UltraTech Cement vs Ambuja Cements (2026): Which Cement Stock Is Stronger?

UltraTech vs Ambuja financial comparison

Which company is bigger: UltraTech or Ambuja?

UltraTech is considerably larger by both listed market value and cement manufacturing capacity.

UltraTech's current market capitalisation is approximately ₹3.48 lakh crore, compared with about ₹1.08 lakh crore for Ambuja.

In April 2026, UltraTech announced that it had crossed 200.1 MTPA of domestic cement capacity. Including 5.4 MTPA across the UAE, Bahrain and Sri Lanka, consolidated global capacity reached 205.5 MTPA.

Ambuja reported 109 MTPA consolidated capacity for FY2025-26 and is targeting 119 MTPA by FY2026-27.

UltraTech therefore has roughly 1.9 times Ambuja's reported capacity base using these latest official figures.

How do UltraTech and Ambuja differ strategically?

UltraTech is extending an already dominant operating network, while Ambuja is rapidly assembling and integrating a larger national platform through organic projects and acquisitions.

UltraTech's strategy

UltraTech's FY2025-26 results describe a capacity expansion programme that added 8 MTPA during the year, followed by another 8.7 MTPA commissioned in April 2026.

Those April additions included grinding capacity in Shahjahanpur, Visakhapatnam and Patratu. UltraTech stated that FY2025-26 capital expenditure was ₹9,600 crore.

The strategic advantage is scale already in operation. Its challenge is preserving return ratios while continuing to allocate very large amounts of capital.

Ambuja's strategy

Ambuja is pursuing a faster consolidation model. Its FY2025-26 report says capacity increased from 89 MTPA to 109 MTPA during the year.

The company says it spent ₹12,965 crore on organic and inorganic growth in FY2025-26, including 10.7 MTPA of organic additions, 8.5 MTPA of inorganic additions and 0.75 MTPA of debottlenecking.

Its next challenge is not simply adding capacity. Management itself is emphasising stabilisation and utilisation of the enlarged asset base.

Which company is growing faster right now?

UltraTech currently shows much stronger recent quarterly growth in Bull Run's financial snapshot.

UltraTech's year-on-year quarterly sales growth is approximately 15.85%, while quarterly profit growth is around 16.77%.

Ambuja's comparable current fields show sales down approximately 7.67% year on year and profit down about 26.77%.

One quarter should not determine a long-term investment view. Cement dispatch timing, prices, acquired businesses, costs and base effects can materially affect quarterly comparisons. But the latest snapshot clearly favours UltraTech on current earnings momentum.

Which is cheaper: UltraTech or Ambuja Cements?

Ambuja is substantially cheaper on both earnings and book-value multiples.

UltraTech trades at roughly 40.78x earnings, above Bull Run's current cement-industry P/E of 32.46x. Ambuja trades at approximately 24.71x, below that industry benchmark.

On price-to-book, UltraTech is around 4.54x versus Ambuja at roughly 1.82x.

This is a meaningful valuation gap. Investors are paying UltraTech a premium for its scale, stronger returns, operating consistency and cash-generation history.

Ambuja's lower multiple partly reflects the need to prove that acquisition integration, utilisation and cost reductions can translate into stronger consolidated returns.

Which has better ROE and ROCE?

UltraTech currently has the better return ratios.

UltraTech's ROE is approximately 11.08% compared with Ambuja's 8.38%. Its ROCE is approximately 12.27%, more than double Ambuja's 4.88% current reading.

ROCE is especially important in cement because the industry requires substantial investment in plants, grinding units, logistics, mining, renewable power and distribution.

Capacity growth is valuable only if incremental capital eventually produces acceptable operating profit. UltraTech's current ROCE gives it a meaningful advantage on that measure.

Which company has better margins?

Ambuja currently reports the higher net profit margin, although the gap is not large.

Ambuja's current net profit margin in Bull Run's dataset is about 10.98%, compared with approximately 9.29% for UltraTech.

Margin comparison should be interpreted alongside ROCE and cash flow. A company can report a healthy accounting margin while generating weaker returns on a larger asset base.

That is exactly why Ambuja's higher margin does not automatically overturn UltraTech's ROCE advantage.

Which has the stronger balance sheet?

Ambuja currently has the lower leverage and higher interest coverage.

Ambuja's debt-to-equity ratio is effectively zero in Bull Run's current snapshot. UltraTech's is approximately 0.30.

UltraTech is not highly leveraged on this measure, but Ambuja clearly carries less debt relative to equity.

Ambuja's interest coverage is approximately 15.66x, versus UltraTech at around 6.85x.

