Speaking to ET Now, market analyst Daljeet Kohli from Roha Asset Managers LLP shared his perspective on the company, noting that Bajaj Finance remains strong fundamentally. “First thing as a disclosure, we do not own this stock and we normally do not talk about stock specific. Just to give you an opinion on the stock because it is one of the largest company in the sector and we have positive view on NBFC, BFSI as a whole,” Kohli said.
ET Now asked, “Let me start off by understanding your opinion first off on a Bajaj Finance. The numbers were not enthusing and that is understandable. But when you are looking at this more from a slightly medium to long-term lens, it is a company which has done 24% AUM growth on the book size that it does and a 23% pat growth. Does it deserve the kind of cut that it has seen today and if not, is it a good time to buy?”
Kohli responded by downplaying concerns over recent numbers, stating, “So, I do not agree that their numbers were not so good. They were actually on that base that large number, five lakh crore AUM growing at 24% is not a bad idea. Now, there was blip on the NPA side which is again some bit is seasonal and some bit is on the company itself asking for going slow on MSME and two-wheeler, etc. So, there is absolutely nothing wrong on the company side, on the fundamental side.”
He emphasized that the stock’s decline is more a function of market sentiment than fundamentals. “Only problem is that this stock has always traded at very high premium. So, 5.5 time, 6 time book value, so obviously whenever there is a cut in guidance or there is a small hint of anything going wrong, the market will punish it like that. In fact, such kind of 5-6% falls are opportunities for people who want to hold these kind of stocks for a very long time.”
While Kohli clarified that his investment mandate focuses on small and midcap stocks, he remains bullish on the broader NBFC sector. “We have a positive view on NBFC. We are already owning a couple of them. One of them is into housing finance, affordable housing. Some of them are into gold loans. So, it is a mix of those things and we believe that next two quarters will be very good for these companies,” he added. With Bajaj Finance showing resilient growth despite minor blips, analysts suggest that long-term investors may find the recent price correction an attractive entry point.