Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Sterlite Technologies Limited Q4 FY 2026 earnings conference call. Before we proceed with the call, let me remind you that the discussion may contain forward-looking statements that may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. It must be viewed in conjunction with our business risks that could cause future results, performance or achievement to differ significantly from what is expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Please note that we have uploaded the results and earnings call presentation on STL's website, and the same is available on the exchange. In case if you not have received the same, you can write to us, and we'll be happy to send the same to you.
To take us through the results and answer your questions today, we have the senior management of Sterlite Technologies Limited be presented by Mr Ankit Agarwal, the Managing Director, and Mr. Ajay Jhanjhari, Chief Financial Officer. We will start the call with a brief overview of the quarter gone past and then conduct the Q&A session. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing Star then Zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I will now hand over the call to Mr. Ankit. Thank you and over to you, sir.
Yeah, good day, everyone, thank you for joining STL's Quarter four and FY 2026 earnings call. I'll begin by highlighting the key takeaways from my investor presentation, then Ajay will walk you through the financials. STL is a global leader in digital connectivity infrastructure, serving telcos, data centers, citizen networks and large enterprises. Our portfolio spans fiber to fiber optic cables, specialty cables and connectivity products. We're India's number one end-to-end optical manufacturer with over 8% global optical fiber cable market share outside of China and with more than 30+ years of leadership, close to almost 800 patents and 10+ zero waste manufacturing facilities worldwide. STL is truly leading the next wave of global digital structure. At STL, we are amongst very few companies in the world that have mastered the journey from glass to gigabit.
It starts with the purest grade of silicon, which we transform through advanced processes like silicon tetrachloride formation, chemical vapor deposition and high precision sintering to create ultra-pure glass preforms, which is truly the backbone of optical fiber around the world. From there, we draw the highest grade fiber, design high density cables, and develop reliable connectivity products that power data centers and telecom networks around the world. This deep integration, right from raw material to network deployment, gives STL a unique edge in quality, cost efficiency and innovation across the connectivity value chain. This deep integration enables us to engineer next generation fiber cable and connectivity solutions that are redefining global connectivity. Our end-to-end innovation from material science to smart optical systems help global network builders create faster, denser and more reliable networks for the AI era.
As we look forward to FY 2027, our priorities are defined. We are focused on expanding our OFC market share while meaningfully increasing connectivity attach rates across deployments. At the same time, we aim to scale the contribution from our enterprise and data center segments, underpinned by continued technology leadership and a relentless focus on cost optimization. Moving on, we will now speak about the industry tailwinds and the growing market opportunity. We are at the intersection of three powerful multi-year and investment cycles. FTTx, data centers and 5G are creating a strong structural tailwind for the optical infrastructure. FTTx is accelerating globally, with deployments rising to 151 million fiber kilometers in 2025, going up to 170 million fiber kilometers by 2030.
Just in the U.S. alone, over 100 million homes will be served by fiber by 2030, supported by large government projects like BEAD and BharatNet in India. Data centers are simply the fastest growing driver for fiber demand. CRU projects that 40% of global growth in optical cable demand from data centers in 2026 alone, driven by hyperscale expansion and AI workloads. North America installed DC capacity is expected to more than double from 60 GW in 2025 to almost 115 GW by 2030. Hyperscaler DC CapEx is expected to increase to a whopping $762 billion. 5G is scaling rapidly, with 6.4 billion subscriptions expected to go to by 2030 and carrying 80% of all mobile traffic. This requires massive fiber haul, backhaul, front haul and network densification across the board.
Together, these three cycles are creating a structural multi-year demand tailwind for the fiber and connectivity, positioning STL at the center of next global digital infrastructure buildout. Next, we show how global telecom and big tech giants are aligned in backing optical fiber as the base of digital future across 5G broadband data centers and AI infrastructure. The takeaway is very simple: Fiber remains at the backbone of all of the digital infrastructure. Moving on to slide 7 shows how the AI revolution and rapid data center expansion are creating once in a generation opportunity for optical connectivity. As per sources, by 2030, nearly 70% of data center demand will be AI-led, driving a sharp increase in CapEx and infrastructure intensity.
