YES Bank shares: Emkay Global ups target price by 12%; here's what it says

Brokerage firm Emkay Global Financial Services has upped its target price on YES Bank shares but maintains its 'sell' rating on the stock after the quarterly earnings by the private lender on Saturday, October 18. Emkay believes that it is a long wait for a turnaround. The broking firm will remain watchful of the potential new management and its medium-to-long term strategy.

YES Bank's core profitability improved, aided by stable margin and contained opex; however, PAT missed estimate by 16.4 per cent, standing at Rs 654 crore with RoA at a low of 0.6 per cent, mainly due to lower treasury gains and elevated provisions at 68 bps of loans, said Emkay in its note.

YES Bank reported an 18.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in its net profit at Rs 654 crore, while net interest income jumped 4.6 per cent YoY to Rs 2,301 crore for the September 2025 quarter. The private lender's provisions soared 41 per cent YoY to Rs 419 crore. Asset quality remained stable as NPAs came in flat for the quarter on both net and gross levels.

"Credit growth was relatively weak at 6 per cent YoY, as retail growth remains in the slow zone. However, the management believes that corporate portfolio consolidation is largely behind which should lead to better growth ahead. This, along with better cost management and expected better growth under the guidance of strategic stakeholder SMBC, should drive up margin," it said.

"Asset quality is still an irritant, with slippages elevated at 2.1 per cent. The Board is looking to hire a new MD and CEO in consultation with SMBC, after which there could arise risk of a possible initial clean-up, mainly in Yes’s retail portfolio. We cut earnings 3 per cent for FY26E, though we raise them by 2-6 per cent for FY27-28E, building in a better growth/margin trajectory, and expect RoA to improve to 0.9-1.1 per cent. We raise our TP by 12 per cent to Rs 19 (from Rs 17)," Emkay adds with a 'sell' tag.

Following its quarterly earnings, shares of YES Bank jumped more than 3.19 per cent to Rs 22.95 on Monday, with its total market capitalization hitting Rs 70,000 crore mark. Shares of YES Bank have jumped nearly 25 per cent since August 01. The stock hit its 52-week high at Rs 24.30 on October 10, 2025.