SBI Share Price Hits Historic ₹1,000 Milestone on Robust Q2 Profit

Shares of India's largest public sector lender, State Bank of India (SBI), staged a sharp rally during Thursday’s trading session, crossing the psychologically significant milestone of ₹1,000 for the first time. The banking heavyweight advanced nearly 3 percent on the bourses to trade near ₹1,009, propelled by aggressive buying interest following an impressive set of July–September quarterly earnings.The rally underscores strong investor confidence in the public sector behemoth's underlying balance sheet resilience, robust core interest earnings, and expanding credit trajectory across retail and corporate verticals, sparking renewed debate among market participants over whether the stock has runway for additional gains.Q2 Standalone Net Profit Surges 14.3% to ₹23,038 Crore as NII Jumps to ₹49,143 CroreThe primary catalyst fueling the market rally was SBI’s robust performance in the second quarter of the financial year.The banking giant reported a 14.3 percent year-on-year expansion in standalone net profit, reaching ₹23,038 crore compared to ₹20,160 crore logged during the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year. Core lending operations registered healthy momentum as Net Interest Income (NII) advanced 14.7 percent to ₹49,143 crore, while the lender’s Net Interest Margin (NIM) demonstrated stability by improving to 3.1 percent, highlighting solid deposit franchise strength and resilient asset yields amidst broader banking sector margin compressions.Nomura Maintains Neutral View, Trims Target Price to ₹1,100 on Treasury Hits and OpExDespite the headline earnings beat, foreign brokerage firm Nomura maintained a measured stance on the counter, reiterating a "Neutral" rating while revising its target price downward from ₹1,160 to ₹1,100.While the global research house acknowledged that net interest income exceeded consensus expectations, it highlighted that escalating operating expenses (OpEx) alongside mark-to-market hits within the treasury investment portfolio partially countered operational gains. Nomura noted that after adjusting for one-time exceptional items, core operational net profit trailed its internal forecasts by roughly 7 percent, advising market participants to weigh medium-term cost pressures alongside the stock's record-high valuations.