HDFC Bank’s share price has come under pressure in 2026, declining around 29% year-to-date (YTD), as investors assess the private lender’s growth momentum, margin performance and leadership transition.
However, domestic brokerage firm Anand Rathi has maintained its ‘Buy’ rating on the stock, with a target price of ₹966 per share, citing reasonable valuations and favourable sector tailwinds.
The brokerage, however, believes there is still a long road ahead for HDFC Bank to catch up with ICICI Bank on key operating metrics, particularly credit growth, net interest margins (NIM) and return on equity (RoE).
According to Anand Rathi, HDFC Bank’s loan growth picked up to 16.4% year-on-year (YoY) in the September quarter of FY27 (Q2FY27). However, excluding the impact of foreign currency non-resident (FCNR-B) deposits, underlying credit growth stood at 14.4%, lagging the industry and private sector banking peers, including ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
Corporate and small and medium enterprise (SME) loans led growth, rising 16.4% and 23.5% YoY, respectively. Retail advances grew 12.2%, marking a recovery from six consecutive quarters of single-digit growth, partly supported by FCNR-B-linked self-leveraged loans.