JSWSTEEL vs TATASTEEL
Side-by-side comparison of JSW Steel Ltd. and Tata Steel Ltd.. Descriptive only — not investment advice.
JSW Steel Ltd.
Metals
Quality Score: 41/100
Tata Steel Ltd.
Metals
Quality Score: 44/100
At a glance
| Metric | JSWSTEEL | TATASTEEL |
|---|---|---|
| Quality Score | 41/100 | 44/100 |
| P/E (trailing) | 42.0 | 29.2 |
| Forward P/E | 21.1 | 12.3 |
| ROE | — | — |
| Profit margin | +4.2% | +4.1% |
| Debt-to-equity | 118.74 | 99.70 |
| Dividend yield | +0.22% | +1.68% |
| 1Y price return | +32.4% | +52.0% |
| From 52w high | -2.2% | -2.1% |
| Analyst rating1 = Strong Buy, 5 = Strong Sell | 2.25 | 2.25 |
Highlighted value = better on the metric (lower for P/E, D/E, drawdown, analyst rating; higher elsewhere). Descriptive only.
Snapshots
JSW Steel trades at Rs 1,277.80, up 32.4% over the past 12 months and within 2.2% of its 52-week high, with price above both the 50-DMA (Rs 1,214) and 200-DMA (Rs 1,155). The trailing PE of 41.99 is the highest among readable metals peers, while the profit margin is 4.16% and the debt-to-equity ratio of 118.74 reflects heavy leverage with a rising debt trend. Forward PE compresses to 21.13, indicating the market is pricing in significant earnings improvement from the current base.
Tata Steel trades at ₹214.49, up 51.96% over the past 12 months and 18.02% above its 200-DMA of ₹181.68, with RSI at 59.36 in neutral territory. The trailing PE stands at 29.16 against a forward PE of 12.33, reflecting market expectations of a significant earnings step-up; profit margin is 4.07% and debt-to-equity is 99.699 with a rising debt trend. Two active regulatory proceedings — a ₹1,755.11 crore tax demand and a CCI antitrust investigation — are unresolved as of the run date.
Pros
- ✓Price momentum is strong: up 32.4% over 12 months, above both the 50-DMA and 200-DMA, and RSI at 60.11 (neutral, not overbought).
- ✓Revenue has compounded at 11.1% over 5 years; the 5-year earnings growth figure of 198.6% reflects recovery from a depressed base.
- ✓Free cash flow was positive in 3 of the tracked fiscal years, suggesting the business does generate cash in favorable cycles.
- ✓Mean analyst rating of 2.25 across 33 analysts on a 1-5 scale (lower = more constructive), with a forward PE of 21.13 well below the current trailing multiple.
- ✓Price is above both the 50-DMA (₹203.62) and 200-DMA (₹181.68), with a 52-week drawdown of only 2.15%, indicating the current price is near a one-year high after a 51.96% annual gain.
- ✓FCF was positive in 4 of the available fiscal years, suggesting the business has generated cash even through commodity cycles, despite the elevated debt load.
- ✓Forward PE of 12.33 versus trailing PE of 29.16 reflects analyst expectations of materially higher near-term earnings, with 33 analysts providing coverage (mean rating 2.25 on a 1–5 scale, lower = more constructive).
- ✓Quality score of 44 ranks 1st among the 6 peers in the Metals sector dataset, though peer data sparsity limits the comparability of this ranking.
Cons
- ✗Debt-to-equity of 118.74 with a rising debt trend represents extreme financial leverage; a cyclical downturn in steel prices would amplify earnings volatility and debt-service risk.
- ✗Return on equity exceeded 15% in only 1 of the tracked years and current ROE data is unavailable, indicating historically inconsistent capital returns and a consistency score of just 15 out of 100.
- ✗Profit margin of 4.16% is thin for a capital-intensive business — cost inflation, input price moves, or demand softness can rapidly turn margins negative.
- ✗Quality score of 36 places JSWSTEEL below TATASTEEL (44) and HINDALCO (38) within the metals peer group, ranking 3rd of the 3 real comparables available.
- ✗Debt-to-equity of 99.699 with a rising debt trend and ROE above 15% in only 1 of the available years points to sustained leverage in a capital-intensive, cyclical industry where earnings can compress rapidly.
- ✗Profit margin of 4.07% is thin; a modest deterioration in steel realizations or rise in coking coal costs could compress margins further and widen the gap between the trailing and forward PE assumptions.
- ✗A ₹1,755.11 crore tax demand notice for coal extraction is under revision application, and a CCI antitrust investigation citing alleged price-fixing among steel producers (Tata Steel, JSW Steel, SAIL) creates unquantified contingent liability exposure.
- ✗Fundamental consistency score of 2 and only 1 year with ROE above 15% reflect the episodic rather than structural nature of profitability in steel — earnings growth of 730.8% over 5 years is partly a function of a low base following prior-cycle losses.
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