1. At a Glance – Pressure Cooker Under Pressure
Stove Kraft Ltd, once the darling of the kitchen appliance aisle, is currently behaving like a pressure cooker forgotten on low flame—lots of noise, very little output. Market cap stands at ₹1,633 Cr, CMP at ₹493, down a painful 38% YoY and 37% in the last 3 months. Q3 FY26 didn’t help morale: quarterly sales fell 6.36% YoY, while PAT crashed 65.8% to a barely-visible ₹4.15 Cr.
Yes, revenue exists (TTM ₹1,506 Cr), brands are strong, shelves are full—but margins are sulking, interest costs are flexing, and ROE is stuck at an uninspiring 8.7%. The stock trades at 43.7× P/E, which is bold for a company whose profits are currently playing hide-and-seek.
So the big question: is this a temporary digestion phase after years of expansion, or is the kitchen getting overcrowded? Let’s open the lid.
2. Introduction – From IPO Darling to Dal-Chawal Reality
Stove Kraft entered listed life with big-brand swagger—Pigeon in every Indian kitchen, Gilma aiming premium, and Black+Decker adding international masala. For a while, growth was smooth: volumes up, revenues compounding, margins expanding.
But FY24–FY26 has been less MasterChef and more reality TV elimination round. Gross margins improved to 37%, yet PAT margins shrank thanks to higher interest + depreciation—the inevitable hangover of aggressive capex and expansion.
The company is still growing volumes (around 9–10% YoY), but the market doesn’t clap for volume alone. It wants profits that lift ROE, not just warehouse occupancy.
Is Stove Kraft just going through a cyclical slowdown in discretionary demand, or has the business model hit a scalability ceiling? Keep reading.
3. Business Model –
WTF Do They Even Do?
In simple terms: they sell almost everything your kitchen can physically accommodate.
- Cookware: pressure cookers, non-stick pans, cast iron (now in-house).
- Appliances: mixer grinders, induction cooktops, gas stoves, chimneys, heaters.
- Adjacencies: LED bulbs, flasks, irons—because why not?
The brand ladder is clear:
- Pigeon → mass/value
- Gilma → semi-premium retail-led
- Black+Decker → premium licensing play
Distribution is the real muscle: 1.28 lakh+ outlets, 600+ distributors, and 296 exclusive brand stores. If kirana shelves were voting booths, Stove Kraft would win a landslide.
But here’s the roast: wide product range ≠ high ROE. Complexity increases working capital, inventory days have ballooned to 147 days, and cash conversion is… let’s say “aspirational”.
Would you rather sell 10 products at 20% margin or 100 products at 8%? Stove Kraft chose option B.
4. Financials Overview – Numbers Don’t Lie, They Just Judge You
| Metric | Latest Qtr (Dec FY26) | YoY Qtr | Prev Qtr | YoY % | QoQ % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (₹ Cr) | 378.4 | 404.1 | 474.4 | -6.4% | -20.3% |
| EBITDA (₹ Cr) | 34.3 | 40.5 | 56.8 | -15.4% | -39.6% |
| PAT (₹ Cr) | 4.15 | 12.14 | 21.36 | -65.8% | -80.6% |
| EPS (₹) | 1.25 | 3.67 | 6.45 | -65.9% | -80.6% |
Annualised EPS (Q3 rule):
Average of Q1, Q2, Q3 EPS × 4 = approx ₹11.3,