GPU architectures are rapidly shifting from 400 gig to 800 gig and all the way to 1.6 Tb . Speeds where copper reaches its bandwidth threshold and fiber becomes essential. Simultaneously, AI workloads are creating dense fiber interconnections, exponentially increasing fiber per rack, and every new data center adds multiplies this demand. This is not just a matter of scale, it's a step change in fiber intensity. With our Neuralis end-to-end AI DC portfolio, STL is uniquely positioned to capture this multi-year structural growth opportunity. We will cover Neuralis in more detail in the upcoming slides. I'll now address India's data center movement. India data center expansion is emerging as one of the most compelling structural tailwinds of optical fiber, we're uniquely positioned to capture it. You would have read recently in news about the tremendous updates in Vizag as well.
Installed capacity is set to grow to 5x from 1.4 GW in 2025 to 8 GW by 2030. What makes this cycle particularly powerful is the breadth of commitment that hyperscalers like Google and Microsoft are deploying tens of billions of dollars. Indian conglomerates like Adani Group and Reliance Industries are anchoring gigawatt campuses, and even domestic majors like Tata Consultancy Services are laying out long-term capacity plans. This is a diversified and resilient demand base. A supportive policy environment, state incentives, power availability and benefits, and tax holidays extending to 2047 is further de-risking and accelerating the build-out. Every dollar of data center CapEx has a direct multiplier fiber intensity across DCI, metro and long-haul networks, with optical cable demand projected to grow at 11% CAGR through 2030. This is not a cyclical uptick.
It's a durable, high visibility growth opportunity playing out right here in our home market in India. According to CRU, global optical cable demand growth for 2026 has been upgraded to about 6.8% year-on-year, following stabilization in 2025, led by mainly the North America's data center build-out and improved execution in China. Importantly, demand is now consistently outpacing domestic supply in North America, keeping lead times tight. Looking ahead, North America is set to be the main growth engine powered by AI-led data centers, DCI builds and the continued FTTH expansion. CRU expects it to deliver the strongest regional CAGR of 15% all the way to 2030. Overall, this points to a sustained multi-upcycle in fiber demand, with North America and APAC ex China both core STL focus market drivers growth.
We are also seeing positive momentum in India, Southeast Asia and parts of Europe, which are closely aligned with our stated strategy. We're successfully seizing new market opportunities, a trend that is clearly visible in our record order book intake this year. In FY 2026, order inflows more than doubled to INR 7,687 crores, up 109% year-on-year as compared to INR 3,672 crores in FY 2025. This momentum has been driven by a series of strategic wins, including large scale data center projects, predominantly in North America, and long-term orders which were secured from tier one telecom operators in India. Importantly, our order book today is well diversified with a healthy mix of order intakes from all customer segments and product categories across regions.
Our innovation, as we've always stated, continues to be a key differentiator for STL, and this quarter we made strong progress across next generation optical and data center technologies. The launch of India's first Hollow Core Fiber cable marks a defining milestone in STL's innovation journey and reinforces our leadership in AI-ready digital infrastructure. This breakthrough enables ultra-low latency and high bandwidth connectivity critical for hyperscalers and next generation data centers. As for current data, the Hollow Core Fiber is expected to reduce the latency between 35%-40% in the network, which will be a huge breakthrough. As some of you may have seen, STL launched Neuralis, our flagship AI era data center connectivity portfolio in the U.S. at Data Center World 2026. I will cover about that in detail in the next slide.
Our innovation engine is backed by deep IP portfolio of over 780 patents, with 21 new filings this quarter, and has been recognized through multiple global awards. Overall, these advancements reinforce our position as a technology leader, building future-ready capabilities that align closely with AI cloud and high-performance network demands. Slide 17 presents our latest launch of Neuralis, which is our purpose-built portfolio for the AI era of data centers. It addresses two mission-critical needs: AI wide switch connectivity and high-speed DCI, where fiber density, speeds and simplicity matter the most. With pre-terminated fiber trunks, high-density arrays, Celesta IBR cables scaling up to close to 7,000 fibers and intelligent enclosures, Neuralis enables faster deployment and massive GPU clustering.
