention.
So the big question: is Affle a compounding machine temporarily punished, or a premium stock finally meeting valuation gravity?
2. Introduction – When Ads Stop Annoying and Start Converting
Affle doesn’t sell ads. It sells outcomes. That distinction alone explains why it lives in a different valuation universe compared to vanilla IT services firms.
Founded in 1994 (yes, before the word “mobile” meant anything useful), Affle reinvented itself into a global consumer intelligence platform focused on mobile-first, conversion-driven advertising. Instead of charging for impressions or clicks, Affle charges advertisers only when a measurable action happens—install, engagement, or transaction.
In a digital advertising world full of fraud, bots, and vanity metrics, Affle positioned itself as the adult in the room. Its entire pitch is
simple: “Don’t pay unless the user actually does something.” Unsurprisingly, advertisers like that.
With reach across 3.4+ billion connected devices, operations in 130+ countries, and a near-total shift to CPCU revenue (99%), Affle has methodically removed fluff from its business model. What remains is a high-margin, scalable, data-heavy engine that quietly prints money—while investors argue about whether 50× earnings is justified.
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Let’s explain this without buzzwords.
Affle helps brands find users who are most likely to convert, and then charges the brand only when conversion happens. No conversion? No bill. Simple.
Its Consumer Platform does three things:
- New user acquisition – finding high-intent users.
- Retargeting – pushing existing users closer to transactions.
- Online-to-offline – turning digital ads into actual store walk-ins (yes, measurable).
Affle’s secret sauce is its proprietary consumer intelligence layer—basically AI models that understand behaviour across apps, devices, and geographies, while filtering out fraud.
The company runs multiple demand-side platforms like Appnext, Jampp, RevX, YouAppi, etc., each targeting different advertiser needs—from gaming installs to e-commerce transactions.
Think of Affle as a toll booth on the mobile economy
