01 — At a Glance
The Company That Processes More Money Than Your Salary History
- 52-Week High / Low₹875 / ₹624
- TTM Revenue₹1,392 Cr
- TTM PAT₹444 Cr
- TTM EPS₹17.95
- Annualised EPS (Q3×4)₹17.92
- Book Value₹45.6
- Price to Book14.9x
- Dividend Yield1.84%
- Debt / Equity0.06x
- EV / EBITDA24.5x
Auditor’s Cold Opening: CAMS is the mutual fund RTA that processes 68% of India’s MF transactions while charging so little that a squeeze on 10% of revenue feels apocalyptic. Q3 FY26 delivered ₹367 crore revenue (+5.6% YoY) and ₹179 crore EBITDA — the highest ever. Margin stood at 46%, down from 47% a year ago, because their pricing power evaporated the moment SBI said “actually, our fees can be lower.” Stock down 13% in six months. Everything’s fine.
02 — Introduction
The Unglamorous Business That Runs Half the Indian MF Industry
CAMS Services is a Registrar and Transfer Agent (RTA) for mutual funds. If you own an MF, CAMS probably holds the record of your purchase. Every time you buy a Vanguard fund on MoneyControl or some random NFO on Coin, CAMS’ systems quietly process it, send you a confirmation, reconcile it against the AMC’s records, generate your tax statements, handle your divorce settlements, and otherwise live rent-free in the infrastructure plumbing of India’s ₹55+ lakh crore MF industry. Zero glamour. Infinite necessity.
They command 68% market share in MF RTA services. They handle 89 crore live investor folios. They process 1,040 crore transactions annually (TTM basis). They’ve taken 28 mutual fund clients live in the past 5 years — an absurd vertical integration feat in what most people think is a commodity business. And in the last six months, their stock has crashed 13% because yield resets hit their pricing power.
The Q3 FY26 result was technically flawless: record EBITDA of ₹179 crore, record absolute profit, margin at 46% despite being the “last quarter of tough comparables,” and management flagging an 18-month window of yield stability ahead. And somehow this was received as “oh, pricing power is broken, run.” Welcome to growth stock investing in India, where investors punish monopolies for not growing fast enough and then panic when they finally do.
Concall Note (Jan 2026): Management flagged “perhaps the last quarter” of tough YoY comparables post-price reset. Translation: next quarter, the comparables get friendlier. But sure, let’s sell at 37x P/E just to be safe.
03 — Business Model: The Institutional Plumbing That Nobody Sexualizes
Money In. Money Out. Records Kept. Fees Collected. Repeat Forever.
CAMS operates as a mutual fund RTA — think of them as the DMV but for your MF investments. When you buy an MF unit, CAMS registers it. When you sell, CAMS deregisters it. When the fund distributes dividends, CAMS ensures it reaches your DP account. Every MF portfolio statement, every tax document, every NAV reconciliation — CAMS touches it all. AMCs need them. Distributors need them. Even fund houses that don’t want to share CAMS profits still use CAMS because, honestly, what’s the alternative?
Revenue comes from three pots: (1) MF transaction fees, (2) AUM-based advisory fees (scaled with AUM growth), and (3) emerging non-MF segments like KRA (Know Your Agent records for investors), CAMSPay (payment processing), Alternatives (AIF/PMS servicing), and insurance repositories. The core MF business is ~85% of revenue, stable, relatively sticky, but with pricing power that recently got shredded when SBI negotiated better rates and suddenly CAMS’ 3.5% yield on ₹55 lakh crore AUM became 3.46% overnight.
Margin magic: CAMS’ operating leverage is extraordinary. Revenue grew at ~8% TTM. EBITDA grew at ~5% TTM (profit growth slowed as one-time charges hit). But process automation means headcount in calendar 2025 didn’t budge despite “significantly expanded count of everything” — CEO’s own words. They’re building an AI-powered platform (cloud migration, data lake, process automation) that should unlock efficiency for 4–5 years. If that plays out, margins could creep back to 47–48%. If yield compression accelerates, it’s back to 43%.
MF Market Share68%RTA Segment
Live Investor Folios107.8 CrMar FY26
Transactions (TTM)1,040 CrAnnual Processed
Non-MF Revenue %14.5%Growing 24%+ YoY
💬 You ever wondered who runs the backend of your Zerodha MF purchases? Drop a comment if CAMS just blew your mind. Most retail investors have no idea this company exists — and that’s exactly how they like it.
04 — Financials Overview
Q3 FY26: Record EBITDA, Record Confusion
Result type: Quarterly Results (Q3 FY26) | Q3 EPS: ₹4.93 | Annualised EPS (Q3×4): ₹19.72 | TTM EPS: ₹17.95
| Metric (₹ Cr) |
Q3 FY26
Dec 2025 |
Q3 FY25
Dec 2024 |
Q2 FY26
Sep 2025 |
YoY % |
QoQ % |
| Revenue | 367 | 348 | 354 | +5.5% | +3.7% |
| Operating Profit | 173 | 163 | 161 | +6.1% | +7.5% |
| OPM % | 47% | 47% | 46% | Flat | +100 bps |
| PAT | 122 | 118 | 111 | +3.4% | +9.9% |
| EPS (₹) | 4.93 | 4.77 | 4.48 | +3.4% | +10.0% |
The Real Story: Q3 saw EBITDA at ₹179 crore (highest ever) because a one-time labour code charge of ₹2.8–3.0 crore was booked upfront. Strip that, and EBITDA was nearly flat YoY. Revenue growth is decent at 5.5%, but a full quarter post-SBI price reset, and there’s zero visibility on whether margin gets better or worse. Management guided “18 months of yield stability,” which is Wall Street speak for “we have no idea, but we’re optimistic.” Industry? Exactly 37.7x P/E for 3% profit growth. Seems reasonable.
05 — Valuation: The 37x Elephant in the Room
What’s This Company Worth When Pricing Power Is Broken?
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