IZIZ's six-month profit rose 21-fold, but operating cash was only a tenth of profit (October 25, 2026)

IZIZ's six-month profit climbed nearly 21-fold. But how much of it turned into operating cash for a buyer facing today's buy queue? Iranian Zinc Industries' unaudited standalone statements for the six months ended September 22, 2026 answer that question: net profit was 7,033,243 million rials and net cash from operations was 719,957 million rials. That difference, set against surging zinc ingot exports, is the test of the opportunity, rather than the queue itself.

Background

Iranian Zinc Industries trades as IZIZ on Farabourse's first market. It sells zinc ingots domestically and abroad and separately reports service revenue related to zinc ingots. The value of the share depends on whether sales endure and convert into cash. Accounting profit can be booked before a customer pays, while equipment and materials consume cash. This explains the mechanism; it does not establish that overdue receivables caused this particular gap. The income and cash figures here come from Codal tracing number 1611166; the monthly sales figures come from amended letter 1613482. The interim financial statements were unaudited when this report was prepared.

The figures

The standalone income statement for the half-year ended September 22, 2026 reports revenue of 21,424,559 million rials against a restated 4,195,735 million rials for the comparable period ended September 22, 2025. That is calculated growth of 410.6%. Gross profit was 6,715,748 million rials against 364,155 million rials. Net profit rose from a restated 337,834 million rials to 7,033,243 million rials, a ratio of 20.8 to one, rounded to 21-fold in the headline. On the same standalone basis and for the same six-month periods, net operating cash flow rose from 145,263 million rials to 719,957 million rials. Cash from operations divided by net profit is 10.2%. Cash improved, but not as fast as reported earnings.

The amended monthly filing supplies a separate check on the sales total: for the six months to September 22, 2026, zinc ingot exports totalled 9,753,063 million rials, domestic sales 8,997,062 million rials, and services 2,674,434 million rials. The three add exactly to the income statement's 21,424,559 million rials. Exports account for 45.5% of that total. An earlier July activity letter, tracing number 1578598, recorded 4,564,551 million rials of cumulative exports to July 22, 2026. The amended September letter then records 7,294,013 million rials through August 22 and 2,459,050 million rials during September itself. That dated trail makes the export figure more than a single day's sale, without promising that future selling rates will persist.

Drivers

The foreign sales of zinc ingots are sensitive to volume and the rial value recognised per unit of export. The amended letter records 401 units sold overseas in the month to September 22, 2026, for 2,459,050 million rials. A change in volume or the rate at which foreign-currency proceeds are translated would change reported rial revenue. Simply annualising a strong half-year would ignore that channel.

On Farabourse's board as read at 17:33 Tehran time on October 25, 2026, IZIZ showed a still-revisable closing-price reading of 14,640 rials and a buy queue of 26,446,854 shares at the 14,640-rial daily ceiling. Only 2,794,161 shares actually traded in the session. An unfilled bid is not a transaction and need not offer a buyer entry at that price. The exchange may revise today's price and volume until its nightly record settles. The IZIZ page on Sahmino shows subsequent price readings beside the company's details.

Outlook

Growth in sales and earnings is the attraction, but the cash-flow statement supplies the counterargument. For the half-year to September 22, 2026, the company spent 688,984 million rials on tangible fixed assets, nearly all of its 719,957 million rials of operating cash inflow. The simple difference is 30,973 million rials before other investing and financing transactions. That subtraction is a specific cash-coverage test, not the company's formally reported free cash flow. The comparable operating cash inflow was just 145,263 million rials a year earlier: the correct verdict is weak cash conversion relative to profit, not an absence of cash growth.

Valuation offers a conditional second test. The official Farabourse instrument card read on October 25, 2026 put twelve-month earnings per share at 3,004 rials and the basic-metals sector P/E at 6.63. At the exchange's 17:33 price reading of 14,640 rials, IZIZ's corresponding P/E was approximately 4.87. If earnings of 3,004 rials per share and the 6.63 sector multiple both survive until the nine-month filing, their product is a hypothetical value of 19,917 rials, not a market promise. Either lower earnings or a lower sector multiple reduces the result. Sahmino's recorded stance for the October 24 session was watch, not a buy call with a target and stop; the scenario levels below are this report's reading. A check in Sahmino's screener on October 25, 2026 found five qualifying names in basic metals when restricted to a trailing P/E below 5 and year-on-year revenue growth above 100%, among shares with available readings. IZIZ was one of the five. The filter by itself does not measure cash quality.

Conclusion

The opening question has a measurable answer: in the six months to September 22, 2026, standalone operating cash flow at IZIZ was only 10.2% of standalone net profit, although both grew from the comparable period. This report's reading: if the buy queue clears and IZIZ trades in the 14,220 to 14,640 rial range, its conditional valuation target is 19,917 rials; this requires twelve-month EPS to hold at 3,004 rials and the sector multiple at 6.63; the horizon is the nine-month report; a closing price below 13,810 rials or falling twelve-month EPS invalidates it. The 13,810-rial reference is the October 21 close; today's price remains revisable until the exchange's overnight settlement.

What to follow

In Sahmino's screener, select basic metals, a trailing P/E below 5 and year-on-year revenue growth above 100%. Then open the IZIZ page to compare earnings with operating cash and see whether the queue actually clears in the next session. Compare the next monthly zinc export and total sales figures with September 2026. When the nine-month financial statement arrives, check whether operating cash and EPS confirm the half-year result. If profit holds but cash does not catch up, the valuation scenario rests on weaker support.