Leveraging STL's full integration from glass to preform to pre-terminated assemblies, Neuralis reduces deployment complexity and accelerates time to service, which is critical for data centers. Supported by local manufacturing in South Carolina, this launch strengthens our position within U.S. hyperscalers as well as the upcoming neo cloud providers. Slide 18 highlights STL leadership in multi-core fiber, key enabler for quantum safe as well as multi-terabit networks. Multi-core fiber allows between 4x to 7x higher capacity within the same physical footprint, improving space efficiency while lowering deployment infrastructure costs, making it ideal for AI data center, long haul, 5G and high performance interconnects. We have shown strong capability enabling India's first quantum key distribution over multi-core, completing live 100 km testing. Becoming the first globally to deploy MCF in both aerial and underground networks, further validated by our latest successful trials with Colt, a leading operator in the U.K.
Overall, this positions STL as a forefront of quantum safe next-generation optical networks with strong relevance for global hyperscalers and carriers. As a continuation from our previous call, we have made successful progress on a 2 next-generation fiber platform, G.654.E, as well as Hollow Core Fiber, both designed to address the rapidly evolving requirements of modern connectivity network. Since then, G.654.E has been successfully launched and also secured our first commercial order, validating strong customer interest. With its 30% lower signal loss, larger core, which will enable higher power, ultra-long haul DWDM and D-DCI applications. In parallel, we have launched India's first Hollow Core Fiber, as I mentioned, a cable with a true step-change technology where light travels through an air-filled core, delivering 30%-47% lower latency, with supporting bandwidth from 800 gig to 106 Tb and beyond.
Together, these platforms significantly strengthen STL's leadership in high-performance optical networks and position us to be a select group of global players shaping the future of fast, low latency AI infrastructure. On market position and attach rate trends, our global ex-China of OFC market share remains stable at around 8% in FY 2026, demonstrating resilient execution in a challenging environment marked by U.S. tariff impacts and germanium constraints that we spoke about earlier. We remain focused on steadily building our share over time. In optical connectivity, attach rates moderated 15% from FY 2026 from 22% in FY 2025. This was primarily driven by product mix and project timing, along with sharp acceleration of OFC revenues, leading to a higher base. The moderation is temporary, the long-term opportunity of connectivity remains very strong.
Our connectivity is expanding, and we're increasingly focusing on selling integrated solutions rather than standalone products. Taken together, this shows that our core OFC business is stable, while there's a clear runway to drive higher value through attaching long growth over the medium term. I will now hand over to Ajay to take you through the financials.
Thank you, Ankit, and thanks to everyone for joining us today. I'll take you through the key financial highlights for Q4 and FY 2026. STL delivered a strong Q4 finish and solid full-year performance. Q4 FY 2026 revenue stood at INR 1,441 crore, reflecting strong 37% year-on-year growth momentum. EBITDA margins expanded to 15.1%, supported by scale benefits and better product mix. For the full year, revenue increased to INR 4,745 crore, with EBITDA rising to INR 628 crore, or 39% year-on-year growth, with margin improving to 13.2%. PAT also turned positive in Q4 and for the full year, reflecting improved profitability and execution. Overall, the performance reflects our focus on disciplined growth, margin expansion, and stronger bottom-line outcomes.
As you can see in slide 25, despite a challenging external environment, we have delivered consistent operational margin expansion over the last six quarters. Operational EBITDA improved to 15.1% in Q4 FY 2026, driven by higher utilization, a stronger product mix, and operating leverage. While U.S. tariff headwinds have meaningfully moderated from peak levels, adding margin, we are seeing new near-term cost pressures from geopolitical disruptions driven by war in West Asia, particularly impacting helium and polymer inputs. Despite these headwinds, our structural margin profile continues to expand in line with our guidance of 20% at reported level by end of the current fiscal. On segment side, telecom and citizen network remains the core contributors, while enterprise and data centers moderated to 19% in FY 2026, primarily due to decline in our copper business because of higher LME prices.
Looking ahead, with accelerating AI data center investments and pipeline visibility, we expect the enterprise and data center segment to scale up to 30% of revenues in the current fiscal. From a geographic standpoint, our revenue mix continues to diversify. North America share increased from 25% in FY 2025 to 39% in FY 2026, while Europe remains a significant contributor at 40%. This balanced regional footprint reduces concentration risk and positions us well to capture growth across key global markets. Moving to the order book. We have seen strong momentum this fiscal. Our open order book stood at INR 7,309 crore in FY 2026, up 67% from INR 4,378 crore in FY 2025, reflecting healthy order inflows and strong market confidence.
