Mumbai: Bajaj Finance shares took centre stage on Wednesday as investors reacted to the NBFC’s September-quarter results, reported after market hours on Monday, October 19. Net profit for Q2 FY27 rose 28.7 per cent year-on-year to ₹6,367 crore, up from ₹4,948 crore in the same quarter last year, comfortably ahead of Street expectations.
Net interest income climbed 23.6 per cent to ₹13,335 crore, while operating profit grew 23.2 per cent to ₹10,699 crore, underlining the momentum in the company’s lending engine. Management raised its full-year assets-under-management growth guidance to 26-27 per cent, up from 22-24 per cent earlier, and reiterated its ambition of reaching ₹11 lakh crore of AUM by FY30.
There were, however, points of caution in the fine print. Gross non-performing assets ticked up to 1.06 per cent from 0.96 per cent, and the company set aside an additional ₹337 crore in macro provisions. Management also warned that margin compression is likely to worsen in the second half of the fiscal year, following the Reserve Bank of India’s repo-rate hike — a signal that funding costs will remain elevated even as growth accelerates.
Brokerages largely stayed constructive. HSBC and Nomura both maintain “buy” ratings with a target price of ₹1,270, and of the 39 analysts tracking the stock, 30 are on buy. The consensus read appears to be that the growth upgrade outweighs the asset-quality and margin concerns, at least for now.
For investors, the quarter presents the classic Bajaj Finance equation: industry-leading growth and profitability, balanced against the reality that credit costs are rising and interest-rate dynamics are turning less friendly. The raised AUM guidance signals management’s confidence in customer acquisition and disbursement pipelines heading into the festive and wedding season, traditionally the strongest stretch for consumer and mortgage lending.
The stock’s reaction on Wednesday will offer an early read on how the market weighs that trade-off. With the NPA trajectory and margin commentary now under closer watch, the next two quarters will determine whether this confident guidance translates into sustained shareholder returns.
The raised AUM guidance is worth unpacking. Lifting the full-year growth target to 26-27 per cent from 22-24 per cent is a meaningful upgrade, and it sets up the second half of FY27 as a period of acceleration rather than consolidation. Management’s confidence rests on its distribution footprint and product diversification, but executing that growth while keeping credit costs in check — gross NPA has already crept to 1.06 per cent from 0.96 per cent — will be the real test.
The ₹337 crore in extra macro provisions is a forward-looking buffer rather than a realised loss, suggesting management prefers to front-load caution even while projecting confidence on growth. That duality — bullish on volumes, watchful on credit — is likely to define the NBFC sector’s narrative through the rest of the fiscal year.
For investors weighing entry after the results, the analyst consensus is firmly positive: 30 of 39 analysts on buy, with HSBC and Nomura both targeting ₹1,270. But the margin-compression warning tied to the RBI’s repo-rate hike is a genuine headwind, and it means the coming quarters’ profitability may grow slower than the headline AUM numbers. In short, the business is growing faster — investors should check whether the returns are growing along with it.
