Shares of Pune-headquartered Bajaj Finance rallied up to  4.6 per cent at day's high to Rs 6,981 in Wednesday's session (October 23) as the NBFC company released its Q2 results after market hours on the previous day. Ahead of the results, Bajaj Finance shares ended 1.6 per cent lower at Rs 6,677.4 apiece on the BSE.

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The company for the reporting quarter posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,999.7 crore for the quarter ended September 30, marking an increase of 12.6 per cent over the corresponding period a year ago. The NBFC posted results slightly below Zee Business research estimates that projected the company's net profit at Rs 4,021 crore for the review period. 

Furthermore, net interest income (NII)—a key profitability metric—increased 22.8 per cent to Rs 8,837.7 crore on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, according to a regulatory filing. Zee Business Research estimated net interest income of Rs 8,854.9 crore for the fiscal second quarter.

The company's pre-provisioning operating profit (PPoP) for the reporting quarter came in at Rs 7,307 crore for the September quarter, up by one-fourth over the year-ago period. 

The number of new loans booked grew 14 per cent in Q2 to 9.69 million, said the regulatory filing.

Here's what global brokerages view Bajaj Finance after its Q2FY25 results

Jefferies is bullish on the company and has continued with its 'buy' call with the target slashed to Rs 8,400 from the earlier Rs 8,620 per share. The new target suggests a potential upside of 26 per cent. According to the brokerage, the NBFC major posted in-line results and it expects earnings growth at the company to improve from FY26. Further, the management sees a decline in credit costs which is on the higher side in FY26.

Also, the brokerage notes that asset growth at the company has been healthy with stable net interest margin (NIM). The stock's valuations are deemed to be reasonable at 3.8x FY26 PB & 20x PE.

JP Morgan, meanwhile, reiterated its 'overweight' stance on the stock with a slashed target of Rs 7,300 from the earlier Rs 8,000, citing overshoot in credit costs and asset quality strain during the reporting quarter.

Morgan Stanley, however, while maintaining its 'overweight' rating, gave the most bullish target for the stock at Rs 9,000, implying potential gains of as much as 35 per cent.