Ambuja Cements Q4FY26: Profit up 78%, shares slip 2.5%

What happened to Ambuja Cements shares

Ambuja Cements shares fell despite a strong headline profit print for the March 2026 quarter (Q4FY26). On the BSE, the stock slipped as much as 2.5% to an intraday low of ₹439.55. On the NSE, it fell nearly 3% to ₹432.20 after investors digested the operating miss and margin pressure.

At the time of writing in one market update, the stock traded around ₹434, down 2.5% from the previous close of ₹445.30. The reaction stood out because the company delivered record quarterly revenue and volumes, but profitability at the operating line weakened versus last year.

Q4FY26 headline numbers: profit jumps, revenue rises 10%

Ambuja Cements reported consolidated net profit attributable to owners of the parent at ₹1,830.15 crore for Q4FY26, up 78.47% year-on-year from ₹1,025.49 crore. Revenue from operations rose 10.1% to ₹10,891.68 crore versus ₹9,894.41 crore a year earlier. The company also reported its highest-ever quarterly sales volume at 19.9 million tonnes, a 10% year-on-year increase.

On a sequential basis, profit after tax was also sharply higher. One exchange filing referenced PAT of ₹240 crore in the October-December quarter of FY26, implying a 664% sequential surge in Q4FY26.

Record volume and revenue, but operating performance weakens

While top-line and volume were at record highs, operating profitability came under pressure. Ambuja reported operating EBITDA at ₹1,463.91 crore with a margin of 13.41% for the quarter, down sharply from 18.71% a year ago. Another market note pegged EBITDA around ₹1,441 crore with a margin of 13.2%, pointing to the same theme of weaker operating performance.

The squeeze was also visible in unit economics. EBITDA per tonne fell to ₹735 in Q4FY26 from ₹1,028 in Q4FY25 even as volumes climbed to 19.9 million tonnes from 18.2 million tonnes.

Why the market looked past the profit jump

Multiple reports indicated the headline profit rise was helped by tax-related items and one-offs, while the core operating line softened. One detailed update said Q4FY26 reported PAT was boosted by tax-related adjustments, including a net deferred tax credit of ₹604 crore and an income-tax provision reversal of ₹761 crore. It also said a tax credit of over ₹1,300 crore supported the quarter.

After adjusting for these and other exceptional items, normalised consolidated net profit was reported at ₹569 crore versus a reported PAT of ₹1,857 crore. On that normalised basis, profit declined 33.52% year-on-year from ₹856 crore.

Cost pressures: fuel, freight, packaging and currency

Ambuja directly flagged cost headwinds, citing “fuel, diesel, packaging bag supply constraints, and rupee depreciation” as drags on Q4 performance. The company said these pressures are expected to continue in the first half of FY27.

The company’s cost table showed kiln fuel cost rising to ₹1.61 per ’000 kCal in Q4FY26 from ₹1.58 per ’000 kCal in Q4FY25, while power cost was flat at ₹5.9 per kWh. Another update said power and fuel cost rose 14% and freight and forwarding expenses increased 13.4%, contributing to the margin compression.

Pricing lagged costs, management indicated

On pricing, management indicated that costs have risen by about ₹25 per bag, while the industry has seen only a modest increase of around ₹10 per bag in April. That mismatch matters for near-term margins, especially when energy and logistics costs stay elevated.

The company said it is responding through fuel mix optimisation, higher renewable energy usage, lower logistics costs via rail and sea movement, and tighter production and inventory management.

Broker views: Jefferies stays Buy; costs in focus

Jefferies retained its Buy rating on Ambuja Cements, but reduced its target price to ₹595, which it said implies an upside of 33% from current levels. The brokerage said Ambuja is recalibrating strategy, including a reset of expansion plans, with capacity addition timelines pushed back by around two years.

Separately, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said Q4FY26 performance was below internal and consensus estimates due to an elevated cost structure. It cited higher branding and packaging expenses, incremental shutdown-related costs, longer lead distances, and additional goods tax in select states as reasons costs stayed high.

Stock performance versus the market

Ambuja’s decline after results also came amid broader weakness. At one point, the NSE Nifty50 was at 23,933.80, down 185.50 points or 0.77%.

On a year-to-date basis, Ambuja Cements stock has plunged around 20%, compared with a 7.7% decline in the Nifty50.

Key numbers snapshot

Bigger picture: record annual volume, but near-term pressure remains

For the full year ended March 31, 2026, Ambuja reported its highest-ever annual sales volume of 73.7 million tonnes. Full-year consolidated revenue was reported at ₹41,490 crore and profit after tax at ₹5,637 crore, alongside annual EBITDA of ₹6,539 crore and EBITDA per metric tonne of ₹887.

For the near term, the company expects cost pressure to persist, with the impact of the West Asia conflict likely to continue into the first half of FY27. It also indicated demand growth is expected to remain moderate at around 5%, even as longer-term infrastructure-led demand prospects remain in focus.