Just Dial Q1FY26 — A ₹5,400 Cr Startup That Forgot It’s Public
Platform with ₹5,400 Cr in cash, growing revenue at 6%, 30% margins… and still managing to bore the market. Welcome to Just Dial’s Q1FY26 results—where the balance sheet flex but the business yawns :)
1. Revenue is alive. Growth is not.
Q1FY26 revenue grew 6.2% YoY to ₹2,979 Cr. Sounds decent—until you realise:
That’s only 3% QoQ.
Paid campaigns? Grew 0.7% QoQ.
Collections? Flat YoY at ₹2,746 Cr.
Deferred revenue? Down 4.2% QoQ.
Every topline indicator is technically “up,” but none of them make you want to buy the stock. Growth is now a rounding error.
2. The most profitable stagnation ever
EBITDA margin stayed high at 29% (down 74 bps QoQ).
PAT grew 13% YoY to ₹1,597 Cr, driven largely by a 46.6% jump in other income.
Translation: Core ops are stalling, but income from parking cash is saving the day.
This is what a profitable snoozefest looks like.
3. Still no clue what to do with ₹5,400 Cr
Cash and investments hit ₹5,430 Cr—₹100/share in dry powder. That’s 2x FY26 EBITDA and almost 65% of market cap.
But shareholder payout? Still MIA.
This is like a unicorn raising a mega round and ghosting investors.
4. User metrics: Up, but so what?
Web traffic: +6.6% YoY
App downloads/day: +9.7% YoY
Ratings/reviews: +3.1% YoY
Active listings: 49.7Mn (+10.7% YoY)
The problem? These are vanity metrics unless they convert to revenue. Paid campaign growth is crawling. Conversion rates aren’t discussed.
What’s the point of 50 million listings if no one's paying?
5. Operating efficiency? Surprisingly strong.
Headcount? Flat.
Employee cost? Down 4.1% YoY.
Other expenses? Up 16% YoY—possibly due to ad spend, which at least boosted downloads.
Despite stagnant business growth, costs are well-managed. If they cared about growth as much as cost discipline, this would be a different company.
6. Valuation: Cheap for a reason
Trading at:
5.5x FY26E EV/EBITDA
13x PE
1.5x P/B
Cash yield of 6.7%
Yet the stock has fallen 10.5% in the past year. Why? Because value without growth or capital return is just a financial puzzle no one wants to solve.
7. Risks: More internal than external
Downside risks:
Zero clarity on cash distribution
Paid campaigns slowing
No real demand recovery
Upside triggers?
Basically one: if they actually do something with the cash.
8. Return ratios that need CPR
RoE = 12.6%
RoCE = 5.0%
RoIC = 12.8%
This is a textbook case of a cash-rich, return-poor business. Too efficient to die, too indifferent to scale.
9. This isn’t a turnaround story. It’s a payout story.
Nothing here screams structural risk. Just strategic indecisiveness. Unless Just Dial declares a buyback, dividend, or M&A move, it’ll keep trading like a sleepy PSU with an app.
10. TL;DR
Revenue up, but barely.
Profits up, thanks to bank interest.
Growth engines flat.
₹5,400 Cr cash still unused.
Shareholder rewards = zero.
Valuation is attractive, but nothing’s changing.
Just Dial is like that friend who has all the tools, but never starts the project…
Dear Just Dial, you’re not a startup anymore. Time to stop hoarding and start rewarding :)
For those who love public markets with private insight :)
Till next time, Madhav
Linkedin, Twitter
This is just the first quarter with stagnation in number in YoY terms. They are in a good business.
I'll be waiting for the final concall transcript for the quarter to make a conclusion.