SBI share hits 52-week high amid SC decision on electoral bonds

Shares of state-owned lender State Bank of India (SBI) hit a 52-week high on Thursday amid the Supreme Court's (SC) directions to the bank to disclose details of the political parties, and electoral bonds' purchase data, including their names and denominations.

Shares of the state-owned lender opened a gap up during the early market hours and surged to an intra-day high of ₹763.90, up 2.6% compared to the previous session close. At the 52-week high mark of ₹763.90, the SBI stock is trading 65.6% up from a 52-week low of ₹501.85 touched on March 27, 2023. At the current share price, the m-cap of SBI stands at ₹6.8 lakh crore.

The SBI share has been one of the best-performing PSU stocks in the recent past. Among all major analysts, State Bank of India has an average target price of 774.08, an upside of 1.63% from the last price of 761.7. KR Choksey has maintained a 'BUY' call on the stock, saying it has rolled overvaluation to FY26E, increasing the target price to ₹795 per share from ₹750 per share.

ICICI Direct in its latest report says SBI has shown strength in the last few quarters, both on core operating performance and asset quality. "With normalisation in staff cost, expect RoA to remain at 1% in FY25-26E. We value the bank at 1.3x FY26E ABV and subsidiaries at ₹179/share to arrive at a revised target price of ₹800."

SBI shares have surged 7.95% in the past week and rose 19.60% in the past month. In the past six months, year-to-date and one-year period, the stock has risen 34.70%, 18.64%, and 41.01%, respectively.

SBI had recorded a 35% YoY fall in net profit to ₹9,200 crore in the October-December 2023-24 quarter. The bank's PAT was primarily impacted by a “higher wage revision provision” of ₹6,300 crore vs ₹5,000 crore, which was factored in. The bank's net interest income (NII) was in line with expectations at ₹39,800 crore, up 4.6%. The net interest margin (NIM) declined marginally to 3.22% as the outcome of an increase in the cost of funds.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court in a landmark judgement struck down the Electoral Bond Scheme, which allowed donors to anonymously buy electoral bonds and fund political parties. A five-judge Constitution bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra delivered the verdict. The apex court also asked SBI to issue details of parties that received electoral bonds, along with dates and names of purchasers, and denomination.