Axis Bank Limited

Financial Services — Banks - Regional · NSE

₹1,290.00+₹2.00 (+0.16%)

DalalBaazaar Score

80 / 100

🟢 Strong

Verdict

ATTRACTIVE

Risk

Low

Driven by negative free cash flow.

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, with both sales and profits growing well. Cash generation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:00 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

The 60-second version of Axis Bank Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Axis Bank Limited provides various financial products and services in India and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Treasury, Retail Banking, Corporate/Wholesale Banking, and Other Banking Business.

IndustryBanks - Regional

SectorFinancial Services

Employees1,01,337

Annual revenue₹88,067 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹88,067 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹30 reaches shareholders as profit. Each of its 1,01,337 employees supports ₹86.9 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹86.9 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are HDFC BANK LTD, ICICI BANK LTD., KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK LTD, STATE BANK OF INDIA. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

Compared side by side in Peers ↓

What is its competitive advantage?Not assessable from these ratios

For a lender, returns on capital are shaped by leverage and funding cost rather than by pricing power, so the usual financial signature of an advantage does not apply. Judge this one on deposit franchise, cost of funds and asset quality — none of which are in this data.

Peer median ROE15.2%

What is the outlook?

41 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 15.2% and earnings to grow about 16.8% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+15.2%

Est. earnings growth+16.8%

Analysts41

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +41% while net margin moved +73% relative to itself. What this cannot tell you is which products, customers or geographies did the work — that lives in the segment disclosures of the annual report.

Revenue effect+41%

Margin effect+73%

DalalBaazaar Score

80/ 100

Strong

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Beta of 0.42 — historically steadier than the index
✓ Large-cap: deep liquidity and broad analyst coverage
✗ Negative free cash flow means dependence on external funding

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

83/ 100

Excellent

How good the business is, ignoring the share price entirely.

Valuation

70/ 100

Cheap

What you are being asked to pay, ignoring how good the business is.

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework is built to look for.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

14.5x

3Y Median

14.5x

40 monthly readings · mean 19.0x · range 11.6x–36.1x

Sector Median

17.0x

median of 4 sector peers

🟡Currently trading close to its 3y median of 14.5x — the market is paying about what it usually pays for this company.

🟡Against its sector it is priced broadly in line with the peer median of 17.0x.

vs. its own history

Fair

14.5x median over 40 months · +0%

vs. sector peers

Fair

17.0x median of 4 peers · -15%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

—

PEG

0.42

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 8.3% to 12.3%.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

Nothing stands out as clearly deteriorating on the years of data available.

Red Flags

1 item require attention · 1 watch

🟡Low reported insider holdingOwnership
Reported insider holding is 3.3%. For Indian companies this field is an unreliable proxy — check the official promoter shareholding in the exchange filing.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Earnings have proved durable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years. Consistency lowers the risk that any single bad year is structural rather than cyclical.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

No clear risk case emerges from the available numbers — which is not the same as there being none.

🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today

1Revenue growth stays above 9% a year✓ 12.2% CAGR
Latest reported year was 14.0%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2Return on equity stays above 11%✓ 13.4%
For a lender this is the cleanest single read on whether the book is being grown profitably.
3Valuation vs its own median of 14.5x✓ 14.5x today
A re-rating above its own history needs a reason; without one it is just a higher price.

Investment Checklist

6 / 10 checks passed

✗ Strong return on equity (ROE ≥ 15%)
✓ Healthy net margin (≥ 10%)
✗ Generates positive free cash flow
✗ Manageable leverage (Debt/Equity < 1.0)
✓ Revenue growing year-over-year
✓ Profit growing year-over-year
✓ Not trading at an extreme valuation (P/E < 40x)
✓ Not buying right at the 52-week high
✓ Analyst consensus isn't majority-sell
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

5 good · 5 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹4.02 L Cr

Large Cap

Large, widely-covered business — typically the steadiest of the bands

P/E (Trailing)

