HDFC Bank Shares Up 1% on 9% Loan Growth in Q2FY26; Citi Initiates ‘Buy’ Rating for Investors

Most financial stocks were trading with gains in the morning trade on Monday, October 6, following the companies' September quarter (Q2 FY26) business updates that were released on Friday, post-market hours. Private sector lender HDFC Bank on Saturday said it has registered a 9% rise in loans to ₹27.9 lakh crore in the second quarter ended September 30 (Q2 FY26). HDFC Bank was trading at 975.05 against the previous close of 965,05 with rise in 1%.

The credit book of the country's biggest private bank was ₹25.6 lakh crore at the end of the second quarter of the last fiscal. The bank's period-end advances under management were approximately ₹28.6 lakh crore as of September 30 this year, around 8.9% higher than ₹26.3 lakh crore as of September 30, 2024, HDFC Bank said in a regulatory filing. The bank's deposits aggregated to approximately ₹27.1 lakh crore as of September 30, 2025, registering a growth of 15.1% over ₹23.5 lakh crore recorded in September last year, it said. The bank's average CASA deposits were Rs 8,770 billion for the September 2025 quarter, a growth of around 8.5 per cent from Rs 8,084 billion in the September 2024 quarter, it added. CASA stands for current account and savings account. These are low-cost deposits for banks because they usually pay little to no interest on them (especially current accounts).

Citi has reiterated a ‘buy’ call with a target of Rs 1,180. The brokerage said advances grew 4.4% quarter-on-quarter, in line with the industry average, while deposit growth remained modest. It added that loan-to-deposit ratio expanded by 280 basis points, and the bank’s focus on NIMs (net interest margins) remains intact.Global brokerage Bernstein also remained positive on HDFC Bank (CMP Rs 965), maintaining an ‘outperform’ rating with a target price of Rs 1,150. It highlighted strong loan growth adding that in a growth-starved environment, HDFC Bank’s lending expansion is a key positive. Bernstein noted that slower deposit growth could aid margins in the short term.