Brand equity is usually examined in consumer goods and services, but industrial sectors also carry brands, reputations and trust signals that shape buying decisions and investor attention. This article examines the relationship between brand-equity evidence and financial performance in selected Indian cement and steel companies. The sample covers five cement companies - UltraTech Cement, Ambuja Cements, ACC, Shree Cement and Dalmia Bharat - and five steel companies - Tata Steel, JSW Steel, SAIL, Jindal Steel and Jindal Stainless. Using publicly available FY2024-25 data, the paper combines external brand-value or brand-recognition evidence with accounting indicators such as revenue, EBITDA, profit after tax, EBITDA margin and PAT margin. The findings show that public brand-value evidence is strongest for UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel and JSW Steel, while additional recognition exists for Ambuja and ACC through Indian brand and trust rankings. The financial comparison suggests a clear sector pattern: steel companies dominate in revenue scale, whereas the cement sample reports stronger average EBITDA and PAT margins. The evidence does not support a simple causal claim that brand equity alone improves financial results. It is more consistent with a moderated relationship in which brand equity strengthens visibility, distribution trust and resilience, while sector cycles, input costs and capital intensity shape year-specific profitability. The article contributes to marketing-finance research by extending brand-equity analysis to infrastructure-linked industries and by presenting a transparent framework for operationalising brand-equity evidence when complete company-wise brand-valuation data are not available.