Kotak Mahindra Bank shares decline 5%; here’s what analysts said after Q4 earnings

Kotak Mahindra Bank shares tumbled 5.3% to touch an intraday low of ₹363 apiece on Monday, May 4, as the private sector lender’s earnings failed to impress the market investors.

At 11 AM, shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank were trading at ₹374.4 apiece on the National Stock Exchange, falling 2.32%.

Shares of the firm have gained 4% over a month, while they have tumbled 11% in the last six months. On a year-to-date basis, shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank have fallen 16%.

The lender has a total market capitalisation of ₹3.72 lakh crore, according to data on the NSE.

Kotak Mahindra Bank Q4 earnings

The country's fourth-largest private-sector lender by market capitalisation earned a net profit of ₹4,027 crore in the January-March quarter, marking an increase of 13% from ₹3,552 crore in the same period last year. The uptick in profit came on the back of sharply lower provisions for bad loans and an improvement in asset quality.

The bank's provisions for bad loans reduced by 43% to ₹516 crore as against ₹909 crore in the corresponding quarter last financial year.

For financial year 2025-26 (Q4FY26), its net profit declined 15% to ₹14,008 crore.

The Mumbai-based lender's net interest income or difference between interest earned on loans and expended on deposits rose 8% to ₹7,875 crore in the fourth quarter of financial year 2025-26, up from ₹7,284 crore in the year-ago period.

Net interest margin was 4.67% for Q4FY26 compared with 4.97% for Q4FY25 and 4.54% for Q4FY24.

Kotak Mahindra Bank's asset quality showed an improvement as its gross non-performing assets (NPAs), as a percentage of total advances, came in at 1.20% compared with 1.42% in the same period last year.

In absolute terms gross NPAs came in at ₹6,018 crore from ₹6,134 crore.

The bank's board announced a dividend of 65 paise per share.

Kotak Mahindra Bank's advances increased 16% year on year (YoY) to ₹4,96,009 crore as of March 31, 2026, from ₹4,26,909 crore as of March 31, 2025.

Here’s what the CEO said

"The bank evaluated every acquisition opportunity, including IDBI Bank, but found the valuation to be very, very high," Vaswani said during the post-earnings conference.

He noted that even the bids received by the government were below the reserve price, reflecting the gap between expectations and market appetite.

While the acquisition could have added scale, it was not a compelling or "slam dunk" strategic fit.

In February, the bank had clarified that it has not submitted a financial bid as part of the disinvestment process relating to IDBI Bank. The central government, along with Life Insurance Corporation of India, plans to sell a combined 60.7% stake in IDBI Bank as part of its privatisation drive.

What analysts said after Q4 FY26 earnings

The analysts further added that the lender’s NII growth of 8.1% YoY was among the best in the large private bank peer group, while core margins remained stable sequentially, with reported margins rising on account of a day count benefit.