CARTRADE Q2 FY27 Earnings Call: Record 36% EBITDA Margin, Guides 30-35% OLX Growth

CARTRADE held its Q2 FY27 earnings call on October 28, 2026. Here's a quick read of what management said — performance, strategy, and the outlook ahead.

Record Topline and EBITDA Inflection, But PAT Growth Muted

• Record revenue of Rs.213 cr — total income hit an all-time high of Rs.236 cr; revenue from operations rose Rs.12 cr QoQ from Rs.201 cr in Q1 FY 2026-2027 and +10% YoY; H1 FY 2026-2027 revenue up 13% YoY.
• EBITDA of Rs.76 cr, up 20% YoY and 20% QoQ — margin expanded to 36% (vs 33% QoQ, 31% YoY); H1 FY 2026-2027 EBITDA up 30% YoY at 34% margin (vs 29% in H1 FY 2025-2026); adjusted EBITDA crossed Rs.106 cr.
• PBT at all-time high Rs.85.45 cr — but growth contained at ~7% by lower other income; PAT of Rs.66 cr grew only 3% YoY (vs Rs.64 cr in Q2 FY 2025-2026).
• PAT bridge is base-driven — management attributed muted PAT growth to Rs.10 cr of OLX write-backs in Q2 FY 2025-2026 (Rs.14 cr in FY 2025-2026) inflating prior-year other income, and OLX turning tax-positive in FY 2026-2027 versus tax shelters in FY 2025-2026.
• Cash reserves crossed Rs.1,400 cr as of 30 September 2026; trailing 4-year CAGRs of PAT 60%, revenue 24%, EBITDA 74%, with EPS up ~7x; employee costs up only 6% YoY, cited as evidence of operating leverage.
• Platform scale of 76 million MAUs — 96% organic traffic, 500 physical locations, and an auction run-rate of 1.6 million vehicles per year in Q2 FY 2026-2027.

OLX Records Best-Ever Quarter; Consumer Group Moderates on Base Effect

• OLX delivered its highest-ever revenue, +26% YoY (H1 +28%); EBITDA +36% (highest ever) at 32% margins; PAT declined as other income fell from Rs.13.51 cr to Rs.4.41 cr on write-back comparisons and tax rose 58% YoY.
• Consumer group (new cars) slowed to +4% YoY revenue — EBITDA +5% at 41% margin, PAT +13%; H1 FY 2026-2027 revenue +10%, EBITDA +16%; management flagged the GST reduction of 22 September (FY 2025-2026) and an exceptionally strong Q2 FY 2025-2026 (+37% growth); two-year CAGR in the new car business is ~20%.
• Remarketing (SAMIL) revenue +12% YoY (H1 +13%), EBITDA +29% at 30% margins, PAT +47% YoY; growth was driven primarily by the retail online-auction business (highest margins), with repossession also growing; ~1.56 million vehicles listed, of which 2.35 million auctioned on an annualized basis per the Q2 FY 2026-2027 investor presentation.
• Standalone revenue growth decelerated to 4% from 18% in Q1 FY 2026-2027 — management attributed the deceleration entirely to the high base created when Q2 FY 2025-2026 grew 37% after the GST rate cut of 22 September 2025 (FY 2025-2026).
• Revenue mix broadly unchanged — OEM-versus-dealer split steady at roughly 65-70% across used and new in Q2 FY 2026-2027; within the consumer business, OEM rose to ~74% of revenue per CFO Anisha Bhandari, a 3-4% increase from the ~70% historical level; ARPUs stable.
• Intersegment elimination clarified — CFO Anisha Bhandari said the elimination seen in Q1 and Q2 FY 2026-2027 relates to the used car business transferred between entities, which is not consolidated.

Traffic Normalizes Off GST-Spike Base; New Products Drive Monetization

• Monthly unique traffic of 43 million, down 18% YoY and 9% QoQ — management attributed the decline to the GST-driven price-check/inquiry surge that inflated the year-ago base (traffic spiked from 44 million to 52.5 million in Q2 FY 2025-2026) and to the festival season starting ~10 days later in FY 2026-2027, shifting September uplift into October (Q3 FY 2026-2027).
• No AI impact on genuine users — lead numbers and monetized metrics are stable; 96% organic traffic in Q2 FY 2026-2027 supports user-quality control and marketing cost discipline. Management declined to give traffic guidance and does not expect a repeat of the GST-driven inquiry traffic since vehicle pricing is now clear.
• 6-7 new products launched in the current quarter — with trade-in agents, loan agents and other products also coming in Q3 FY 2026-2027; a price-check/buy-shop product on the new auto side launched in Q2 FY 2026-2027, with new auto products coming over the next 6 months.
• OLX buyer-side monetization begins — buyers outnumber sellers ~6x and monetization is almost entirely seller-side; the Elite Buyer program (live only ~30 days) has seen massive uptake and is expected to become one of the largest parts of OLX's business; Elite Seller is already a significant part of seller revenue.
• OLX Allied buyers continue to grow — after 1 lakh (100,000) buyers disclosed in July (Q2 FY 2026-2027) and a press release flagging 5,000+ daily buyer additions on some days, management declined to quantify the current run-rate, promising an update in Q3 FY 2026-2027.
• OLX e-commerce build-out in development — escrow + logistics platform for non-auto (mobiles) and auto (cars), go-live expected in the coming quarters; management cited ~25% of India's mobile phones as sold via OLX.

