India Equity Analyst - Fundamental & Thematic, Beat the Street

Sudarshan Bhandari

India Equity Analyst - Fundamental & Thematic

Beat the Street

Beat The Street was founded by Nimish Maheshwari and Sudarshan Bhandari, both of whom are Chartered Accountants by Profession, known for their expert analysis in the fields of Business, Sectoral analysis, and Corporate governance.

With a strong social media presence of 45,000+ Subscribers across various platforms, they are considered trusted voices in the industry. Their insights and analysis have been featured in some of India’s most prominent publications, including the Economic Times, Dalal Street Investment Journal, The Morning Context, and The Ken.

Their analysis on Bankrupt & Insolvent companies has been instrumental in saving investors from significant losses. They have a keen eye for identifying red flags and has identified exclusive redflags earlier in Vedanta, Nykaa, Dhani Services, Adani and many more.

Read Business Not Stock Prices

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>After a decade of volatile, high-cost build-out, India's Small Finance Bank sector is at a inflection point, shifting decisively from high-risk MFI lending to diversified, secured loan books.</li>
<li>
Market skepticism, fueled by past MFI stress and value erosion, has left most SFBs trading at a 10-35% discount. This valuation disconnect ignores maturing branch networks and superior growth potential.</li>
<li>The sector's transformation is real, but not all SFBs are equal. The path to re-rating will be determined by execution in building a low-cost liability franchise.</li>
</ul>


After a decade of volatile, high-cost build-out, India's Small Finance Bank sector is at a inflection point, shifting decisively from high-risk MFI lending to diversified, secured loan books.

Market skepticism, fueled by past MFI stress and value erosion, has left most SFBs trading at a 10-35% discount. This valuation disconnect ignores maturing branch networks and superior growth potential.
The sector's transformation is real, but not all SFBs are equal. The path to re-rating will be determined by execution in building a low-cost liability franchise.


Thematic Report on Small Finance Banks: The MFI Curse Is Fading & A New Era of Secured Growth Begins

<ul>
<li>Despite a 100-bps rate cut by RBI, banks face margin pressure as lending rates fall faster than deposit repricing. </li>
<li>Credit growth has slowed sharply, while deposit growth is improving unevenly - tightening liquidity conditions, especially for private banks and SFBs.</li>
<li>Valuations remain attractive despite near-term earnings stress, supported by stable asset quality, treasury gains, and long-term confidence in sector fundamentals.</li>
</ul>


Despite a 100-bps rate cut by RBI, banks face margin pressure as lending rates fall faster than deposit repricing. 
Credit growth has slowed sharply, while deposit growth is improving unevenly - tightening liquidity conditions, especially for private banks and SFBs.
Valuations remain attractive despite near-term earnings stress, supported by stable asset quality, treasury gains, and long-term confidence in sector fundamentals.


Q1FY26 Banking Sector Report: How Repo Rate Cuts Are Reshaping the Sector?

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index / Technical Analysis

Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index (SHCOMP INDEX)

<ul>
<li>We remain near-term bullish since our 4/22/25 Compass, and our intermediate-term outlook remains bullish as well (as of our 5/14/25 Compass).</li>
<li>We will maintain our bullish intermediate-term view as long as market dynamics remain healthy and the SPX and ACWI-US are above 5700-5785 and $119-$121.</li>
<li>$125-$126 and $123-$123.50 are short-term supports to watch on ACWI-US; we will maintain our near-term bullish outlook as long as $123 support holds.</li>
</ul>


We remain near-term bullish since our 4/22/25 Compass, and our intermediate-term outlook remains bullish as well (as of our 5/14/25 Compass).
We will maintain our bullish intermediate-term view as long as market dynamics remain healthy and the SPX and ACWI-US are above 5700-5785 and $119-$121.
$125-$126 and $123-$123.50 are short-term supports to watch on ACWI-US; we will maintain our near-term bullish outlook as long as $123 support holds.


China and Japan Breaking Out -- Buy; Bullish Outlook Intact; U.S. Dollar (DXY) Remains Weak

Market & Forensics Analyst, Beat the Street

Nimish Maheshwari

Market & Forensics Analyst

<ul>
<li>The banking sector will likely see earnings growth bottom out in FY26, with the second half potentially performing better than the first half as deposit rate reductions eventually flow through.</li>
<li>This divergence between declining lending rates and sticky deposit costs is the core driver of NIM compression.</li>
<li>This monetary easing is expected to exert downward pressure on banks' lending yields, impacting NIMs, particularly in the first half of fiscal year 2026 (1HFY26). </li>
</ul>


The banking sector will likely see earnings growth bottom out in FY26, with the second half potentially performing better than the first half as deposit rate reductions eventually flow through.
This divergence between declining lending rates and sticky deposit costs is the core driver of NIM compression.
This monetary easing is expected to exert downward pressure on banks' lending yields, impacting NIMs, particularly in the first half of fiscal year 2026 (1HFY26). 


