From ₹16 to ₹840: A Kanpur investor's 3-point strategy for spotting multibaggers
For Ekansh Mittal, the world of small- and micro-cap investing is not for the faint-hearted. It is a high-risk, high-reward arena, where the fine line between a value buy and a value trap often decides the fate of an investment.
- Sep 20, 2025,
- Updated Sep 24, 2025 5:41 PM IST
Lucknow-born investor Ekansh Mittal began charting his course in the stock market while still pursuing his BTech degree. With a father who was a broker and a member of the now-defunct UP Stock Exchange, investing was almost second nature to him. So much so that he made his first three stock purchases before even completing graduation, setting the stage for what would become a lifelong passion.
Of those early bets namely Camson Bio Technologies (suspended for trading in May 2020), Confidence Petroleum India and Micro Technologies (delisted in June 2018), only one company remains listed today, underscoring the inherent risks in the small and microcap segment. Yet, the journey that began nearly 17 years ago has delivered remarkable returns for Mittal.
Mittal’s portfolio has thrown up multibaggers such as Fiem Industries, LT Foods and Time Technoplast, delivering strong absolute returns. One standout, Carysil, surged nearly 5,150 per cent, from around Rs 16 a share in 2010–11 to about Rs 840 today, cementing his belief in the power of patience and conviction.
Cera Sanitaryware Ltd was a high-conviction bet for Mittal. ‘It was my favourite,’ he recalls, noting that he deployed a significant sum relative to his portfolio size in 2011, before exiting the investment a decade later during 2020–2021.
Mittal says he reads a lot, not necessarily investing books. His favourite is Homo Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari.
Value matters
For Mittal, the world of small- and micro-cap investing is not for the faint-hearted. It is a high-risk, high-reward arena, where the fine line between a value buy and a value trap often decides the fate of an investment.
In a telephonic conversation with Business Today, Mittal — a SEBI-registered analyst and founder of Kanpur based-equity research services Katalyst Wealth, was quick to sound a note of caution. The stocks that delivered extraordinary returns for him in the past, he emphasised, are not necessarily the ones he would recommend today. Markets evolve, businesses change, and yesterday’s multibagger may not hold the same promise tomorrow.
Initial journey
Ekansh’s tryst with investing started early. By the time the global financial crisis struck in 2008, he already had a demat account in place. While most students his age were preoccupied with campus life, Mittal was busy tracking markets and placing his first trades.
He went on to complete his BTech from an engineering college in Noida (NCR) in 2010. But even before collecting his graduation certificate, his passion for investing had found another outlet, blogging. Writing about businesses, valuations, and market opportunities soon became his way of refining his own ideas while also connecting with a growing community of like-minded investors. Last heard, he had 13,400 X followers.
Mittal founded Katalyst Research in 2011 and got his SEBI registration as research analyst in 2015.
Big opportunity
In the past few years, the smallcap carnage of 2018-2020 came in as opportunity for Mittal. The stocks got beaten down to low multiples, screaming buy opportunities.
Back in 2020, Ekansh Mittal’s bet on FIEM Industries paid off handsomely. Over the last five years, the stock delivered a staggering 10–11 times return for him. His conviction in LT Foods, a leading basmati rice player, also turned into a rewarding ride. And then there was Time Technoplast — a stock Mittal continued to hold with confidence.
Markets, however, are not always so generous. Mittal recalls December 2024, when smallcaps corrected nearly 25 per cent. For him, that steep fall opened another sweet entry window. But he admits, finding value today is far trickier than it was back in 2019.
The investing style
At the core of Mittal’s approach lies a simple mantra: good businesses at reasonable valuations.
Take FIEM Industries. Mittal bought into the two-wheeler headlamp maker in 2019 at around Rs 180-odd level. The company, which supplies to the likes of TVS, Honda, Royal Enfield, Yamaha and even Harley Davidson, was out of favour. Volumes were declining in the two-wheeler industry, and the looming EV shift spooked investors. Yet, FIEM’s financial performance was steady, and there was no real risk to the business model.
“I was able to buy it cheap because the industry itself was in a downcycle,” Mittal says. FIEM added new clients, shifted from halogen to LED lamps, and expanded wallet share with existing customers through value-added products. The stock now trades at Rs 2,099 apiece — more than ten times Mittal’s entry price.
The story with LT Foods was similar. While its rival KRBL enjoyed premium valuations with its India Gate brand, LT Foods’ Daawat label was the second-largest in the segment, with strong exposure to the US. Yet, the stock traded at just 8–10 times earnings, weighed down by perceptions around commodity businesses.
Mittal felt the market was missing something. Unlike peers, LT Foods managed its margins well despite the challenges of paddy price fluctuations and working capital debt. Debt levels were stable relative to rising scale of operations, and the company was expanding into new categories like health and convenience foods, while securing healthy realisations overseas. “The fundamentals clearly warranted higher valuations,” Mittal recalled.
The 3-point strategy
Mittal cautions investors against equating a falling stock with value. “A lot of new investors tend to make mistakes when a stock falls 30 per cent,” he says. “One should look at three factors: valuations, business outlook, and the shareholder base at the peak price.”
If a stock once traded at 80 times earnings-- due to say being in fancy sector -- drops 30 per cent, it still commands 60 times, hardly a bargain, he explained.
Similarly, if the number of shareholders at the peak stock price has surged, chances are smart money is exiting, leaving retail investors to hold the bag.
On the subject of F&O trading, Mittal does not mince words. “Even SEBI data shows 90 out of 100 investors lose money. Of those who gain, maybe 5 per cent would beat fixed deposit returns. Unless you are willing to treat losses as tuition fees and learn with patience, F&O is not worth dabbling in.”
