BHEL Q3 results preview: Sharp rise in PAT, EBITDA likely; legacy projects may cap margins

BHEL Q3 results preview: State run Capital Goods major Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) is set to announce its financial results for the quarter and nine-months ended on December 31, 2025 quarter on Monday, January 19. The company board is set to meet today for the same. Brokerage firms tracking the issue are largely positive on BHEL, which is expected to post strong year-on-year (YoY) earnings growth in the December 2025 quarter (Q3FY26), led by healthy execution across power and industrial segments. Revenue is seen rising while some analysts pencil more than double jump in Ebitda, aided by operating leverage and improving order mix. Profit is projected to grow sharply year-on-year, with some expectations of manifold rise on a yearly basis, though legacy low-margin projects may cap margins in Q3, with a clear improvement outlook from FY26-end onwards. However, some experts are penciling in weak performance in ebitda and profit on quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) comparison. Nuvama Institutional Equities pencils BHEL's revenue at Rs 8,446.2 crore, up 16 per cent YoY and 12 per cent QoQ. Ebitda is seen at Rs 593.3 crore, up 95 per cent YoY and 2 per cent QoQ. Core PAT is likely to nearly triple on a yearly comparison at Rs 369 crore, but flat sequentially. "We expect Q3 to see the lingering impact of legacy low margin projects (Patratu and Ennore) which may keep results/margins depressed. However Q4FY26 onwards, we expect the newer projects to enter the sales recognition phase which will see a turnaround by FY27," it added. Most optimistic on BHEL, Antique Stock Broking is pegging its revenue at Rs 9,906.1 crore, up 36 per cent YoY and 32 per cent QoQ. Ebitda is seen at Rs 851.9 crore, up 180 per cent YoY and 47 per cent QoQ. Net profit is seen at Rs 517.7 crore, up 315 per cent YoY and 41 per cent QoQ. It sees BHEL's margins expanding 442 bps YoY and retaining BHEL in its top picks from the space. Shares of BHEL recovered from early loss to Rs 263.80 to Rs 267, on Monday with a total market capitalization close to Rs 93,000 crore. The stock hit its 52-week high at Rs 305.85 earlier this month, on January 7, before cracking nearly 14 per cent in less than 2 weeks. JM Financial is expecting BHEL to report a revenue of Rs 8,859 crore, up 22 per cent YoY and 18 per cent QoQ. Ebitda is seen at Rs 646.2 crore, up 112 per cent YoY and 11 per cent QoQ, with EBitda margins coming in at 7.3 per cent. Net profit is seen at Rs 395.2 crore, up 193 per cent YoY and 5 per cent QoQ. JM expects improvement in sales due to healthy order book and execution. It also sees improvement in EBITDA due to operating leverage & better orders’ mix. JM has a 'buy' rating on BHEL with a target price of Rs 363. Kotak Institutional Equities is penciling BHEL's revenue at Rs 8,952.2 crore, up 23 per cent YoY and 19.2 per cent QoQ. Ebitda is seen at Rs 555 crore, up 82.4 per cent YoY, while down 4.5 per cent QoQ, with Ebitda margins improving to 6.2 per cent. Net profit may come in at Rs 203.3 crore, up 62.9 per cent YoY but down 44.8 per cent QoQ. "We expect 23 per cent YoY improvement in revenues driven by power and industrial segments. We expect gross margin to improve by 500 bps over the past two years; YoY deterioration happens over a high base of 3QFY25. We expect employee costs to start rising YoY from Q3," it added.