Impact of Rate Cut on Indian Banking Sector: NIMs & Earnings to Contract Further Amid Slowdown

iShares MSCI ACWI ETF / Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>There continues to be little traction above $93 on MSCI ACWI (ACWI-US), which remains the top-end of our anticipated 2023 trading range. Important downside targets are $86, $84, and $75-77.</li>
<li>Additionally, the EURO STOXX 50 remains below 2-year resistance at 4400-4415.</li>
<li>We remain overweight Europe, Japan, and India, and we prefer to only add exposure on a pullback -- especially in Japan where indexes are bullish yet extended.</li>
</ul>


There continues to be little traction above $93 on MSCI ACWI (ACWI-US), which remains the top-end of our anticipated 2023 trading range. Important downside targets are $86, $84, and $75-77.
Additionally, the EURO STOXX 50 remains below 2-year resistance at 4400-4415.
We remain overweight Europe, Japan, and India, and we prefer to only add exposure on a pullback -- especially in Japan where indexes are bullish yet extended.


No Traction Above $93 on ACWI-US or 4400-4415 on EURO STOXX 50. Buys in Defensives/Japan/EM

India

AU Small Finance Bank Limited is an Indian scheduled commercial small finance bank. It offers a diverse range of products including savings accounts, current accounts, fixed deposits, loans (vehicle, MSME, housing, personal, gold, agriculture), debit and credit cards, and insurance. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.

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AU Small Finance Bank (AUBANK IN)

Thematic Report on Small Finance Banks: The MFI Curse Is Fading & A New Era of Secured Growth Begins

India's Small Finance Banks sector is transitioning from MFI lending to diversified loan books offering growth potential through branch network...

Sudarshan Bhandari

Q1FY26 Banking Sector Report: How Repo Rate Cuts Are Reshaping the Sector?

RBI's rate cut leads to margin pressure for banks as lending rates drop faster than deposit rates, impacting credit growth and liquidity...

Sudarshan Bhandari

China and Japan Breaking Out -- Buy; Bullish Outlook Intact; U.S. Dollar (DXY) Remains Weak

China's Shanghai Composite and Japan's TOPIX and TOPIX Small indexes Breaking Out -- Buy; Bullish Outlook Intact on global equities $ACWI; U.S....

Vermilion Research

Impact of Rate Cut on Indian Banking Sector: NIMs & Earnings to Contract Further Amid Slowdown

Banking sector earnings growth expected to improve in FY26 as deposit rate reductions flow through, but NIM compression likely due to declining...

Nimish Maheshwari

No Traction Above $93 on ACWI-US or 4400-4415 on EURO STOXX 50. Buys in Defensives/Japan/EM

No Traction Above $93 on MSCI $ACWI or 4400-4415 on EURO #STOXX 50. Continues to reinforce our view from early-January that $93 on ACWI caps upside...

Vermilion Research

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

Thematic Report on Small Finance Banks: The MFI Curse Is Fading & A New Era of Secured Growth Begins

​India's Small Finance Banks sector is transitioning from MFI lending to diversified loan books offering growth potential through branch network...

Sudarshan Bhandari

Q1FY26 Banking Sector Report: How Repo Rate Cuts Are Reshaping the Sector?

​RBI's rate cut leads to margin pressure for banks as lending rates drop faster than deposit rates, impacting credit growth and liquidity...

Sudarshan Bhandari

China and Japan Breaking Out -- Buy; Bullish Outlook Intact; U.S. Dollar (DXY) Remains Weak

China's Shanghai Composite and Japan's TOPIX and TOPIX Small indexes Breaking Out -- Buy; Bullish Outlook Intact on global equities $ACWI; U.S....

Vermilion Research

Impact of Rate Cut on Indian Banking Sector: NIMs & Earnings to Contract Further Amid Slowdown

​Banking sector earnings growth expected to improve in FY26 as deposit rate reductions flow through, but NIM compression likely due to declining...

Nimish Maheshwari

No Traction Above $93 on ACWI-US or 4400-4415 on EURO STOXX 50. Buys in Defensives/Japan/EM

No Traction Above $93 on MSCI $ACWI or 4400-4415 on EURO #STOXX 50. Continues to reinforce our view from early-January that $93 on ACWI caps upside...

Vermilion Research

India's Small Finance Banks sector is transitioning from MFI lending to diversified loan books offering growth potential through branch network...

RBI's rate cut leads to margin pressure for banks as lending rates drop faster than deposit rates, impacting credit growth and liquidity...

Banking sector earnings growth expected to improve in FY26 as deposit rate reductions flow through, but NIM compression likely due to declining...