India's banks up; Goldman sees earnings at inflection point, initiates coverage of 14 lenders

AU Small Finance Bank

21/08/2026 07:08

** India's banks .NSEBANK, private banks .NIFPVTBNK and financials .NIFTYFIN sub-indexes rise 0.3%-0.6%, helping benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI stay in the green with gains of 0.1%
** Goldman Sachs initiates coverage of 14 banks, says domestic lenders are approaching a cyclical inflection, with earnings poised to accelerate
** Adds, ICICI Bank ICBK.NS, Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS, AU Small Finance Bank AUFI.NS and Federal Bank FED.NS offer the strongest upside, initiating at "buy"    
** Also starts coverage of HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and Axis Bank AXBK.NS at "buy" on compelling valuations, despite the brokerages expecting further downside earnings revisions
** ICBK up 0.4%, HDBK gains 0.8%, KTKM rises 1.3%, AUFI adds 0.7% and FED edges 1% higher
** Initiates RBL Bank RATB.NS and Yes Bank YESB.NS at "sell" as it remains "unconvinced of a sustained return on assets (RoA) recovery beyond 1.2%-1.3% over the next two years"
** Remains "neutral" on IndusInd Bank INBK.NS, IDFC First Bank IDFB.NS and Bandhan Bank BANH.NS 
** Prefers SBI SBI.NS within state-owned lenders, with "neutral" rating, assigns "sell" on Bank of Baroda BOB.NS and PNB PNBK.NS


 (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)
 ((bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9769003463;))