A like-for-like valuation of HDFC Bank (HDFCBANK) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (KOTAKBANK), each built from its own filed accounts and set side by side — price against estimated worth, on the same measures.
HDFC Bank is priced further below its estimated worth than Kotak Mahindra Bank.
HDFC Bank trades 26% below our estimate of fair value, against 25% above our estimate of fair value for Kotak Mahindra Bank. A wider discount is not automatically the safer buy — it can equally mean the market sees a risk the accounts do not show yet — but on price against estimated value, HDFC Bank is the cheaper of the two today.
Every figure below is drawn from each company's own filed statements. Estimated fair value is the per-share figure our engine will stand behind; where a business needs a model that does not reduce to one number, it is shown as “—”.
| HDFC BankHDFCBANK | Kotak Mahindra BankKOTAKBANK | |
|---|---|---|
| Current price | ₹717 | ₹410 |
| Market cap | ₹11.04L Cr | ₹4.08L Cr |
| Estimated fair value | ₹901 | ₹307 |
| Upside to fair value | +26% | -25% |
| P/E | 14.0 | 20.1 |
| P/B | 1.90 | 2.25 |
| Return on equity | —% | —% |
| Debt to equity | — | — |
| Valued on | Excess return — the correct lens for a bank | Excess return — the correct lens for a bank |
Higher-margin, smaller book — a different trade-off on the same measures.
Worked backwards from today's share price: the rate each company must sustain to justify what it costs, against what its own ten-year record supports.
Same method, same filed accounts — each of these works both companies through to a fair value.
HDFC Bank trades 26% below our estimate of fair value, against 25% above our estimate of fair value for Kotak Mahindra Bank. A wider discount is not automatically the safer buy — it can equally mean the market sees a risk the accounts do not show yet — but on price against estimated value, HDFC Bank is the cheaper of the two today.
Each company is valued from its own filed financial statements — ten years of results — using the method that fits that business, then set beside the other on price, valuation multiples, return on equity and what today's share price already assumes. It is a like-for-like comparison of the workings, not investment advice.