Vaya Live Positioned as Flagship; Landmark Partnership Over Full-Stack

• Vaya Live, called "pathbreaking," has two products — Vaya for Business (OEMs/dealers understanding product market performance) and Vaya for Consumer (a sales agent; sellers upload 5 photos to instantly get a customer, price and condition report); management is "very hopeful" of rollout for both OEMs and consumers sometime in Q3 FY 2026-2027, currently in testing.
• Vaya investment is not material — built on AI code using only proprietary data (not LLM data, which would incur heavy token costs), leveraging millions of consumers and sellers across CarWale and OLX; management does not expect any material change in tech/IT costs, with active optimization of token/compute spend.
• Moat claim on proprietary data — Vinay Sanghi said Vaya is built completely on intelligence and proprietary data (buyers, sellers, vehicles, platform behavior), making it "impossible for someone else to do"; management expects it to become one of the flagship automotive products in the country over the next 1-3 quarters (Q3 FY 2026-2027 onward).
• Landmark tie-up chosen over full-stack — for a curated marketplace within CarWale/OLX, CarTrade deliberately chose partnership: Landmark handles the physical/operational heavy lifting (storage, buying, selling) while CarTrade contributes technology, product and customer-facing capabilities.
• Landmark financial terms still open — whether CarTrade invests a portion of the working capital is still being worked out, contingent on how much margin it wants to share; no commitment was made on the call.
• Marketplace base of ~65% of cars sold in India — CarWale/OLX operates as an Amazon-like open marketplace where ~65% of all cars sold in India are listed for sale (FY 2026-2027), cited as the base for the curated-marketplace offering.

Digital Shift Intact; Online Still Only ~18-20% of OEM Spend

• No reversal in OEM digital spend — management sees no shift away from digital; OEM online spends have been rising over the last few years while offline spends remain measured, as online offers performance-based outcomes; the consumer group has compounded at ~26% CAGR over the last 5 years (through FY 2026-2027).
• Online captures only ~18-20% of total OEM spend as of FY 2026-2027 — management expects online digital spends to keep rising over the next 2-3 years (through ~FY 2029-2030), noting that in most countries online already accounts for 40-60% of such spends while India is still at an early stage (industry context).
• Channel roles distinguished — per management, if an OEM has to sell a car or bike the number-one destination would be CarWale, but for building a product brand from scratch OEMs may use television or YouTube.
• Used-car financing integration started — integration with banks has begun and more banks are being evaluated; early days, but management said it could be very significant in 12 months from now (i.e., FY 2027-2028).
• Employee cost reallocation toward OLX — Q2 FY 2026-2027 employee costs: OLX up 15-16% QoQ while consumer (CarWale) down 12% QoQ, a deliberate reallocation; management expects this structure to remain stable. Other expenses grew 22% in Q2 (~24% H1), attributed by the CFO to fixed procured tech and license costs.

Best-Ever Q3 Expected; No Growth Guidance; Buyback Blocked by Regulation

• Q3 FY 2026-2027 guided qualitatively as "best in our history ever" — management declined guidance on specific growth rates (declining a 16-18% consumer growth scenario from Nippon AIF's Vivek Doshi) and did not endorse a 20% two-year CAGR implying sequential acceleration; October 2026 is expected to be the best-ever month for the new auto business, aided by the delayed festive season.
• Base effects dominate the near-term optics — the year-ago Q2 FY 2025-2026 base was very heavy with abnormal 37% growth; management said it is hard to predict whether 20% growth returns in one or two quarters (H2 FY 2026-2027) and is "very confident" of surpassing the consumer business's previously reported Rs.86 crore revenue level for a new high.
• OLX expected to accelerate — management expects OLX growth to surpass Q2's 26% rate and cross 30-35% in the coming quarters of FY 2026-2027, driven by existing products, new product adoption, the Landmark partnership and an e-commerce launch; growth is largely from existing products, with new products (currently a little below 10-15% of OLX revenue) adding on top.
• Margin trajectory toward 40% group margins (period unspecified) — with costs flat, management sees margin expansion including OLX and CarWale gains; expects similar sequential EBITDA growth in Q3 FY 2026-2027 to the 20% QoQ (Rs.13 cr) seen in Q2.
• Rs.1,000 cr profit goal reiterated — management reiterated its goal of Rs.1,000 cr profit "in the next four to five years," with Q2 FY 2026-2027 PBT of Rs.86 cr described as directional progress.
• Cash earmarked for M&A or distribution, but buyback/dividend currently not permitted by regulation — no suitable M&A found in the past 2-3 years; tax shelters are exhausted at OLX but remain in standalone, so distribution is currently blocked; management said this will not change in FY 2026-2027 and the tax benefit continues for one to two more years beyond FY 2026-2027 — a FY 2027-2028 buyback suggested by an analyst was not confirmed.
• FADA data point cited — FADA reported Navratri FY 2026-2027 vehicle sales were lower than Navratri FY 2025-2026, which management attributed to the prior-year period's pent-up demand from the GST reduction; ESOP dilution called insignificant, with no significant shareholder dilution expected.