8/9 Piotroski Score India Large Caps at Moderate P/E

On 26 October 2026, a Piotroski screen of large-cap India names threw up a list that stops just short of nine: [HDFC Bank](/stock/HDFCBANK) (NSE: HDFCBANK), [State Bank of India](/stock/SBIN) (NSE: SBIN), [TCS](/stock/TCS) (NSE: TCS), [Infosys](/stock/INFY) (NSE: INFY), [Kotak Mahindra Bank](/stock/KOTAKBANK) (NSE: KOTAKBANK), [Axis Bank](/stock/AXISBANK) (NSE: AXISBANK), [ITC](/stock/ITC) (NSE: ITC), and [NTPC](/stock/NTPC) (NSE: NTPC). All eight carry an 8/9 Piotroski F-Score. None trades above a 19.16 P/E. The lowest multiple is 10.39. That's a quality-at-a-reasonable-price cluster hiding in plain sight. The Nifty 50's long-run average P/E has hovered near 20, so this band is not demanding. Joseph Piotroski built the score in 2000 to separate cheap stocks that are cheap for bad reasons from cheap stocks with improving books. It scores profitability and balance-sheet strength across nine yes/no tests. An 8 means one red flag. For HDFC Bank, which opened for business in 1995, that's a signal worth pausing over. The bank built its deposit franchise through two full credit cycles. It still trades at a multiple that assumes bank earnings are cyclical, not compounding. Piotroski F-Score Large Caps: Banks Lead the Screen Four of the eight names are banks. That's not a fluke. Indian bank profits have run hard since 2021, helped by low credit costs and loan-book repricing. The Piotroski checklist rewards rising return on assets and falling provisions relative to assets. But the market keeps bank P/E multiples at 10 to 15 because it remembers the bad cycles. SBI sits near the lower end of the 10.39 to 19.16 band. That's a cushion if unsecured loan defaults stay controlled. It's a warning if they don't. TCS and Infosys P/E: The IT Quality Trade TCS and Infosys sit at the upper end of the P/E band, near 18 to 19. Their 8/9 scores reflect lean balance sheets and strong cash conversion. The score won't tell you whether AI pricing pressure hits billing rates, though. That'...