For Mittal, investing is not about chasing fads or panic-buying dips. It is about patience, discipline, and finding businesses where value still hides in plain sight. Conviction, bought at the right price, compounds into multibagger returns.
Lucknow-born investor Ekansh Mittal began charting his course in the stock market while still pursuing his BTech degree. With a father who was a broker and a member of the now-defunct UP Stock Exchange, investing was almost second nature to him. So much so that he made his first three stock purchases before even completing graduation, setting the stage for what would become a lifelong passion.
Of those early bets namely Camson Bio Technologies (suspended for trading in May 2020), Confidence Petroleum India and Micro Technologies (delisted in June 2018), only one company remains listed today, underscoring the inherent risks in the small and microcap segment. Yet, the journey that began nearly 17 years ago has delivered remarkable returns for Mittal.
Mittal’s portfolio has thrown up multibaggers such as Fiem Industries, LT Foods and Time Technoplast, delivering strong absolute returns. One standout, Carysil, surged nearly 5,150 per cent, from around Rs 16 a share in 2010–11 to about Rs 840 today, cementing his belief in the power of patience and conviction.
Cera Sanitaryware Ltd was a high-conviction bet for Mittal. ‘It was my favourite,’ he recalls, noting that he deployed a significant sum relative to his portfolio size in 2011, before exiting the investment a decade later during 2020–2021.
Mittal says he reads a lot, not necessarily investing books. His favourite is Homo Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari.
Value matters
For Mittal, the world of small- and micro-cap investing is not for the faint-hearted. It is a high-risk, high-reward arena, where the fine line between a value buy and a value trap often decides the fate of an investment.
In a telephonic conversation with Business Today, Mittal — a SEBI-registered analyst and founder of Kanpur based-equity research services Katalyst Wealth, was quick to sound a note of caution. The stocks that delivered extraordinary returns for him in the past, he emphasised, are not necessarily the ones he would recommend today. Markets evolve, businesses change, and yesterday’s multibagger may not hold the same promise tomorrow.
Initial journey
Ekansh’s tryst with investing started early. By the time the global financial crisis struck in 2008, he already had a demat account in place. While most students his age were preoccupied with campus life, Mittal was busy tracking markets and placing his first trades.
He went on to complete his BTech from an engineering college in Noida (NCR) in 2010. But even before collecting his graduation certificate, his passion for investing had found another outlet, blogging. Writing about businesses, valuations, and market opportunities soon became his way of refining his own ideas while also connecting with a growing community of like-minded investors. Last heard, he had 13,400 X followers.
Mittal founded Katalyst Research in 2011 and got his SEBI registration as research analyst in 2015.
Big opportunity
In the past few years, the smallcap carnage of 2018-2020 came in as opportunity for Mittal. The stocks got beaten down to low multiples, screaming buy opportunities.
Back in 2020, Ekansh Mittal’s bet on FIEM Industries paid off handsomely. Over the last five years, the stock delivered a staggering 10–11 times return for him. His conviction in LT Foods, a leading basmati rice player, also turned into a rewarding ride. And then there was Time Technoplast — a stock Mittal continued to hold with confidence.
Markets, however, are not always so generous. Mittal recalls December 2024, when smallcaps corrected nearly 25 per cent. For him, that steep fall opened another sweet entry window. But he admits, finding value today is far trickier than it was back in 2019.
The investing style
At the core of Mittal’s approach lies a simple mantra: good businesses at reasonable valuations.
Take FIEM Industries. Mittal bought into the two-wheeler headlamp maker in 2019 at around Rs 180-odd level. The company, which supplies to the likes of TVS, Honda, Royal Enfield, Yamaha and even Harley Davidson, was out of favour. Volumes were declining in the two-wheeler industry, and the looming EV shift spooked investors. Yet, FIEM’s financial performance was steady, and there was no real risk to the business model.
“I was able to buy it cheap because the industry itself was in a downcycle,” Mittal says. FIEM added new clients, shifted from halogen to LED lamps, and expanded wallet share with existing customers through value-added products. The stock now trades at Rs 2,099 apiece — more than ten times Mittal’s entry price.
The story with LT Foods was similar. While its rival KRBL enjoyed premium valuations with its India Gate brand, LT Foods’ Daawat label was the second-largest in the segment, with strong exposure to the US. Yet, the stock traded at just 8–10 times earnings, weighed down by perceptions around commodity businesses.
Mittal felt the market was missing something. Unlike peers, LT Foods managed its margins well despite the challenges of paddy price fluctuations and working capital debt. Debt levels were stable relative to rising scale of operations, and the company was expanding into new categories like health and convenience foods, while securing healthy realisations overseas. “The fundamentals clearly warranted higher valuations,” Mittal recalled.
The 3-point strategy
Mittal cautions investors against equating a falling stock with value. “A lot of new investors tend to make mistakes when a stock falls 30 per cent,” he says. “One should look at three factors: valuations, business outlook, and the shareholder base at the peak price.”
If a stock once traded at 80 times earnings-- due to say being in fancy sector -- drops 30 per cent, it still commands 60 times, hardly a bargain, he explained.
Similarly, if the number of shareholders at the peak stock price has surged, chances are smart money is exiting, leaving retail investors to hold the bag.
On the subject of F&O trading, Mittal does not mince words. “Even SEBI data shows 90 out of 100 investors lose money. Of those who gain, maybe 5 per cent would beat fixed deposit returns. Unless you are willing to treat losses as tuition fees and learn with patience, F&O is not worth dabbling in.”
For Mittal, investing is not about chasing fads or panic-buying dips. It is about patience, discipline, and finding businesses where value still hides in plain sight. Conviction, bought at the right price, compounds into multibagger returns.