ICICI Bank stock check: Is now a good time to buy the private sector lender?

livemint.com:

ICICI Bank. The stock has underperformed benchmark indices in the last one year. It has given muted returns, up just 0.8 percent in the last 1 year as against a 5 percent gain in Nifty Bank and a 6 percent jump in Nifty.

Meanwhile, in 2023 YTD, the stock has added 2.6 percent versus a 0.6 percent decline in Bank Nifty and over 5 percent rise in the benchmark Nifty. It has been very volatile this year, giving positive returns in 5 of the 10 months so far this year and negative in the remaining 5 months. It fell 3.8 percent in October, extending losses for the third straight month since August, down 8.3 percent in this period.

It rose the most in July, up 6.8 percent, and lost the most in January, down 6.6 percent. Currently trading at ₹914.40, the stock is 9.3 percent away from its record high of ₹1,008.70, hit on July 24, 2023. It is trading 15 percent higher from its 52-week low of ₹796.00, hit on January 30, 2023.

However, in the long term - the last 3 years, it has given multibagger returns, surging 133 percent in this period. ICICI Bank, once again, posted stellar results, beating expectations. The earnings were accompanied by a significant reduction in bad loan provisions.

The private sector lender reported a 35.8 percent YoY rise in its standalone net profit to ₹10,261 for the second quarter of FY24 versus ₹7,557.84 crore in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, its net interest income (NII) increased by 23.8 percent YoY to ₹18,308 crore as against ₹14,787 crore in the same quarter last year. The net interest margin (NIM) for the bank rose to 4.53 percent in Q2FY24 from 4.31 percent, YoY.