Of this, INR 1,468 crore is slated for execution in Q1 FY 2027, while the remaining order is scheduled for execution over Q2 FY 2027 and beyond. This robust order pipeline provides strong revenue visibility and reinforces our growth outlook for the year. On slide 28, we have shared a brief snapshot of our reported numbers for your reference. Net debt stands at INR 1,128 crore, with debt to equity of 0.5 and net debt to EBITDA at 1.3x, comfortably below our earlier target of 2x, with a revised ambition of moving below 1.2x. Turning to our IT services business, STL Digital, for FY 2026. Digital revenue closed at INR 284 crore compared to INR 290 crore last year, while EBITDA improved meaningfully to INR 3 crore, reversing a loss position in FY 2025.
This demonstrates our clear focus on sustained profitable growth rather than scale at any cost. In Q4, we added a new U.K.-based healthcare client, expanding our footprint in data engineering, analytics, and product services. With nine new customer logos added in FY 2026, our total customer base now stands at 35. With this now, I hand it over back to Ankit for updates on our social responsibility initiatives and closing remarks.
Thank you, Ajay. STL CSR initiatives continue to create a strong and measured impact across healthcare and education. This is all aligned with our philosophy that we must give back to society in which we operate. Our flagship healthcare program, Swasthya Suraksha, won the Best Rural Healthcare Initiative for the year 2025 at the Indian Social Impact Awards, recognizing its sustained contribution for rural and tribal healthcare. Education, the RoboEdge program received the Best Education Support Initiative of the year 2025 at the Indian CSR Awards, advancing STEM learning and innovation. RoboEdge students also excelled globally at the International Robo Tech Olympiad 2025, winning multiple podium positions. Nine students representing India showcasing talent, teamwork, and innovation, reflecting India's commitment, STL's commitment to build a stronger future-ready society. At STL, sustainability is simply central to our purpose.
We're proud to hold our S&P Global A rating and are committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2030. Our strategy is built on three pillars. Environmental sustainability. Since FY 2019, we diverted 282,000 metric tons of waste, recycled almost 11 million metric cube of water, and reduced over 440 tons of carbon emissions through energy efficiency. Over 36% of our procurement is local, and we partner with Hygenco to advance green hydrogen successfully. Social responsibility. Aligned with the 16 United Nations SDGs, we positively impacted 20,000+ lives through education, women's empowerment, and healthcare, alongside installing 4,500 kWh of solar capacity. With two Big Four auditors and robust governance committees, we earned 100+ ESG awards in FY 2019.
Notably, STL is the world's first optical fiber manufacturer certified for zero liquid discharge and zero waste to landfill, setting a truly industry benchmark. Let me close with our focus areas. Our goal is driving technology and cost leadership, growing its market in focus markets, increasing connectivity attach rates, and rapidly scaling the revenue contribution from our data center business. This trend in STL's role is a clear enabler of the global digital infrastructure. With this, I'll close my opening remarks and hand it over to operator to open the floor for questions. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star then one on their touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Please note, in order to ensure that the management will be able to address questions from all the participants in the conference, kindly limit your questions to two per participant. Should you have a follow-up question, please rejoin the queue.
Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Aniruddha Pandhare from Param Capital. Please go ahead.
Hi.
Please, you're audible.
Yeah. Hi, Ankit. Congrats on the great results.
Yeah.
Can you give us some indication on the current utilization levels and any sort of guidance going forward?
I won't comment on specific utilization, but, you know, broadly it's improved slightly. As I said, we've folded out, it's, you know, we continue to have constraints with some of our raw materials. We do expect those, you know, the constraints to reduce quarter on quarter, as I've been stating. It's more of the same.
Okay. Okay. I mean, an extension of that question probably since you mentioned raw materials. Any update on the germanium or helium? We had seen significant, I believe, cost inflation there as well.
The costs continue to be quite high or very high. As I said, more importantly for us is getting the availability itself. That is something that continues to be a challenge, but we do expect it to improve quarter on quarter.
Okay. I mean, is there a number sort of how far ahead do we have the, you know, sort of the stocks? Like, is it two quarters, three quarters, four quarters?
Yeah. I mean, As I said, we have some amount of volume, you know, for the rest of the year. It is about, you know, optimizing and getting more so that we can, you know, further utilize our factories. There is some good amount of base we have, and we are continuing to try to get more.
