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Informist, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025

MUMBAI – The outlook for the cement sector over the next few quarters remains bullish, with some derivatives analysts saying stock prices are likely to gain traction in the near term. With the September earnings season likely to provide cues for the sector, investors will closely watch management comments on the business outlook, demand, price realisations, and volumes. Cement is among the few sectors expected to post strong on-year growth in key earnings metrics for the reporting quarter. 

The sector has performed well, especially in a seasonally weak quarter with a stretched monsoon and extended routine maintenance closures of manufacturing plants, Jyoti Gupta, research analyst at Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities, said. There are no major issues with respect to input costs, though they have risen slightly. The Street's volume growth expectation of 4-5% is well below Nirmal Bang's estimate of 8-9%. 

For the September quarter, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation, or EBITDA, is expected to rise by an average of 50-60% on year, Gupta said. Most of the EBITDA per tonne decline in the first two quarters of 2025-26 (Apr-Mar) is expected to be recovered in the December quarter. Cement companies are likely to hike prices in the ongoing quarter, which is likely to sustain in the next quarter too, she said. Valuations of cement stocks are currently reasonable, but the metric could become very stretched above these levels, Gupta said. Some stock multiples are not commensurate with the company's potential, but with the industry's performance, she added.

For the September quarter, the aggregate net profit of ACC, Ambuja Cements, Shree Cement, and UltraTech Cement, which are part of the Nifty 200 index, is expected to rise 55% on year to INR 27.28 billion and revenue is seen rising 18% to INR 371.74 billion, as per the average of estimates from 13 brokerages. Sequentially, however, this would mean a 32% fall in the bottom line and a 13% decline in the top line. 

Shree Cement will announce its September quarter results Tuesday and ACC on Oct. 31. Shree Cement is expected to post over 300% on-year growth in its net profit for the reporting quarter to INR 3.9 billion and a 17% rise in revenue to INR 43.59 billion, according to the average of estimates from 13 broking houses. ACC's net profit is likely to rise 26% from the year-ago quarter to INR 2.95 billion and revenue is expected to grow 14% to INR 52.41 billion, as per the average of estimates from 12 brokerages. 

TOP HEADLINES

* Earnings Outlook: Shree Cement Q2 PAT to rocket on higher price, lower costs
* Analyst Concall: Higher maintenance costs dampen UltraTech Q2 PAT growth
* Earnings Review: UltraTech Q2 PAT misses Street estimate, meets sales view
* India Cements to invest INR 4.4 bln to up capacity, INR 15.7 bln on capex
* India Cements net loss narrows YoY to INR 68.6 million in Jul-Sept

Following are the resistance and support levels for the stocks for next week as per calculations by Informist based on their prices on the National Stock Exchange:

End

Reported by Anjana Therese Antony

Edited by Saji George Titus

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