UltraTech's current ratio is about 0.74x compared with Ambuja's roughly 1.05x. Cement businesses do not need to be analysed like retailers or lenders, but the difference provides additional balance-sheet context.

Which has better cash-flow quality?

UltraTech currently has the stronger operating cash conversion and a substantial verified five-year free-cash-flow record in Bull Run's dataset.

UltraTech's operating cash flow to net profit ratio is approximately 1.88x, compared with Ambuja at around 1.13x.

Both ratios above 1x are encouraging because operating cash flow exceeds reported net profit in the relevant measure. UltraTech nevertheless has the stronger conversion.

Bull Run also currently records approximately ₹15,612 crore of five-year free cash flow for UltraTech. That is significant because cement expansion is capital intensive.

Comparable five-year Ambuja free-cash-flow data is not populated in the same current database field, so this comparison should not manufacture a like-for-like number.

UltraTech vs Ambuja promoter, FII and DII holdings

Ambuja has the higher promoter holding, while UltraTech has substantially higher FII ownership. Neither currently shows promoter pledging.

Ownership changes should not be treated as buy or sell signals. They are most useful when they reinforce or contradict changes in business fundamentals.

Which stock has performed better over the last year?

UltraTech has materially outperformed Ambuja over the latest one-year period, although both returns are negative.

UltraTech is approximately 12% below its 52-week high, while Ambuja is roughly 31% below its 52-week high in the current Bull Run dataset.

That difference suggests the market has preserved a significantly greater portion of UltraTech's valuation through the recent period.

What do the current technical indicators show?

Both stocks are below their 20-day moving averages, but Ambuja is further below its long-term 200-day average.

UltraTech is trading close to its 50-day and 100-day moving averages, while Ambuja remains further below its medium- and long-term averages. That is descriptive market context, not a forecast.

UltraTech's biggest advantage: scale that already exists

UltraTech's clearest competitive advantage is that much of its extraordinary scale is already commissioned rather than merely planned.

Its April 2026 capacity update states that domestic capacity reached 200.1 MTPA after commissioning 8.7 MTPA across three new grinding units.

Including international operations, global cement capacity reached 205.5 MTPA.

Scale can create advantages through procurement, freight optimisation, distribution reach, branding, product breadth and fixed-cost absorption. But the benefit is not automatic. UltraTech still needs to maintain utilisation and returns on the enormous capital committed to the network.

Ambuja's biggest opportunity: closing the efficiency gap

Ambuja's opportunity is not simply catching UltraTech on capacity; it is improving utilisation and returns across a rapidly enlarged asset base.

The company's FY2025-26 report describes a 109 MTPA platform and a 119 MTPA FY2026-27 target. It also says acquired assets reached 58% utilisation and that management is increasingly focused on stabilisation and scale-up.

If integration and cost reductions improve ROCE without requiring disproportionate new capital, Ambuja's current valuation discount to UltraTech becomes more interesting.

If capacity grows faster than profitable utilisation, the lower multiple may prove justified.

UltraTech strengths and risks

Ambuja strengths and risks

UltraTech Cement vs Ambuja Cements FAQs

Which company is bigger?

UltraTech. Its market capitalisation is approximately ₹3.48 lakh crore versus ₹1.08 lakh crore for Ambuja, and its reported cement capacity is substantially larger.

Which is cheaper?

Ambuja. It trades at roughly 24.71x earnings versus UltraTech at approximately 40.78x.

Which has better ROCE?

UltraTech. Current ROCE is approximately 12.27%, compared with Ambuja at 4.88%.

Which has better ROE?

UltraTech. Current ROE is approximately 11.08% versus 8.38% for Ambuja.

Which has less debt?

Ambuja. Its current debt-to-equity ratio is close to zero, compared with about 0.30 for UltraTech.

Which has better recent growth?

UltraTech. Bull Run's latest quarterly fields show positive year-on-year sales and profit growth for UltraTech and negative growth for Ambuja.

Which has the higher Bull Run Score?

The scores are nearly identical: Ambuja is 54.8/100 and UltraTech is 54.3/100. The individual underlying metrics matter more than the 0.5-point difference.

Research sources

• Bull Run: UltraTech Cement fundamentals and share-price analysis
• Bull Run: Ambuja Cements fundamentals and share-price analysis
• Bull Run: Indian cement-sector companies
• UltraTech official 200 MTPA capacity announcement, April 2026
• UltraTech official FY2025-26 results and expansion disclosure
• Ambuja Cements Integrated Report 2025-26
• Ambuja Cements FY2025-26 strategic priorities and capacity investment