Sure. Sure. Great. Thanks.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of [Aman Saifi] from [Scallion Asset]. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you so much for the opportunity. I hope I'm audible.
It's a little hazy to hear, but go ahead.
Yeah. I just wanted to understand on the recent QIP approval, is it just a enabling resolution to maintain capital raising flexibility?
I'm sorry to interrupt. Aman, would you please use your handset mode?
Yeah. Is it better now?
Yeah, please proceed.
I just wanted to understand on the recent QIP approval, is it purely a enabling resolution to maintain capital raising flexibility, or is there any funding requirement already identified? On the context on the recent capital infusion from the parent level, how should we think about the incremental capital needs for Sterlite Tech?
I'll answer in two parts. The first one on the fundraising. This has always been a enabling resolution which we take year on year basis. This year also this needs to be considered as a enabling. Right now there are certain CapEx plans which we are having. We do expect that in near term we will focus on our technology leadership and upgrading our asset base to support high value data center portfolio offerings, which can have a approximate investment of INR 500 crore.
Got it. Got it. Understood. Sir, my second question would be the kind of tailwind we have been, you know, hearing on the data center side. How should we look at our growth numbers since our order book itself has, you know, gone up significantly this quarter? Growth rates and probably the margin guidances you can provide for next year?
Actually, we don't provide this kind of guidance. As we've been sharing, we are very focused on both the data center segment and the telecom segment. As Ajay said, we are looking at a CapEx about INR 500 crores. As you can appreciate that that's happening on the back of our, you know, understanding and visibility of the market and the opportunities. You know, broadly, I would share that we continue to remain excited about the opportunities, and we are focused on capturing, you know, more and more share of this market.
Fair. Fair. Sir, what would be our data center share?
Sorry to interrupt. Aman, please rejoin the queue for more questions.
Yeah, sure.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nikhil from Nomura. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity and congratulations on very strong number, especially [deal rent]. Ankit, I have one question for you and one for Ajay. Ankit, basically, I need some color if you can provide. The strong order book this quarter, was it volume driven purely or you have seen improvement in realization? As well as, if you can quantify contribution from data center within this, if possible.
Nikhil, I can't give you color. I'll have to be black and white. In seriousness.
The data center contribution.
We don't break that out. I think we've called out broadly the data center and enterprise. As you can see, the absolute number is growing and we did have slightly lower, you know, copper sales. Overall, it's in the right direction. I think, you know, as we've discussed and we've shared on these calls, we continue to work on, you know, securing long-term contracts and relationships, both with telecom operators as well as data centers. That's moving in the right direction.
Got it. Okay. That was helpful. Second, for Ajay. Ajay, I think you commented two incremental point. What is, I think you upfronted the guidance of reaching 30% from enterprise data center compared to earlier guidance of 12-18 months. Second, you also, I guess if I heard it currently, correctly, you mentioned that by end of this year, Q4, you will achieve 20% in EBITDA margin. Just wanted to understand the lever for the margin and what changed in what quarter which, you know, gave you confidence of upfronting this guidance. Thank you.
These are interlinked. Actually, Nikhil, if you see in proportion to our increase in the data center revenue, we are going to witness a good jump in the margins as well. In all our assumptions, we have kept the tariff at the current rate. That is something which we will have to adapt for going forward. But right now, if we achieve that 30% rate, which looks like if we do the right execution, we can reach there. We do target to have it by the end of the Q4, the margins which I have mentioned.
Got it, Ajay. Again, very helpful, and congratulations on very strong quarter and best of luck for coming period.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rahil Dasani from MAPL. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, I'm audible?
Yes.
Good afternoon. First of all, thank you for this opportunity, and congrats on a good set of numbers. A few basic questions to begin with. What's our IBR capacity at as of date, and what are our plans to increase it, if any?
Sorry, Rahil, we don't disclose capacity.
Got it. Okay. Would you be able to share how much of our total preform requirement do we buy from outside as of date, and how much will this increase to as and when we start utilizing optimum capacity of 80%-85%?
Sorry, Rahil, we don't disclose any of these things.
Got it. Got it. Okay. Maybe what we can try is on the hyperscaler side, why is the hyperscaler and DC sales volumes not picking up as much for us, while our global as well as local player, the peers are scaling up very well and shifting majority capacities to reach demand. Are we seeing any product quality issues, especially with the 1,728 and 2,456 fiber count, hence we are not getting approved by these hyperscalers?
