01 — At a Glance
The Classified Juggler: Four Businesses, One Stock.
- 52-Week High / Low₹1,550 / ₹973
- Q3 FY26 Revenue₹819 Cr
- Q3 FY26 Net Profit₹317 Cr
- Q3 FY26 EPS₹4.19
- Annualised EPS (Q3×4)₹16.76
- Book Value₹750
- Price to Book1.31x
- Dividend Yield0.61%
- Debt / Equity0.01x
- Cash Balance₹4,825 Cr
Auditor’s Opening Note: Info Edge closed Q3 FY26 with ₹819 crore revenue (+13% YoY), ₹317 crore net profit, and a dividend payout step-up to 65% of PAT (from 39% previously). They’re drowning in cash (₹4,825 crore) and are considering it a “problem worth having.” The stock has delivered -28.3% returns over 12 months, down from an all-time high of ₹1,550 just last year. Welcome to a stock that’s priced like a SaaS unicorn but behaves like a boring classified platform.
02 — Introduction
Meet the Classified Kings Who Can’t Classify Their Own Trajectory
Info Edge (India) Ltd is India’s original online classified company. Founded in 1997 by Sanjeev Bikhchandani and Hitesh Oberoi, when “online” was still a theoretical concept and “classified” meant newspaper ads. They built Naukri.com (recruitment), 99acres.com (real estate), Jeevansathi.com (matrimony), and Shiksha.com (education). Call them a conglomerate. Call them a tech portfolio. Call them whatever. They own four of India’s largest vertical classifieds platforms.
The trouble? They own them all simultaneously. Naukri is wildly profitable (59% operating margin). 99acres is actively bleeding (–₹20 crore operating loss in Q3). Jeevansathi just hit break-even after years of sustained losses. Shiksha is getting clobbered by AI but still generating cash. And they’re betting ₹50 crore a year to build JobHai, a platform for informal sector hiring that won’t make money until possibly 2030.
In December 2025, they announced a dividend step-up to 65% of PAT—a move that screams “we have no idea what to do with ₹4,825 crore in cash.” The stock trades at 47x P/E, a premium that suggests the market is pricing in either genius or insanity. The Feb 2026 concall provided remarkable clarity on which one it is.
Concall Highlight (Feb 2026): When asked about margins, management said: “If growth drops to single digits, we might lose some margin.” Translation: their entire margin narrative depends on 10%+ growth. Single-digit growth + flatlining margins = a classic value trap.
03 — Business Model: The Four-Headed Beast
Naukri Prints Money. Everything Else Prints Losses (And Optionality).
EduInvesting runs entirely on reader support — ₹360 a year keeps the lights on.
