Piotroski 8/9 India Screen: Quality at Fair Price

FairStock's October 1, 2026 Piotroski 8/9 India screen flagged eight companies that pass eight of nine accounting checks while trading at moderate earnings multiples. [TCS](/stock/TCS) (NSE: TCS) and [ITC](/stock/ITC) (NSE: ITC) lead on FairStock Score at 85 and 81. [SBI](/stock/SBIN) (NSE: SBIN), [Infosys](/stock/INFY) (NSE: INFY), [HDFC Bank](/stock/HDFCBANK) (NSE: HDFCBANK), [Kotak Mahindra Bank](/stock/KOTAKBANK) (NSE: KOTAKBANK), [Axis Bank](/stock/AXISBANK) (NSE: AXISBANK), and [NTPC](/stock/NTPC) (NSE: NTPC) complete the list. The screen adds a valuation filter: trailing earnings multiples below sector medians. It's a quality-at-a-price screen, not a buy call. The Piotroski F-Score has nine binary checks across profitability, balance sheet, liquidity and operating efficiency. A score of 8/9 means a company passed eight of those checks on trailing financials. Most companies don't score 8/9. When they do, the market often pays a premium. The Nifty 50 trailing P/E sits near 21.3, roughly 12% above its ten-year average. That makes a moderate P/E filter more relevant. FairStock's screen looked for names where accounting quality is high but the price tag hasn't caught up. IT services accounts for two of the eight names. [TCS](/stock/TCS) (NSE: TCS) carries a FairStock Score of 85 and trades near 24.5 times trailing earnings. [Infosys](/stock/INFY) (NSE: INFY) trades near 23.7 times. Both sit below their five-year average multiples of roughly 27 to 28 times. The screen rewards them for high cash conversion and low balance-sheet risk. The macro backdrop is not easy. US client budgets remain tight, and Indian IT firms have reset growth expectations. Still, TCS and Infosys hold net cash and generate free cash flow through slow quarters. That's what the Piotroski checks capture. Financials dominate the list. [SBI](/stock/SBIN) (NSE: SBIN) trades near 9.8 times trailing earnings, [HDFC Bank](/stock/HDFCBANK) (NSE: HDFCBANK) near 18.4, [Kotak Mahindra Bank](/stock/KOTA...