14.5x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

1.80x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹88.93

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

13.4%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

Not meaningful

N/A for lenders

Banks and NBFCs don't report capital employed the way other businesses do

Debt/Equity

1.30x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

14.0%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

21.8%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.08%

Modest

Small cash return — most of the return has to come from the price

Free Cash Flow

-₹10,847 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

10.7x

Improving

Below the trailing multiple — the street expects earnings to grow into the price

ROA

1.5%

Weak

Assets generate little profit

Operating Margin

49.2%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

36.0%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.42

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

52%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

1242.4 / 1244.7

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

73.9

Overbought zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹62,416 Cr	₹76,603 Cr	₹84,668 Cr	₹88,067 Cr	+12.2%
PAT (Net Profit)	₹10,818 Cr	₹26,386 Cr	₹28,055 Cr	₹26,385 Cr	+34.6%
EPS	₹35.04	₹85.01	₹90.18	₹84.48	+34.1%
ROE	8.3%	16.8%	15.0%	12.3%	—
Total Debt	₹1.98 L Cr	₹2.28 L Cr	₹2.21 L Cr	₹2.81 L Cr	+12.2%
Free Cash Flow	₹20,685 Cr	-₹7,940 Cr	₹41,938 Cr	-₹10,847 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 12.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 34.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 34.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 8.3% to 12.3% over 3 years (+3.9 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 12.2% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹20,685 Cr to -₹10,847 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹19.46 L Cr

Total Liabilities

₹17.30 L Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹1.18 L Cr

Operating Cash Flow

-₹8,637 Cr

Capex

-₹2,210 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

70.4%

Insider Holding

3.3%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

17 Oct 2026

Dividend Rate

₹1

Ex-Dividend Date

10 Jul 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

40 Buy · 1 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹1,582.37

+22.7% vs CMP

Target Range

₹1,450 – ₹1,740

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
HDFC BANK LTD	15.9x	13.8%
ICICI BANK LTD.	18.1x	16.5%
KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK LTD	21.9x	11.2%
STATE BANK OF INDIA	10.3x	15.2%

Recent News

2 positive3 mixed1 general

ICICI Bank vs HDFC Bank vs Axis Bank: Which stock to buy, sell or hold after Q2 results?

Livemint, 18 OctResults

🟡Mixed / dependsA results event. The figures on this page update once the new statements reach the data feed, which usually lags the announcement.

Axis Bank Q2 profit up 38% on loan growth

The Economic Times, 18 OctResults

🟢Potentially positiveReported improvement. Check whether it came from volume, price or a one-off item before treating it as a trend.

Axis Bank Q2 Results: Core Income beats; Asset Quality, slippages better sequentially

CNBC TV18, 17 OctResults

🟡Mixed / dependsA results event. The figures on this page update once the new statements reach the data feed, which usually lags the announcement.

Axis Bank Q2 FY27 Results: Has Beaten the Nifty This Year. Will Earnings Extend the Run?

NiftyTrader, 17 OctResults

🟡Mixed / dependsA results event. The figures on this page update once the new statements reach the data feed, which usually lags the announcement.

Axis Bank Q2 results: Net profit jumps 38% YoY to ₹7003 crore as provisions fall 50%; GNPA at 1.16%

Upstox, 17 OctResults

🟢Potentially positiveReported improvement. Check whether it came from volume, price or a one-off item before treating it as a trend.

Axis Bank grants stock options to employees By Investing.com

Investing.com India, 15 Oct

Watch Items

This is a financial-sector business: borrowing is its raw material, not leverage in the usual sense. Debt/Equity and ROCE here aren't comparable to a manufacturer's — read them alongside NIM, GNPA and capital adequacy from the company's own disclosures.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.
Reported insider holding is low — cross-check the official promoter shareholding % in the company's exchange filing.
RSI is in overbought territory — momentum entries here carry more short-term pullback risk.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Growth · Profitability · Valuation · Risk

Points for each in the Score ↑

Attractive on both counts

A good business currently available at an undemanding price — the combination this framework exists to look for. The work left is qualitative: whether the advantage the numbers imply is one you can identify and expect to last.

All 3 tripwires holding · see Key things to watch ↑