HDFC Bank share price trades flat after Q3 results. Time to buy the stock?

HDFC Bank share price traded flat on Monday after the largest private sector bank in India reported its Q3 results. HDFC Bank share price fell as much as 0.76% to ₹924.00 apiece on the BSE.

The private sector lender reported a net profit growth of 11.4% year-on-year (YoY) at ₹18,653.75 crore in the third quarter of FY26. Net Interest Income (NII) rose 6.4% to ₹32,615 crore from ₹30,653 crore, YoY. Core net interest margin was at 3.35% on total assets, and 3.51% based on interest earning assets.

Asset quality of HDFC Bank in Q3 weakened sequentially. Gross NPA ratio in Q3FY26 was flat at 1.24%, while net NPA ratio was also flat at 0.42%, QoQ.

In absolute terms, gross NPAs increased 2.59% to ₹35,178.98 crore from ₹34,289.48 crore in the September 2025 quarter, while net NPAs rose 4.66% to ₹11,981.75 crore from ₹11,447.29 crore, QoQ.

While loan growth improved to 12% YoY, deposit growth remained subdued at 11.6% YoY, leading to CD ratio inching up further to 98.7%.

Analysts said HDFC Bank posted an in-line quarter, with the impact of new labor code offset by the release of contingency provisioning.

Should you buy HDFC Bank shares after Q3 results?

Nuvama Institutional Equities said HDFC Bank reported a beat on core PPOP in Q3FY26, driven by higher core non-interest income and lower core opex. Higher trading gains were offset by one-time wage provision for the new labour codes of ₹8 billion

The brokerage firm reiterates a ‘Buy’ rating on HDFC Bank shares on likely improvement in deposit growth, improving NIM and superior asset quality, and maintains its target price of ₹1,170 apiece.

JM Financial said that the stretched CD ratio of 98.7% and low LCR of 116% limits the bank’s ability to sustain higher growth.

“We remain cautious on growth and expect 12.6% loan CAGR over FY26-28E. But we are positive on the bank’s pristine assets quality and margin expansion. We expect it to deliver an average RoA/RoE of 1.83%/14.1% over FY26-28E led by earnings CAGR of 14% over FY26-28E,” JM Financial said.

The brokerage firm downgraded HDFC Bank shares to ‘Add’ from ‘Buy’ earlier, and cut HDFC Bank share price target to ₹1,050 from ₹1,160 earlier, valuing core bank at 2.0x FY28E standalone BVPS, and subsidiaries at ₹149 per share.

Motilal Oswal Financial Services expects HDFC Bank’s deposits to grow faster than advances in FY27, and branch additions will be undertaken in a calibrated manner. The repricing of term deposits, along with an improvement in operating leverage, will support return ratios over the coming years.

The brokerage firm fine-tunes its earnings estimates and projects HDFC Bank to deliver FY27E RoA and RoE of 1.9% and 14.5%. It reiterated a ‘Buy’ call with HDFC Bank share price target ₹1,175 apiece.

HDFC Bank Share Price History

HDFC Bank share price has fallen 6% in one month, and more than 7% in three months. The stock has gained 13% in one year and has rallied 25% in five years.

At 9:50 AM, HDFC Bank share price was trading 0.13% lower at ₹929.90 apiece on the BSE.

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.