HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank all reported their September-quarter numbers on Saturday, October 17, so the market’s verdict will only come when trading opens on Monday. What we can do now is put the HDFC, ICICI and Axis Bank Q2 results next to how the three stocks moved in the run-up. The short version: ICICI Bank beat estimates, HDFC Bank grew slowly, and Axis Bank grew fast but missed what analysts expected.
Educational content only. Not investment advice. Results figures are from the reports cited below, which are based on the banks’ exchange filings. Share prices are NSE closing prices from the bhavcopies for October 1 and October 16, 2026; percentage changes are our calculations.
HDFC, ICICI and Axis Bank Q2 results side by side
ICICI Bank. Standalone net profit rose 20% year-on-year to ₹14,843 crore and net interest income grew 17.7% to ₹25,339 crore, according to
HDFC Bank. Net profit rose 4.7% to ₹19,510 crore, Business Standard reported, and NII grew 9.7% year-on-year to ₹34,620 crore. Gross advances grew 16.3% and deposits 18.8%. What held profit back was other income, down 3.6% year-on-year, with treasury gains falling to ₹780 crore from ₹2,390 crore. NIM was 3.32% on interest-earning assets. Anup Bagchi takes over from Sashidhar Jagdishan as MD and CEO on October 27, and Business Standard also reported that Kaizad Bharucha will leave the bank at the end of December.
Axis Bank. CNBC-TV18 reported net profit up 37.6% year-on-year at ₹7,003.3 crore, below its poll estimate of ₹7,132 crore, and NII up 11.8% at ₹15,371 crore, which beat its poll estimate of ₹14,970 crore. Gross NPA fell to 1.16% and net NPA to 0.35%. An analyst quoted in the report flagged margin compression as a key concern.
All three banks grew loans and kept bad loans in check. The common worry is margins, which slipped at ICICI and drew comment at Axis.
How the stocks moved going in
On NSE, from the October 1 close to October 16:
- ICICI Bank: ₹1,310.60 to ₹1,397.00, up 6.59%
- Axis Bank: ₹1,217.10 to ₹1,290.00, up 5.99%
- HDFC Bank: ₹721.20 to ₹728.85, up 1.06%
Nifty Bank rose 2.56% over the same period. So ICICI and Axis had already run ahead of the bank index, while HDFC Bank lagged it. ICICI’s big day was October 15, when it rose 3.80%, the second-best gain among Nifty 50 stocks that session.
What to watch on Monday
We’d make three observations, none of them predictions:
- ICICI’s beat comes after a strong run-up. Good news that is already partly priced in can still produce a muted reaction.
- HDFC Bank’s core numbers (advances, deposits, NII) grew steadily; the weak spot was treasury income, which tends to swing from quarter to quarter.
- Axis grew profit fastest but missed estimates, so it will be worth seeing whether the miss or the growth gets more attention.
Rate context matters too. The RBI’s move to a tighter stance, covered in our RBI October 2026 policy explainer, can lift loan yields, but deposit costs tend to follow. If you want to read bank results yourself, our guide on how to analyse quarterly results covers NIM, asset quality and the other numbers to check.
Sources: Business Standard on ICICI Bank; Business Standard on HDFC Bank (linked above); Moneycontrol on ICICI Bank’s results versus the CNBC-TV18 poll (October 17, 2026); The Hindu BusinessLine on HDFC Bank’s Q2FY27 results (October 17, 2026); CNBC-TV18 on Axis Bank’s Q2 results (October 17, 2026); NSE CM bhavcopies for October 1, 14, 15 and 16, 2026 and the NSE index closing file (ind_close_all) for October 1 and 16, 2026.
Disclaimer: This article is for information and education only and is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Please do your own research or consult a SEBI-registered adviser before investing.
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