Shares of private lender ICICI Bank gained 0.9% in trade on Monday on positive Q1 earnings, touching a fresh lifetime high of Rs 1,006 apiece. However, the bank’s stock price gave up gains, falling to Rs 994.1, down 0.02%. ICICI Bank’s earnings report beat analysts, recording profit at Rs 10,636.12 crore, up 44% in comparison to Rs 7,384.53 crore during the same period last year, surpassing estimates. The bank earned a total interest of Rs 37,105.89 crore during the quarter in review, up 41.8% from Rs 26,158.60 crore during Q1FY23.
Should you buy, sell, or hold ICICI Bank shares?
Motilal Oswal: Buy
“After a strong outperformance backed by robust earnings growth (3yr CAGR of ~60%), we estimate earnings growth to moderate to an 18% CAGR over FY23-25, affected largely by a decline in margins and limited levers available on the opex/credit cost front. We thus expect stock returns to be moderate for ICICIBC and many other large-cap banking stocks. Maintain BUY.”
Axis Securities: Buy
“The management has indicated that the demand in the retail and SME segments continues to remain encouraging. Similarly, amidst intense competition, the bank has seen an improvement in the opportunities in the corporate segment. It will continue to pursue growth in this segment by adopting a larger ecosystem approach and considering risk-adjusted returns. The bank is also comfortable growing its unsecured portfolio. We expect ICICIB’s growth momentum to sustain and expect the bank to deliver a healthy advances growth of ~17%-18% CAGR over FY23-25E. We reiterate our BUY recommendation, valuing the stock at 3x FY25E ABV to the core book and a subsidiary value of Rs 165, to arrive at a target price of Rs 1,250/share, implying an upside of 25% from the CMP.”