Q3 FY26 Results · Quarterly Results (Oct–Dec 2025)
HMT Ltd:
₹-27 Cr PAT. -28% Sales.
Even the Machine Tools Can’t Build a Profit.
A 60-year-old government watchmaker turned machine-tool manufacturer has mastered exactly one skill: losing money. With a ₹1,963 crore market cap, -132% operating margins, and a balance sheet that makes auditors cry, HMT remains the gold standard of “what not to do in manufacturing.”
Market Cap₹1,963 Cr
CMP₹55.2
P/E RatioN/A (Loss)
Div Yield0.00%
Book Value₹-55.3
01 — At a Glance
The Company That Makes Machines But Can’t Make Money
- 52-Week High / Low₹75.5 / ₹41.0
- Q3 FY26 Revenue₹20.8 Cr
- Q3 FY26 PAT₹-27.2 Cr
- TTM EPS₹-3.65
- Annualised Loss Per Share (Q3 × 4)₹-3.08
- Book Value / Share₹-55.3
- Sales (TTM)₹111 Cr
- Debt₹1,029 Cr
- Operating Margin-132%
- Promoter Holding93.7% (GoI)
Brutally Honest Summary: HMT just posted Q3 FY26 losses of ₹27.2 crore on revenues of ₹20.8 crore. That means for every rupee of sales, the company loses ₹2.31. The stock is up 17.1% in three months — which tells you everything you need to know about retail investor enthusiasm for dead PSUs. With negative book value, ₹1,029 crore in debt, and a government that owns 93.7% and apparently isn’t interested in fixing it, HMT is the manufacturing equivalent of a patient on life support whose insurance has expired.
02 — Introduction
The Watch Company That Lost Track of Time
In 1953, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, in a fit of what we can charitably call “optimistic thinking,” decided independent India needed to build its own machine tools. The vision was noble. A self-reliant nation crafting lathes, CNC machines, and precision equipment. The execution has been a masterclass in what happens when a government runs a manufacturing company the way a DMV runs paperwork.
Fast forward to 2026. HMT Ltd — still mostly owned by the President of India via the Department of Heavy Industries — is generating ₹111 crore in annual revenue (down 27% year-over-year) while sitting on ₹1,029 crore in debt. For context: that’s 9.3x debt-to-revenue. The company’s balance sheet has negative net worth of ₹55.3 per share. The operating margin is -132%. Even the watches the company famously made have been discontinued. The only thing HMT still makes reliably is losses.
Yet somehow, the stock has returned 32.7% over the past 3 years and 12.5% over 5 years. This is what happens when a stock is so cheap and so ignored that even a minor uptick in sentiment creates a mini-rally. Retail investors see ₹55 and think “this has to go up” without asking the obvious question: “why would it?”
The Real Estate Angle: HMT’s most profitable “business” in recent years has been selling land. In FY20, the company booked a one-time ₹226 crore profit from selling 446 acres of tractor division land to HSIIDC. That’s not a business model. That’s a liquidation masquerading as earnings. When your best profit comes from asset sales, not operations, the jig is up.
03 — Business Model: The Slow Extinction
Making Machines For An Industry That’s Moved On
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