Well, I don't know what to say. I, there's none of all these, none of these things exist what you mentioned. We're very well-placed with the data center and telco business, and I think we are d oing quite, yeah.
Got it. One last question would be when are we.
I'm sorry to interrupt, Rahil. Please rejoin the queue for more questions.
Sure.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Saurabh Jain from Sunidhi Securities. Please go ahead.
Hello. Congratulations to the entire team for the wonderful performance. Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, my first question is, during, you know, Q4 OSB prices have witnessed a very sharp increase, particularly from late December or early January. How has been the trend in the realizations of late across the standard OFC and high-frequency data center cables? How is the, you know, difference in prices and what's the delta in margins playing out lately? How are we going to, you know, evolve the mix in our favor?
Thank you. I would kind of reiterate what we've been saying through previous calls. We do not play in the spot market and, you know, we do not sell in the spot market. We are very, very focused on long-term contracts with our select customers globally, particularly in Europe and U.S. and in India. You know, that's how we look at it. Of course, at any point, if, for example, raw materials or freight or anything is going up and down or tariff, then those are conversations we have with our customers, and we look to see how we can, you know, adjust those things.
I am aware that the fiber optic prices have increased, you know, particularly in China and in some other places. We are not selling for many of these applications or to these spot opportunities. At a macro level, I would say that yes, the margin profile of selling to the data centers is better. These are very advanced and patented products that we create. More and more of what we sell to this market will be an end-to-end solution, thereby improving, you know, our profitability going forward.
Okay. Also if you can, you know, talk about the pipeline and conversion pipeline of large hyperscaler deals. Are we moving towards any multi-year capacity reservation agreements like our global peers? What we are listening yesterday on the conference call, Corning mentioned that after Meta, they have signed two more such similar size and similar tenure deals. Can we expect something like that? Are we in talks with any of these hyperscalers?
Yeah. I mean, I won't comment on any specific names or what our competition has done. We continue to remain very focused and quite excited about, you know, securing long-term contracts both with telecom operators as well as data center companies. We are making good progress, both in terms of our conversations as well as in terms of our product portfolio and readiness. Yeah, I would broadly say we are quite well-placed. You know, accordingly, as we make progress, we're happy to share that with you.
Okay. That's all. Thank you and wish you all the best.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Akshat Mehta from Seven Rivers Holding. Please go ahead.
Hello, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. My first question is on the margin, sir. Given that this quarter has seen part impact of, you know, the U.S. tariffs coming down, you know, how should we look at, you know, margins going forward, when the full impact of the U.S. tariff coming from 50%- 15% will come? Should it be similar or should it be probably higher somewhat?
See, last quarter, at least in Q4, there was a slight impact only because of the reduction in tariffs because we need to sell goods in advance to our subsidiaries and all. Going forward in Q1, there will be a positive impact on account of tariff while our revenue is expected to increase further from U.S. operations. There is one more counterpart to it, which is the cost which is increasing significantly due to this war issue. Broadly there will be an improvement in the overall margin profile, but that won't be similar to what we are reflecting here. Like, it will have some impact of the cost increase as well.
Okay. Should it be at similar levels to what is in Q4?
It should be, well, I can't give any guidance on that, but it should be on an improving stage from Q4.
My second question is on the fact that you said.
I'm sorry to interrupt. I'm sorry to interrupt you, Mehta.
No, this is my second question, ma'am.
Hello. Yeah. I just wanted to, you know, double-check on the thing that you said that you don't really sell in the spot market, right? You know, what is kind of stopping us from, you know, diverting a few million kilometers of the capacity to sell in the spot market except for, you know, on a principle basis or on a value basis to take advantage of this opportunity?
I mean, look, I think it's, you know, we've been in this business for 30 years. I've been in this business 16 years. You know, I think our learnings from that is that, you know, what you want to really make sure and go out of your way is that you're having, you know, a large portion of your capacity catering to the right kind of customers who are building and co-developing with you in terms of products. It's truly a long-term partnership. That's the philosophy we've chosen. It requires a certain amount of discipline because it's easy to get excited about some of these spot prices. We've chosen that path of discipline, focus on R&D, and creating long-term value. That's the reason.
