Q2 earnings effect: Axis Bank shares reclaim Rs 1,200 mark, rise 4%; what's next?

Shares of Axis Bank reclaimed the key Rs 1,200 mark after six sessions on Thursday after the lender reported its Q2 earnings. On October 7, the stock reached an intra day high of Rs 1212.30. Since then, the banking stock has traded below the Rs 1200 mark. 

Axis Bank stock rose 4% to Rs 1,217.65 on BSE.  Total 1.39 lakh shares of the firm changed hands amounting to a turnover of Rs 16.75 crore on BSE.

Market cap of the bank rose to Rs 3.73 lakh crore on BSE today. Axis Bank stock has gained 4.23 per cent in one year and risen 12 per cent since the beginning of this year. In a month, the stock has gained 7 per cent.

On NSE, the banking stock climbed to Rs 1216.90. Mcap of the bank stood at Rs 3.73 lakh crore on NSE. 

The large cap stock is trading higher than 5 day, 20 day, 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages. 

Bernstein assigned an ‘outperform’ rating with a target price of Rs 1,250. It mentioned sequential growth, sharp recovery in asset quality, and lower slippages as signs that stress in the bank's books may be bottoming out.

Nomura has a ‘buy’ call on the lender with a target price of Rs 1,440. The brokerage cited strong operational performance and a sharp fall in technical slippages, while acknowledging that one-offs impacted profit.

Global brokerage CLSA has an outperform call on the bank with a target price at Rs 1,400/share. PBT came 3-4% above estimates, led by stronger NII & pre provisioning operating profit (PPoP). 

JPMorgan maintained a 'Neutral' call on Axis Bank with Price Target of Rs 1,260. NIMs for the bank were stable with corporate loans driving overall loan growth. 

The brokerage said the lender's asset quality was improving with GNPAs and slippages falling. 

Jefferies maintained a buy call on the stock with a price target of Rs 1,430 from the earlier Rs 1,370. Q2 profit came above estimates and strong core operation offset impact of provisioning which impacted profit, the global brokerage said. 

HSBC maintained its BUY call with a target of Rs 1,460 from Rs 1,340. Loan growth, margins & asset quality were all strong. The brokerage raised EPS estimates to 2.7–5.3% for FY26–28.