01 — At a Glance
The Sharp Business That’s Trading at Blunt Valuations
- 52-Week High / Low₹11,505 / ₹7,551
- TTM Revenue₹3,075 Cr
- TTM PAT₹620 Cr
- TTM EPS₹190.42
- Q3 FY26 EPS₹52.93
- Book Value₹357
- Price to Book22.5x
- Dividend Yield1.50%
- Debt / Equity0.00x
- Return (3m)-3.90%
Auditor’s Opening Note: Gillette India crushed Q3 FY26 with ₹790 crore revenue (+15% YoY), ₹172 crore PAT (+37% YoY), and announced an interim dividend of ₹180/share (including ₹60 special). That’s brilliant execution in a mature category. But CMP ₹8,025 means you’re paying 42 times earnings — roughly 3x the P/E of peers. Basically, you’re paying for pristine financials, a fortress balance sheet, zero debt, 56% ROCE, and a grooming moat that won’t erode anytime soon. The question is: is that premium sustainable? Or is this a value trap wearing a premium tag?
02 — Introduction
Welcome to the Razorblade Racket — Gillette Edition
Let’s start with a question nobody asks: Why do people spend ₹80 on a Gillette razor blade when a generic blade costs ₹15?
The answer is Gillette India. Not Procter & Gamble the megacorporation. Not the global razorblade supply chain. Just Gillette India — a 3,075 crore revenue company that dominates grooming in the country with the sort of moat that makes competitors weep.
75% promoter-held by P&G (through multiple subsidiary layers — because tax efficiency). Two manufacturing plants in Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. 80% revenue from grooming, 20% from oral care (Oral-B electric toothbrushes). Sales through 5.5 million retail touchpoints. Exports to 13 countries accounting for 5.5% of revenue. And profits that keep growing quarter after quarter.
TTM PAT of ₹620 crore. ROCE of 56.1% — nearly triple the economy’s cost of capital. Zero debt. A dividend payout of 87% in the latest nine months. The stock hit ₹11,505 in the past year (52-week high) and is currently sitting at ₹8,025. That’s a 30% correction from peak. So is this a buying opportunity, or a warning label?
Q3 FY26 results landed on January 29, 2026. Revenue ₹790 crore (+15% YoY). PAT ₹172 crore (+37% YoY). Operating margin swelled to 31% in a quarter. And management declared an interim dividend of ₹180/share — that’s ₹60/share special dividend plus ₹120 regular. A three-line result that’s worth deep analysis, because luxury valuations require luxury fundamentals.
Jan 29, 2026 Announcement: “Q3 FY26: Sales ₹790 crore (+15%), PAT ₹172 crore (+37%); interim dividend ₹180/share.” Simple. Direct. No fluff. Gillette doesn’t need to explain its business model — it just ships the numbers.
03 — Business Model: WTF Do They Even Do?
Selling Sharpness to Hairy India. And Making Obscene Margins.
The core business is absurdly simple. Men and women in India buy razors. They buy blades. They buy shaving gel. They buy toothbrushes. Gillette captures 80%+ of every transaction through brand equity, distribution dominance, and a retail network that rivals FMCG giants.
Grooming segment (80% of revenue): Gillette Guard (the volume play — ₹10 blades that own villages), Gillette Mach 3 (the mid-tier), Gillette Fusion (premium), Venus (female razors), and Braun (electric shavers). In Q3 FY26, the company launched Gillette Labs advanced razors. FY24 saw Venus Bikini Sensitive Razors. In oral care, Oral-B electric toothbrushes dominate the premium segment. The Chhota Bheem toothbrush range (because viral characters sell toothbrushes) is their volume play into kids.
Distribution is the ultimate moat. 5.5 million retail touchpoints. Drug stores, departmental stores, grocery chains, membership clubs. Every barber shop, every chemist, every supermarket from Kanyakumari to Kashmir stocks Gillette. Competition exists — but it’s competition for the remaining 20% of the market. Gillette’s fortress is so impregnable that competitors have stopped trying to breach it. They’ve simply accepted a permanent discount-to-market position.
Manufacturing: Two plants (Bhiwadi, Rajasthan and Baddi, Himachal Pradesh). Base razors imported, assembled locally. Consumables (blades, gel) manufactured. Capex is minimal because the company avails benefits from P&G’s global R&D without incurring local capex. Essentially, P&G’s innovation funded by Gillette India’s cash flows.
Grooming80%Revenue Mix
Oral Care20%Revenue Mix
Export5.5%Revenue
Retail Reach5.5MTouchpoints
The Moat: Gillette doesn’t compete on price. It competes on brand equity accumulated since the British Raj. When your competitor is a generic blade that cuts faces identically, you win through psychology and shelf space. Gillette owns the shelf. Distribution trumps product differentiation in blades. Always has, always will.
💬 What’s your personal blade strategy? Gillette loyalty, or are you one of the five people using a generic brand without losing limbs?
04 — Financials Overview
Q3 FY26: The Numbers That Made Shareholders Smile
Result type: Quarterly Results | Q3 FY26 EPS: ₹52.93 | Annualised EPS (Q3×4): ₹211.72 | TTM EPS: ₹190.42
| Metric (₹ Cr) |
Q3 FY26
Dec 2025 |
Q3 FY25
Dec 2024 |
Q2 FY26
Sep 2025 |
YoY % |
QoQ % |
| Revenue | 790 | 686 | 811 | +15.2% | -2.6% |
| Operating Profit | 248 | 183 | 208 | +35.5% | +19.2% |
| OPM % | 31% | 27% | 26% | +400 bps | +500 bps |
| PAT | 172 | 126 | 144 | +36.5% | +19.4% |
| EPS (₹) | 52.93 | 38.66 | 44.08 | +36.9% | +20.1% |
The Brutal Math: Q3 FY26 EPS ₹52.93 × 4 = ₹211.72 annualised. CMP ₹8,025 ÷ ₹211.72 = P/E of 37.9x on annualised Q3 earnings. TTM EPS ₹190.42 gives P/E of 42.1x. Industry median P/E is 44.5x, but that includes bloated peers. Comparable FMCG franchises (Colgate-Palmolive at 44x, Dabur at 44.5x) trade similarly. Gillette’s premium to sector is justified by superior ROCE (56% vs 20% median) and growth trajectory. But — annualised Q3 is a 211 base, which is 11% above TTM. Quarterly volatility will compress that. Realistic fair-value EPS for FY26 should settle around ₹195–205.
05 — Valuation: Fair Value Range
Is ₹8,025 Actually Reasonable, or Just Rich?
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