Okay. Thank you, Ankit.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of [Pushkar Jain] from Mili Capital . Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir. Am I audible?
Yes.
Yeah. We were actually, looking at a PPT of Umicore. They had some exclusive tie-up with you for germanium. Is that, is their entire capacity enough for us or we'll need more? Is the supply started for the same?
Sorry, I mean, for confidential reasons we cannot share where we stand on this or our suppliers. It is an important raw material and, like helium and some others, and, we continue to take strategic actions.
Okay, sir. Post this CapEx, can we at least tell what will be our capacity for fiber and OFC?
Sorry. We're not gonna be disclosing capacities going forward.
Okay. Thanks a lot, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of A. Balasubramanian from Arihant Capital. Please go ahead.
Good evening, sir. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Congratulations for good set of numbers. My first question on the data center side, I think STL are launching advanced products like, you know, Neuralis, Hollow Core Fiber, G.654.E, and I think many products are under pipeline. If you look at on the international market, big players are taking billion-dollar orders, especially for data center and generative AI and enterprise side. I'm trying to understand whether is there any active pipeline or RFQ we have. Even this, data center hyperscaler, customers, they are willing to fund and they're willing to, for a rich, risk sharing agreements. They are more aggressive on building data centers, especially for AI side.
I'm trying to understand whether our products, like, how we are getting orders, whether we have a pipeline of any billion-dollar orders, especially, long term, maybe three to five years timeframes side. If you could share your thought process on the industry levels and how our products are fit into the market?
Thank you. I think broadly, you know, I would say that we've done some good work. I'm very proud of our team in terms of the product portfolio we've created. Neuralis is truly cutting edge what we've launched. It's truly a great solution that we believe will serve the Data Center World. I think we're well-placed, I think, in terms of our portfolio, in terms of the work that we've done. We are, you know, We do have some good customers. We are, you know, working well with them in terms of looking at their long-term requirements. As we continue to make progress and as we continue to grow with them, we'll continue to update you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sunny Grewal from Emkay Ventures. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Thanks for taking my question and congratulations on a good set of numbers. My question is on the optical interconnect segment. We have seen some, in my understanding, some stagnation in the revenue in FY 2026. If we have to, say, look at the next two to three years, how should we look at this segment, in terms of the growth trajectory? Earlier we used to look at 50% attach rates. How are we thinking about that now, going forward?
Thank you, Sunny. Look, I think structurally, yes, the attach rate percentage-wise has come down. I think it's largely a timing and mix related factors. There's no change in structural demand. I think we've been working hard on this for a few years now, building our product portfolio. We've also been working closely with customers to co-develop it for them. I do see this, that, you know, at least on an absolute basis, the revenue should continue to increase over time. There are also certain connectivity products that are required for the data center segment, which we are evaluating and looking at. I think combine both of these, what are the attach rates required for the home portfolio, home connectivity, as well as data center connectivity.
I do see this growing year-on-year going forward.
Good. The rate of change will be visible in the near term, or this will take some time in terms of starting to reflect on the revenue growth?
I would say broadly over the year you will see the growth. It's tough to kind of predict the timing because of the approval process and cycle. We are making progress quarter on quarter for sure.
Sure. My second question is more on the medium-term outlook. Historically, we have seen cyclicality play a role in the optical fiber demand. Based on our past learnings across cycles, like, how are we looking to, like, reduce or rationalize that risk of cyclicality? How successful have we been in terms of getting some longer tenure contracts, better visibility over same, two to three years? We see that the near-term demand remains robust, assuming that there is some slowdown or some cyclicality in the demand, how are we looking to kind of reduce that risk per se?
I think both, you know, I would cover it in three ways. One, I think at a principal level, we do strongly believe that, you know, these are kind of multiple tailwinds in parallel. You've got, you know, 5G, 6G coming up in a couple of years, you've got fiber to the home. You've got rural massive connectivity that'll happen with BEAD, BharatNet and everything else. You've got optical fiber for drone applications, which I think are currently in couple of places but could spread, you know, further. You've got this kind of, you know, multifold growth because of the data center side. You know, you, at some level, we do believe that these are tailwinds over a longer period of time, number one .
