Prabhudas Lilladher Recommends 'BUY' on Axis Bank, Sets Target at Rs 1500

• Axis Bank's core PAT exceeded Prabhudas Lilladher's estimates by 9.5% in the last quarter, driven by higher NII and lower operating expenses.
• Net Interest Income (NII) grew by 3.9% QoQ, but Net Interest Margin (NIM) slightly decreased to 3.64% due to a shift towards lower-yielding corporate loans.
• Operating expenses improved, partly due to a reduction in staff count (2,550 net decrease over 9MF26) and increased productivity.
• The bank aims to increase its retail loan share to 58-60% from 55.6% as of Q3’26, which might lead to future opex growth.
• Prabhudas Lilladher raised core PAT estimates for FY27/28E by 4% and increased the target price to Rs 1,500 from Rs 1,425, maintaining a 'BUY' rating.

Why It Matters: Prabhudas Lilladher recommends buying Axis Bank, raising its target price to Rs 1500 due to strong core PAT and improved outlook.