Trent Q4 Preview and Result, Key Insights You Must Know

Alright, full honesty? Tracking Trent Ltd. over the last few quarters has felt a bit like riding a rollercoaster blindfolded. Not even kidding, just when you think you’ve got a grip on the trends, boom, something outta left field shows up (usually good news, thankfully). So when I sat down to dig into the Q4 preview and later, the actual Trent results, I knew better than to assume anything.

First, the problem (and tell me if you’ve felt this too): with retail stocks, especially in India’s chaotic growth story, expectations can get totally outta hand. Everybody (analysts, news portals, WhatsApp groups... my own cousin) keeps hyping the "next big quarter" based on random indicators. It messes with your head and worse, your investment decisions.

I learned this the hard way last year. Back in Q3, I loaded up a chunk of Trent shares because everyone was screaming about festive season sales. Yeah, revenue was up about 51% YoY but profit margins took a tiny hit. I didn’t panic-sell (thankfully), but it taught me to look deeper at the numbers, not just headlines.

Now, coming into Q4, here’s the setup we had:

• Everyone was expecting another banger revenue growth quarter because Westside and Zudio continued expanding like crazy.
• Street estimates were betting on a 40-45% YoY revenue jump, helped by new store additions (~35 stores opened in Q4 alone, if my notes are right).
• Profit margin pressure was expected to ease a bit with stabilized input costs.
• Same-store sales growth (SSSG) was projected to stay healthy, around 15-18%.

Spoiler alert: they did pretty much hit those expectations, but not without a few surprises.

When Trent dropped its Q4 results, here’s what stood out to me:

• Revenue: ₹3,497 crore (up 51% YoY), absolutely monstrous.
• Net Profit: ₹219 crore (versus ₹147 crore YoY), a solid 49% jump.
• EBITDA Margins: came in at 16.8%, which was better than even optimistic estimates (most folks thought 16% tops).
• Store Network: now over 500 Zudio stores! Westside added about 9 new outlets.

I actually did a double take when I saw that revenue number. Like, literally refreshed the page twice thinking it was a typo. 😂

The main driver? No shocker, Zudio is printing money. Their mass-market positioning (₹299 kurtis, ₹499 jeans... you get it) is absolutely killing it among India’s aspirational middle class. Westside’s premium fashion is growing too, but Zudio is the rocket fuel.

One thing I didn’t expect and this got me buzzing was how well their online channels performed. Trent’s "Westside.com" and the Tata CLiQ platform saw ~30% YoY digital sales growth. Not huge compared to store sales yet, but it's picking up faster than I personally gave them credit for.

Key Insights You Gotta Know (If You’re Tracking Trent)

1. Zudio is the Core Growth Engine

Forget Westside, forget online... the real story is Zudio. Their focus on Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities is bananas smart. Management basically said they want Zudio to be "ubiquitous" think Reliance Trends but cooler.

👉 If you're modeling future earnings, bake in aggressive Zudio expansion. Trent's capex guidance hints at ~100 new stores in FY26.

2. Margins Are Recovering Faster

I was honestly worried about margins because inflation was squeezing everyone last year. But Trent has crazy cost controls. Their private label strategy (producing their own apparel instead of sourcing big brands) lets them protect margins even if raw material prices wobble.

👉 EBITDA margins trending above 16% is a game-changer for profitability projections.

3. E-Commerce Might Surprise Us

I’m still not 100% convinced Trent can win big online (it’s a street fight out there with Myntra, Amazon, Ajio), but 30% YoY growth is no joke. And they’re not discounting heavily to get it either, which shows some brand loyalty brewing.

👉 Tiny piece of advice? Watch their omni-channel investments closely in future earnings calls.

4. Risk Alert: Valuation Stretched

Look, love Trent to death, but it’s trading at a P/E north of 100x trailing earnings as of these results. That’s nosebleed territory, no sugarcoating it. Any small miss on future growth and the stock could correct, hard.

👉 Don’t just FOMO-buy. Build positions slowly if you believe in the long-term story.

Some Personal Mistakes I Made (And Hopefully You Can Dodge)

During the last earnings cycle, I made the rookie mistake of chasing after earnings day. Like a total noob, bought more shares after the post-result rally, thinking, "Momentum’s my friend." Spoiler: it pulled back 8% over the next month. 📉

Lesson learned: Don’t chase after results-day euphoria. Usually, big gains are already priced in. Instead, use dull periods (a.k.a. when nobody's hyping it) to add.

Also and this is me being super real with you stop obsessing only over revenue growth. I used to just celebrate top-line numbers without checking cash flows. Dumb move. Strong revenue is useless if working capital gets bloated (which thankfully hasn’t happened yet with Trent, but always check!).

Quick Revenue vs Profit Snapshot for Q4

Metric	Q4 FY24	Q4 FY23	YoY Growth
Revenue	₹3,497 crore	₹2,310 crore	+51%
Net Profit	₹219 crore	₹147 crore	+49%
EBITDA Margin	16.8%	15.4%	+140 bps

Yeah, you read that right. They crushed it.

If I had to wrap it up in a nutshell?

Trent's Q4 results show they’re not just surviving they’re thriving.

But the stock's priced like a high-speed Ferrari, not a comfy family sedan. So drive accordingly, friends. 🚗💨

Anyway, that’s my two cents from digging through the weeds. If you’re holding or planning to invest, hope this breakdown helps you dodge some of the mistakes I made. 🙃