Global brokerage Nomura gave a bullish call on the State Bank of India on Wednesday. The stock went up over 1% to hit an intraday high of ₹793.75.

What Happened: Nomura kept a "buy" call on SBI with a target price of ₹980, indicating an upside of 25% from the previous day's market close. The research firm picked the PSU bank as its top pick in the sector and said it is time to get back on board.

The brokerage sees SBI as delivering well on asset quality. The bank is placed well amid tougher deposit conditions and potential rate cuts, the brokerage added. The bank is also well placed on potential tighter draft regulations, the research firm said.

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The bank is trading at attractive valuations of 1 times the FY26 price-to-book ratio or 6.7 times the price-to-earnings ratio, Nomura added. 

The bank in its Q1 results reported a 0.89% rise in net profits to ₹17,035.16 crore, while net interest income rose 5.7% to ₹41,125 crore. The bank’s net non-performing assets (NPA) ratio stood at 0.57% from 0.71% in the previous year while Gross NPA was at 2.21% from 2.76% in the previous year.

Price Action: Shares of SBI rose 1.06% to ₹789.70 on Wednesday morning.

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