(Reuters) – Shares of India’s Bajaj Finance rose as much as 6% to an all-time high on Thursday, a day after the non-bank lender reported a quarterly profit surge because of solid loan growth, which analysts said augurs well for its earnings next year.
Bajaj Finance and its holding company Bajaj Finserv, trading higher by 2.6% and 1.3%, respectively, were among the top gainers in India’s benchmark Nifty 50 index, which was up 0.6% as of 10:33 a.m. IST.
The lender’s profit surged 18% year-on-year in the three months to Dec. 31 and it forecast a profit growth of 22% to 23% for the fiscal year ending March 2026.
At least 12 analysts raised their target prices for Bajaj Finance after the results, with the median price target rising to 8,500 rupees from 8,110 a month ago, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The performance has set the company up for strong earnings growth in 2025-2026, Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note, which makes the lender an “interesting large-cap in a tough market.”
Several Indian lenders have been grappling with asset quality stress, led by unsecured lending such as credit cards and personal loans.
Meanwhile, Bajaj Finance’s asset quality trends are stabilising after a short period of surge over the past few quarters, Jefferies said in a note.
Its shares have risen more than 17% so far in January, compared with a 1.6% fall in both the Nifty 50 and the finance index.
Bajaj Finance saying that its managing director and veteran leader Rajeev Jain will stay involved with the company after his tenure ends in March is a “smooth succession move” that could drive interest in the stock in the short-term, Morgan Stanley said.
(Reporting by Sethuraman NR; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
