State Bank of India (SBI) shares surged more than 6% in early trade on February 9 after the lender reported a strong performance for the December quarter (Q3FY26), supported by higher interest income, robust loan growth and improving asset quality. The stock touched a fresh 52-week high of ₹1,137.00 during intraday trade, reflecting positive investor sentiment following the earnings announcement.
For Q3FY26, SBI posted a standalone net profit of ₹21,028 crore, marking a 24.49% year-on-year rise compared with ₹16,891 crore in Q3FY25. Operating profit jumped 39.54% YoY to ₹32,862 crore, underlining the strength of the bank’s core operations. Net interest income (NII) increased 9.04% YoY to ₹45,190 crore from ₹41,446 crore a year ago, driven by healthy balance sheet expansion. Domestic net interest margin (NIM) stood at 3.12% for the quarter, while whole bank NIM came in at 2.99%.
SBI said its overall business crossed the ₹103 lakh crore mark during the quarter. Total deposits surpassed ₹57 lakh crore, while advances crossed ₹46 lakh crore, highlighting sustained momentum in both lending and deposit mobilisation. Whole bank advances grew 15.14% YoY to ₹46.83 lakh crore, with domestic advances expanding 15.44%. Retail advances rose 16.51%, supported by steady growth in personal loans, which increased 14.95%, and home loans, which grew 14.65%.
Growth was broad-based across segments. SME advances rose 21.02% YoY, agricultural loans increased 16.56%, and corporate advances expanded 13.37%, indicating balanced credit demand across the economy. On the liabilities side, total deposits climbed 9.02% YoY to ₹57.01 trillion. CASA deposits grew 8.88%, taking the CASA ratio to 39.13% as of December 31, 2025.
Asset quality trends continued to improve during the quarter. The gross NPA ratio declined 50 basis points YoY to 1.57%, while the net NPA ratio fell 14 basis points to 0.39%. Provision coverage ratio, including AUCA, improved to 92.37% from 91.74% a year earlier. Credit cost for Q3FY26 stood at 0.29%, and the slippage ratio came in at 0.40%, reflecting controlled fresh stress.
On the capital front, SBI’s capital adequacy ratio improved to 14.04% at the end of December, compared with 13.03% a year ago, providing comfort on balance sheet strength. The bank also highlighted continued progress on digital adoption. More than 68% of savings accounts during the quarter were opened digitally through YONO, while the share of alternate channels in total transactions rose to about 98.6% in the first nine months of FY26, up from 98.1% a year earlier.
Following the strong quarterly performance, SBI’s management revised its outlook for FY26 credit growth to 13–15%, higher than the earlier guidance of 12–14%, citing healthy demand across retail, SME and corporate segments.
As of 9:35 AM, SBI shares were trading near their day’s high, with the stock moving between a low of ₹1,100.50 and a high of ₹1,137.00.