Mumbai-based NRB Bearings, traditionally an auto-ancillary firm, is now diversifying into aerospace and robotics sectors, backed by increasing foreign institutional investor stake and resilient financial performance amidst rising input costs.
Foreign investors have been steadily increasing their exposure to NRB Bearings over the past three years, a pattern that has coincided with a broader shift in the company’s ambitions. The Mumbai-based manufacturer, long associated with automotive bearings, is now trying to position itself across aerospace, robotics, electrification and other precision-engineering markets.
The latest trading update showed that the company continued to grow despite a tougher cost backdrop. Trade Brains reported revenue of ₹370 crore for the quarter, up 19.2% from a year earlier, while standalone sales rose 14.7% and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation climbed 21.7%. Management said margins remained in its preferred 18% to 20% range, even as electricity, logistics and petroleum-linked input costs rose and currency pressure added to expenses.
That operational progress has been matched by a notable change in ownership. Trade Brains said foreign institutional investors lifted their stake from 14.31% in September 2023 to 18.92% by June 2026, with much of the increase coming in the most recent quarter. The same report said the shares recently traded at ₹478.95, giving the company a market value of about ₹4,642 crore and a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77.
The strategic story is now broader than a standard auto-ancillary upgrade. On its recent investor call, NRB Bearings described the shift as a deliberate move built on its existing strengths in engineering, materials and motion control. The company is pushing into aerospace through a newly acquired platform, with a stated goal of ₹300 crore in revenue and ₹90 crore in profit by 2031, and it has also expanded its focus to EV-agnostic applications that can work across petrol, hybrid and electric vehicles. About 70% of its exposure is in shared applications, the company said.
Robotics and automation are emerging as another area of interest, with NRB moving beyond bearings into custom precision components for specific motion problems. Management also pointed to early work in data centre cooling. In the US, the company won its first order from its South Carolina facility, linked to Corvette production and secured through an existing customer. Separately, a planned bearing joint venture has been moved from Hyderabad to Aurangabad, a change the company said was driven by logistics concerns and the availability of a ready facility, helping preserve an April 2027 commissioning target. Moneycontrol reported that NRB is also pursuing a longer-term revenue goal of ₹25 billion by 2031.
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