01 — At a Glance
The Adtech Unicorn That Scaled from Nowhere to ₹2,587 Cr in Annualised Revenue
- 52-Week High / Low₹2,187 / ₹1,221
- Q3 FY26 Revenue₹717 Cr
- Q3 FY26 PAT₹119 Cr
- Q3 FY26 EPS₹8.48
- TTM Annualised EPS₹31.18
- Book Value₹231
- Price to Book6.04x
- Dividend Yield0%
- Debt / Equity0.01x
- Return (3 months)-14.4%
The Auditor’s Note: Affle closed Q3 FY26 with ₹717 crore quarterly revenue (+19.2% YoY), a record ₹119 crore PAT (+19.1% YoY), and an annualised run-rate of ₹2,587 crore. That’s 11 consecutive quarters of sequential growth. Margin expansion in 7 consecutive quarters. The stock is down 14.4% in 3 months and trading at 44.9x P/E, because apparently the market discovered that growth at scale is not the same as growth at a discount. Value hunters, stay hydrated.
02 — Introduction
The Ad-Tech Darling Playing 4D Chess While Everyone Else Plays Checkers
Let’s talk about Affle. No, not Apple. Affle. The company that transforms your angry scrolling through Instagram into measurable conversions for the brands that own Instagram — without needing Instagram’s permission. How? Via a proprietary consumer intelligence platform built on proprietary first-party data, packaged as “recommendations” wrapped inside ads, then fired at you across 3.4 billion connected devices globally.
The core thesis is elegantly simple: advertisers care about results, not impressions. Pay per converted user (CPCU), not per 1,000 views. If my shopper actually walks into my store after seeing your ad, we’re both winning. If my dad sees your ad and scrolls past, that’s a wasted dollar and Affle doesn’t get paid.
Founded in 1994 as a games ad-tech company, by FY25-FY26, Affle had morphed into a global platform operating 7 distinct demand-side platforms (Appnext, Jampp, MDSP, Mediasmart, Newton, RevX, and others) across 130+ countries, serving verticals from fintech to gaming to automotive to fast-food delivery. That’s not a business. That’s a distribution monopoly disguised as a tech platform.
Q3 FY26 numbers were record-breaking: ₹717 crore quarterly revenue at a run-rate of ₹2,587 crore annualised. Highest-ever PAT of ₹119 crore. Seven straight quarters of margin expansion. And the CEO is now hunting for M&A targets in developed markets at “the right price and the right time” — which is code for “our FCF is fat and we’re getting dangerous.”
From the Feb 2026 Concall: “Affle 3i 10x growth vision” backed by leadership restructuring (Sameer Sondhi, CEO North America + Chief Strategic Investments Officer, joined January 2026). Translation: the company is not content being a ₹19,600 crore market-cap player anymore. It wants to be ₹200,000 crore.
03 — Business Model: WTF Do They Even Do?
Taking Advertisers’ Money. Converting Your Eyes Into Transactions. Splitting the Difference.
Affle’s platform runs on a Cost Per Converted User (CPCU) model. Brands pay Affle a fixed price (in rupees, USD, or whatever currency you’re handing over) each time a user actually converts — buys something, installs an app, opens an account, or completes whatever action the brand defines as “conversion.”
How does Affle know which users to target? Via proprietary data: historical app usage patterns, purchase behaviour, device fingerprinting, geolocation, and (now) AI-powered persona classification. The company ingests data at scale (3.4 billion device IDs), segments users into “verticalised personas” (fintech customers vs gaming junkies vs fast-food orderers), and then auctions off ad placements in real-time across mobile web, in-app, CTV (Connected TV), and podcasts — anywhere an ad can live.
The revenue composition is brutally skewed: 99.5% from CPCU in Q3 FY26 vs only 90% in FY22. The remaining 0.5% is “other” — agency, SaaS, and other models. Management deliberately positions CPCU as their fortress and non-CPCU as an “entry point” for bigger conversions later. Translation: the non-CPCU business is basically a loss leader.
Geography: India and Emerging Markets now represent 73.9% of revenue (+19.8% YoY), with Developed Markets at 26.1% (+17.8% YoY). The India story is particularly wild — management absorbed the full-quarter impact of Real Money Gaming (RMG) restrictions and still grew. CTV (Connected TV) is accelerating in India. iOS capabilities (historically Android-dominant) are now “doing really well.” The narrative is: “broad-based recovery across all verticals.”
CPCU Rate₹59.6Record High in Q3
Conversions (9M)335.7MPer Million Users
Device Reach3.4BConnected Devices
Countries Served130+Global Coverage
CPCU Rate Expansion: Management attributed the record ₹59.6 CPCU rate in Q3 to “willingness to pay a higher unit price” from advertisers — driven by verticalization (industry-specific targeting), premium user focus (iOS), and premium placements. It’s not FX. It’s pricing power. The adtech equivalent of Cartier charging more per customer because customers want Cartier.
💬 Have you ever converted to something after seeing an ad? Did you know an adtech company just made money on your decision? Drop a comment on which vertical you fall into!
04 — Financials Overview
Q3 FY26: The Numbers (With All The Margin Expansion Porn)
Result type: Quarterly Results | Q3 FY26 EPS: ₹8.48 | Annualised EPS (Q3×4): ₹33.92 | TTM EPS: ₹31.18
| Metric (₹ Cr) |
Q3 FY26
Dec 2025 |
Q3 FY25
Dec 2024 |
Q2 FY26
Sep 2025 |
YoY % |
QoQ % |
| Revenue | 717 | 602 | 647 | +19.2% | +10.9% |
| Operating Profit (EBITDA) | 163 | 131 | 146 | +24.1% | +11.6% |
| EBITDA Margin % | 22.7% | 21.8% | 22.6% | +90 bps | +10 bps |
| PAT | 119 | 100 | 111 | +19.1% | +8.0% |
| EPS (₹) | 8.48 | 7.13 | 7.86 | +19.0% | +7.9% |
The Sarcasm Meter Readings: Revenue growth at 19.2% YoY. EBITDA growth at 24.1% YoY (that’s leverage, baby). Operating margin at 22.7% in a highly scalable SaaS-adjacent business. PAT growth at 19.1% YoY. This is not “good.” This is “the market is terrified of paying growth prices again and mistook this for a movie stock.” TTM EPS at ₹31.18 ÷ CMP ₹1,399 = P/E 44.9x. Industry median is 22.8x. Affle trades at 96% premium to sector average. Worth it? Let’s see.
05 — Valuation: Fair Value Range
Is ₹1,399 a Steal or a Trap?
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