It's not just the telco up and down cycle that we're dealing with, so that gives us some level of confidence. I think to your point, I think it's back to what I've been sharing so far, is that we are very focused on the longer term contracts rather than playing in the spot market or trying to make a quick buck. You know, we do expect that we will make, you know, good progress on this quarter-on-quarter.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Saket Kapoor from Kapoor and Company. Please go ahead. Mr. Kapoor, your line is unmuted. Please proceed.
Yeah. Hello.
Yes.
Please proceed
[Non-English content] sir. Hope I'm audible.
Yes.
Sir, firstly, pertaining to this Prysmian Cables litigation, what is the last we have heard on the same and any date that we have for the litigation, or at what stage are we? Sir, secondly, in continuation to the tariff part, we have also seen that the U.S. government has been asked to revert the amount which they have collected as tariff. I think so we have paid tariff on the sales that we have done to the U.S., the geography of U.S. Where are we in terms of these two aspects, sir?
Yeah. Thank you. I think on the legal matter, we had filed our appeal in September 2025. That's where it is. That's progressing. As I said, we continue to believe we have a very strong case. We do and hope for a favorable outcome in that matter. I think in terms of the tariff rebate, you're right. There is a process that's got kick-started in the U.S. for, you know, repayment of tariff to the importer on record. To that extent, we will follow that process, but we can't give a clear timeline right now of when and how much of those refunds will come.
We can probably update you know, in the next earnings call.
Sir, what amount we have paid as tariff is there with you, so that you can share. Whatever is the refund that will happen in due course, but you can share the amount at least how much we have paid as tariff. I think the 6%-7% of EBITDA was negated because of this, if I remember correctly, in the last quarter or the before quarter when the tariffs were at 50%.
I think broadly it'll be north of INR 100 crores.
North of INR 100 crores. Actually sir, hypothetically, with this judgment.
Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Kapoor.
Madam, I will just conclude.
We don't have any further questions.
Won't be getting the opportunity again, ma'am. Just a small point. Sir, in case the judgment comes, do we have any other option to appeal higher or what would be the process going ahead with the Prysmian part? I think so that's a huge liability of INR 100 million. Sir, n ext step.
Yeah. There's in fact two more steps. One, currently this is in a bench of three judges. You can then appeal to ask for all the judges to be present and to again evaluate the matter. If again after that, then again we have, we can appeal to the Supreme Court. There are two more stages so-called after this.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Tej Patel from Niveshaay. Please go ahead.
Hello. Thank you for the opportunity and congratulations on a good set of number. Sir, now bringing back to the earlier participant's question. I know, you know, we have been in discussion with the hyperscalers, you know, since so long, you are making good progress, right? You know, given our capabilities, you know, I'm just trying to understand there should be some progress made, right?
I just wanted to understand what could be the timeline, you know, where we can look to close this, let's say orders or deals or, you know, any LOIs with the hyperscalers, because it's almost like three to four months we are into discussion and then, you know, we have, I mean, let's say domestic peers, global players, you know, getting those orders. Just wanted to understand, you know, what are the timelines on these orders or, you know, are we facing any problems on that side?
No. As I said, at least I don't think we are facing any orders. We are continuing to expand our product portfolio that can serve this market. We've got, you know, good feedback from our customers. We continue to get orders from them. We are. As I said, we're making good progress with the hyperscalers in terms of, you know, what could a longer-term partnership be. That's the conversations that are going on.
Okay. Are we, at least in the testing mode of our products with the hyperscalers?
I think we already said last quarter on we are actively now supplying into this market.
Got it. Got it. Sir, I think we were upgrading our line to the IBR for higher fiber counts. Is the CapEx on track? I think it was supposed to get live by June 2026, right?
We don't comment about specific product lines, et cetera, so I won't be able to comment on that.
Okay, sir. I've got it. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. With this, we conclude our call. I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Thank you everyone for taking your time to hear us out. We remain excited and motivated to drive this business forward and to unlock its full potential. Through our efforts, we see a tremendous opportunity to connect the unconnected across the world, and especially here in India. We truly believe STL is well-positioned to play a pivotal role in building the digital infrastructure of the future and of our country. We're happy to take any questions of yours. For any queries or qualifications, you can reach out to our investor relations team. Ajay and I will both be available. Once again, thank you for your time and your continued support. [Non-English content]
Thank you very much. On behalf of Sterlite Technologies Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you all for joining us today, and you may now disconnect your lines.